Chapter 25: On Mars – Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Chapter 25, titled "On Mars," is a single poem that presents a vision of life completely unmoored from earthly rules and responsibilities. The speaker describes a pair of inhabitants—or perhaps a small community—living on the planet Mars. Their days are marked by eating from paper plates, discarding trash directly into a lake, and treating love as a casual, playful game. The refrain "free! free! free!" punctuates the scene, emphasizing a total liberation from constraint.
The poem introduces a karaoke machine with no time limit, and two musical choices are named: Cher and Jewel. The speakers admit they have not flossed in twenty years—a small, humorous detail that underscores the wholesale abandonment of domestic discipline and health routines. The closing line reveals the context: "this is the last of us out here singing in space." The poem thus frames this carefree existence as a final act, suggesting either a post-apocalyptic setting where the speakers are the sole survivors, or a metaphorical departure from society into an isolated, self-made world.
The poem resists narrative progression in favor of a static, almost snapshot-like image of liberated life on another planet.
Key Events
- The speaker describes eating from paper plates, establishing a tone of impermanence and disposability.
- Trash is thrown into a lake, signaling a disregard for environmental or communal norms.
- Love is treated casually—"fuck around with love" implies playfulness and lack of commitment.
- The trio of exclamation marks on "free!" emphasizes a jubilant, unrestrained state.
- A karaoke machine appears with no time limit, suggesting endless, unregulated leisure.
- Two music artists are selected: Cher and Jewel, both associated with bold, individualistic pop personas.
- The speakers reveal they have not flossed in twenty years, a humorous rejection of self-care discipline.
- The line "it doesn't matter" dismisses any lingering concern about such neglect.
- The poem closes by identifying the speakers as "the last of us" singing in space, implying finality or isolation.
Character Development
This chapter does not advance a continuous narrative or develop a named character in the traditional sense. Instead, the poem offers a persona—the collective "we" voice—that embodies a state of being rather than a psychological arc. The speaker and the companion (addressed as "you") are defined entirely by their shared actions and attitudes: they eat carelessly, discard waste without thought, treat love lightly, and revel in endless karaoke. Their twenty-year neglect of flossing is not a lapse but a deliberate rejection of routine. The poem presents them not as individuals with backstories but as figures who have chosen—or been forced into—a life free from all former structures. The reference to Cher and Jewel provides the only hint of distinct taste, with the speaker identifying with Jewel's introspective style and the companion with Cher's theatrical confidence.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Freedom is the central theme of the poem. The triple repetition of "free!" and the absence of limits on the karaoke machine present liberation as joyful, even anarchic. Yet the poem complicates this freedom by placing it in a context of finality—the speakers are the last ones, suggesting that such freedom comes at the cost of community or survival.
Escapism operates on two levels. Literally, the characters have escaped Earth's gravity and society. Metaphorically, they have escaped the mundane obligations of domestic life: dishes, waste disposal, dental hygiene, relationship norms. The poem asks whether such escape is triumphant or tragic.
Mars functions as a symbol of a fresh start, but also of isolation. Unlike Earth, Mars is barren and inhospitable, so the characters' carefree attitude reads as either heroic resilience or willful denial.
Paper plates and the lake form a motif of disposability. Paper plates imply meals that require no cleaning; throwing trash into a lake suggests no regard for consequences. Together, they represent a rejection of sustainability and long-term thinking.
The karaoke machine symbolizes unregulated self-expression. With no time limit, the characters can perform endlessly, choosing songs that reflect their personal identities (Cher and Jewel).
Flossing—or the lack of it—serves as a small but potent symbol of abandoning all future-oriented self-care. The twenty-year omission implies this is not a temporary break but a permanent choice.
"The last of us" introduces a motif of finality. The poem's joyful tone is undercut by the awareness that this freedom exists in a world that has ended, creating a tension between celebration and grief.
Why This Chapter Matters
"On Mars" is one of the more overtly playful poems in And Yet, using humor and absurdity to explore weighty themes. Its placement in the collection offers a moment of levity while simultaneously deepening the book's ongoing meditation on freedom, domesticity, and the costs of escape. The poem's spare, image-driven structure contrasts with more narrative-heavy chapters, showcasing Baer's range as a poet. It also resonates with contemporary anxieties about environmental collapse and societal breakdown, asking what kind of life might remain after the old structures fall away. The Mars setting literalizes a desire to start over, while the final line reminds readers that such fresh starts often come with profound loss.
Study Questions and Answers
1. What does the Mars setting contribute to the poem's meaning? Mars provides a literal and metaphorical space outside Earth's social systems. By setting the poem on another planet, Baer removes the characters from all earthly expectations—laws, chores, relationships, hygiene norms. Mars is also inhospitable to human life, so the characters' carefree attitude creates a tension between joy and danger. The setting allows the poem to explore what freedom might look like when completely unmoored from context, consequences, and even survival.
2. How does the poem use humor to address serious themes? The poem employs comic details—not flossing for twenty years, throwing trash in a lake, singing karaoke with no time limit—to address themes of mortality and isolation. The humor disarms the reader, making the darker implications of "the last of us" more poignant. This tonal shift from playful to somber in the final lines mirrors how real acts of escapism can blur the line between liberation and despair.
3. Why does the poem name specific artists (Cher and Jewel) rather than leaving music choices generic? Cher and Jewel are both performers known for strong, individualistic personas. Cher's career spans decades of reinvention, while Jewel's early work is associated with intimate, confessional songwriting. By naming them, the poem gives the two speakers distinct artistic identities. The choices also ground the poem in late-20th/early-21st-century pop culture, suggesting these characters are not timeless archetypes but people shaped by a specific cultural moment—which makes their isolation on Mars even more pointed.