Question

In "April 2026: The Long Years," Hathaway, at the beginning of the story, looks down at the four graves with "crude wooden crosses on them,"1 and asks them for forgiveness, but never names what his sin or mistake is. What is he most likely asking forgiveness for?

Answer 1

Hathaway asks for forgiveness while looking at his family's graves in Ray Bradbury's story, indicating a likely sense of survivor's guilt or remorse for perceived personal failings.

Step-by-step explanation:

In "April 2026: The Long Years" from Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, Hathaway looks down at the graves of his family and asks for forgiveness. This request for forgiveness is not explicitly clarified in the story, leaving readers to infer his sense of guilt. It is most likely that he feels remorse for surviving his family, perhaps leading a solitary life without them or potentially even for how they died, although this latter aspect is not directly addressed in the text. The expression of guilt could be a reflection of survivor's guilt or related to personal failings that he perceives in his relationships with his deceased family members.