"The Other Foot" by Ray Bradbury

“THE OTHER FOOT” BY RAY BRADBURY

“The Other Foot” by Ray Bradbury is a thought-provoking short story about prejudice and racism. It has all the qualities of a good short story, such as an interesting plot, an unusual yet relevant setting and excellent characterisation. These qualities, and some others, help to effectively convey the author’s message that we should not be hypocritical of others, and these qualities certainly made it more interesting for me.

The story is set in a small town on Mars in 1985, where all its inhabitants are black. The people flew to Mars twenty years ago to get away from Earth because they were being treated so badly by the white people, and since then, they had lived quite happily on their own. However, one day, a rocket from Earth lands in the town; an old white man steps out and tells everyone how Earth has been destroyed by war and now there is nothing left. He asks the people of Mars for their help and to let the white people come and live on Mars with them. Willie, one of the black men, who had been preparing to kill all the white people, says at the very end that he will let the white people live on Mars and they will be treated as equals.

This story has a number of qualities which make it much more interesting. One of these is the characterisation. Bradbury brings his characters to life through their interaction and the wonderful imagery he uses to describe them. There are two main characters in the story: Hattie and her husband Willie, although they are very different people. Hattie is a careful, cautious woman –

“and walked carefully to the back porch”

and she is quite nervous, even scared, about the white man coming –

“There was a troubled thing in her eyes”.

We can also see that she cares about the safety of her children when she tells them to go inside and will not let them go to see the white man, incase he is dangerous.

Willie, on the other hand, is far more reckless than his wife. He is more likely to just jump into things without thinking –

“You get in this car, Hattie…he roared the car down the dusty road.”

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“and walked carefully to the back porch”

and she is quite nervous, even scared, about the white man coming –

“There was a troubled thing in her eyes”.

We can also see that she cares about the safety of her children when she tells them to go inside and will not let them go to see the white man, incase he is dangerous.

Willie, on the other hand, is far more reckless than his wife. He is more likely to just jump into things without thinking –

“You get in this car, Hattie…he roared the car down the dusty road.”

He is not scared of the white man like Hattie is, but he is angry and wants revenge by killing all the white men, because they killed both his parents –

“I’m not feeling Christian…I’m just feeling mean.”

He too cares about his children, though; we see this as soon as we meet him because the first thing he says is “where are the kids?”. Willie has a stronger personality than Hattie and he almost becomes a sort of leader, gathering everyone together, telling them to bring their guns –

“Well, take your guns along”

Everyone looks up to him and does what he says –

“Willie, Willie, what we gonna do?”

He talks to them and tells them to paint signs and rope off areas of seating in some places for the new white people, and all this time Hattie “stood tall and silent by him”.

Their three children bring some humour into the story, as they play and joke and “dance around in the dusty yard”. They have never seen a white man before and they find the concept hilarious –

“’White arms!’ hooted the boys” , “White faces! Really?”

They are young and innocent and do not understand the dangers of the white man.

“The Other Foot” has an exciting and interesting plot. The story begins very well and arouses the reader’s attention.

“They came out of restaurants and cafes and hotels and looked at the sky”. From this, we know that it must be something unusual and quite fantastic for everyone to stop what they were doing and just look at the sky. They are looking at something strange and the reader wants to know what it is and so wants to read on. Ironically, we find out later that we, the white people, are the strange ones that they were so fascinated by.

The plot moves quickly and keeps the reader’s attention all the time. It is an interesting story line and is certainly a different, but very effectual, way to convey this common message of prejudice and hypocrisy. There is a great deal of dialogue in the story, which helps the plot to move along. The dialogue is often very short and broken up –

“Is he still alive?”

“Killed in the war”

And his son?”

“Dead”

This is to give a sense of everyone panicking and rushing about, and when it the white man they are talking to, it shows that it was slightly awkward and tense.

The ending is also very effective and it makes the reader think. Willie says he “really seen him clear”, meaning the white man; he finally understands that we are all human and should all be equal, not literally destroying our world because of our prejudices.

The setting of this story is also quite interesting and unusual – we know that it is not possible to live on Mars, and the suspension of disbelief is done very well and it is believable in the story that the people live there. The setting is very relevant to the story as well. Mars is a planet that is seen as different, strange, maybe even dangerous, because we know so little about it. The black people, too, were seen as different and strange through lack of understanding of them. Therefore, in some way, the people and where they live have a lot in common. Mars is also a good setting because it shows that the people moved very far away from Earth and all it’s troubles. They started a whole new way of life and it seemed very unlikely that the white people would bother them.

The story is structured very well. The length of sentences and paragraphs vary depending on the mood and tone that is being created. Some of the paragraphs are long and descriptive and there is some excellent imagery used –

“There was a silence of silences…a silence that came down like a pressure from a distant storm”

But sometimes, the paragraphs are very short with just a few words in them. These sentences are often repeated to build tension –

“no one moved” is repeated to emphasise that everyone was stunned by what the white man was saying and nobody knows how to react to it.

When Hattie’s children ask her what the white man is like, she says “you’ll find out. Yes indeed, you’ll find out.”

This lets us see how scared she is herself about what might happen.

These are just some of the qualities that make “The Other Foot” an outstanding short story. Bradbury succeeds in creating a remarkable setting, bringing his characters to life and, of course, in conveying his message that is both important and relevant to today’s society, and I think this was definitely a very enjoyable short story.

Catriona McCaig