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For most of his time on Mars, Watney subsists on his crop of potatoes. It’s fitting that the potatoes he uses to sow the crop were intended for the Ares 3 crew’s Thanksgiving dinner; Thanksgiving celebrates the pilgrims’ survival in a new land, and just as the Native Americans’ generosity and humanity saved the pilgrims from starvation, Watney is saved from starvation in a strange new place by the supplies for a Thanksgiving dinner. The potatoes were intended by NASA’s psychologists to foster a sense of fellowship among the astronauts, and this nod to the importance of humanity and community turns out to sustain Watney in a much more physical sense. In this way, the potatoes symbolize the tenacity of life, even in the face of overwhelming odds.
The Potatoes Quotes in The Martian
The The Martian quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Potatoes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
Why did NASA send twelve whole potatoes, refrigerated but not frozen? And why send them along with us as in-pressure cargo rather than in a crate with the rest of the Hab supplies? Because Thanksgiving was going to happen while we were doing surface operations, and NASA’s shrinks thought it would be good for us to make a meal together. Not just to eat it, but to actually prepare it.
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Chapter 17
Quotes
There’s still soil everywhere. No point in lugging it back outside. Lacking anything better to do, I ran some tests on it. Amazingly, some of the bacteria survived. […] it only takes one survivor to stave off extinction. Life is amazingly tenacious. They don’t want to die any more than I do.
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The Potatoes Symbol Timeline in The Martian
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Potatoes appears in The Martian. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...floor of the Hab (92 square meters) with crop soil and plant beans, peas, and potatoes, which he has found in the Hab food supply. Since he has vitamins, he just...
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...music, which she left behind in the evacuation. Doing some math, Watney realizes that the potatoes he grows on his 62.5 square meters will only feed him for 90 days. This...
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Chapter 3
...the Hab to grow his supply of crop soil, and starts his seed crop of potatoes. Watney explains that NASA sent twelve whole potatoes so that the crew could make and...
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Chapter 5
...the bacteria alive, but not enough to maintain a fire. The cold will kill the potatoes, though, so Watney needs to put them in bags of soil and move them to...
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...episode of Dukes of Hazzard from Lewis’ memory stick. On Sol 42, Watney moves the potato plants back into the Hab. He still has to make another 470 liters of water,...
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Chapter 7
...up the log-entry structure. It is Sol 63. Watney has finished making water and the potatoes are growing. He describes things as “stable.” His new goal is to find a way...
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...out on the ground beside the rover. Returning to the Hab, Watney digs up the potatoes, cuts them up into pieces with one eye each, and reseeds them. At the end...
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...the Ares 4 MAV, but he doesn’t yet say what it is. To keep the potatoes alive, he’ll make the Hab very humid and vent in carbon dioxide from the MAV...
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Chapter 9
...Hab, he’ll run the urine through the water reclaimer and compost his “manure” for the potato farm. The RTG, the solar cells, and batteries are working as planned. While the solar...
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Chapter 10
...thrilled to be back in the Hab, where he has room to move around. The potatoes are growing well, and he adds his “manure” to them. Watney turns the Hab oxygenator...
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Chapter 11
...of messages, Watney explains that he is healthy, the Hab is working, and he’s growing potatoes. He emphasizes that the Ares 3 crew was not at fault for leaving him behind,...
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...not at fault in abandoning him and says, “Hi, Mom!” He updates Venkat on his potato-growing plan, explaining that he now has food through Sol 900. When Venkat tells him that...
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Chapter 13
Sol 116. Watney harvests, freezes, and stores his potatoes. Watney receives an email from Venkat advising him to listen to NASA’s advice on botany,...
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Chapter 14
...he can get Pathfinder back online. His real problem is that the soil and young potato plants are now dead. The supply probe will arrive Sol 856, but he now only...
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Chapter 15
Back at JPL, Bruce meets with his staff. The dead potato farm has changed their timeline: for a supply probe to reach Watney by Sol 584,...
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Chapter 21
...working well—Watney can set it up and stow it again relatively quickly. He eats a potato for breakfast and does an EVA to gather and stow the solar cells. He drives...
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Sol 449. Watney is about to leave for Shiaparelli. To avoid eating raw potatoes, he’s microwaved them all and frozen them again. Watney shuts down the Hab following the...
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Chapter 25
...in the MAV in his EVA suit, awaiting the launch. He’s leaving behind his remaining potatoes and the soil and rock samples he collected on his journey. He knows that, if...
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