“The Love Affair” is one of those odd “chapter-out” stories. It could have been listed in the chapter headings of the classic, “The Martian Chronicles.” But here, it remains alone, like the character Sio, who has practically isolated himself from his people, and specifically from the Earthmen that have come to Mars. The disease the Earthmen have brought has killed off many of the Martians, and Sio is afraid.

Bradbury weaves a scenario together involving Sio the Martian, and an Earthwoman out on vacation. But as Bradbury is known to use metaphors to explain other meanings than what may seem to be on the surface, we have before us a rather suggestive question: is Sio meeting this Earthwoman because of an unstoppable attraction that may indeed be nontheless fatal? Or is Bradbury describing the fears thru metaphors he had about meeting women when he was a very young man? You decide.

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