Stanley G. Weinbaum's "A Martian Odyssey," Frederic Brown's "Arena," and Frank Belknap Long's "Invasion" portray a variety of aliens. The alien is a type of character common to many science fiction works. We have talked about how other worlds or aliens or machines can be considered metaphors of our society and times. In a well developed essay, explore the theme of alien encounters in the stories mentioned above. You may want to compare the ways in which the authors see the significance of "the alien," or think about "the alien" as a typical character in science fiction and compare it with characters in mainstream fiction. Your conclusion should bring together all the ideas about aliens you have developed in the paper and define the possible significance of "the alien" as an element of science fiction.