Deborah
ENGL 3850-02N
Sci-Fi Lit
Dr. Coats

20 February, 1997

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote A Princess of Mars in 1912. His vision of Mars contains many of the definite elements of science fiction. His Mars was home to not one alien species but several, ranging from the ape-like White Martians to the warfaring Green Martians to the peace-loving, scientifically advanced Red Martians. Burroughs' novel is an adventure novel, true, but it also explores in great detail the intricacies of the relationships between the species and sexes.

John Carter astrally projects himself to Mars from his dying body on Earth. He wakes to find himself in a situation where he encounters the Green Martians. They are, at first glance, a very belligerent race. They carry large, powerful rifles with advanced technology to allow them to kill with perfect accuracy from unheard-of distances. Their mounts are fearsome creatures:

The Green Martians themselves are very different in physiology from John Carter. About fifteen feet tall, they possess six appendages in comparison to the human four. The extra two can double as legs or as arms- whichever is necessary to the task at hand. Their mouths contain sharp, curved tusks that could be used as extra weapons in close combat. But the eyes of a Green Martian, if looked at from a Terran (Earth-dwelling) point of view, are incongruous with their predatory qualities. Terran predators have eyes that are set closely together to help them focus sharply on their prey. The prey, on the other hand, have eyes that are set high and far apart in order to have a wider range of view. The Green Martians are indeed predators on Mars, yet their eyes- to a human- are those of prey. Perhaps it is this inconsistency that disturbs John Carter.

The Green Martians find pleasure in the pain and suffering of others. They capture prisoners and torture them to death. Carter escapes this fate by proving himself to be a novelty: The weaker pull of Martian gravity allows him to leap to impressive heights. He also gains the appreciation of the Green Martians by knocking one out upon his first court appearance and later killing two of the strongest chieftains in fair combat. They only reproduce to fill the ranks with more soldiers; on the whole, they have no maternal or paternal instincts at all. Indeed, such instincts are strongly objectionable to them. Their eggs are incubated in community hives and raised by the collective.

The Red Martians are the most like Terrans in physiology. They are bipedal and possess only two arms. Their height is the same as the average Terran's. Their head is similarly shaped like a Terran's and the eyes are in the forward focusing position. However, they are the scientifically minded Martians. They focus their energies on technology and knowledge rather than war and pain. They have machines that sail through the Martian skies to defend their stake of Martian soil. They fight out of necessity and defense. When Dejah Thoris, a Red Martian, is captured by the Green Martians, only one Green Martian speaks in her defense. Dejah Thoris is defended in a speech by Sola, a Green Martian who possesess many non-Green Martian qualties such as loyalty and friendship. She is an outcast defending a prisoner.

Of course, the Red Martians do have civil strife and fight among themselves, but they do not do so for fun or sport; they fight for political power. But so do the Green Martians. Maybe these two races have even more in common than they think. John Carter sees this and eventually rallies a group of Green Martians to attack a Red Martian city to save a Red Martian princess.

John Carter, as a human, has the better qualities of both the Green and Red Martians in his psyche. He fights with the fierce determination and wild abandon of the Green Martians, yet he also has the cerebral capabilities that the Red Martians find to be the defining quality of their race. As an added human superiority, John Carter learns the languages of the Green and Red Martians, while his remains as mystery to them. When he discovers his telepathic powers, he gains another advantage: He can read their minds, yet they cannot fathom his.

This combination allows him to gain the respect of both races. Once he gains the mutual respect of the Red and Green Martians, he brings them together to work in peace and unity. His Terran superiority allows him to accomplish in less than a year what millions of years of evolution was unable to on Mars. When the advanced machinery vital to the survival of the planet begins to break down, he alone has the capability to open the doors that have been locked through psychic powers. John Carter co-exists peacefully with the Red and Green Martians because he understands both sides of the issue.

The gender issues in A Princess of Mars are very intricate. There are Terran-Green Martian relationships, Terran-Red Martian relationships, and Green Martian-Green Martian relationships. John Carter has a friendly relationship with Sola, a Green Martian assigned to his welfare by the Council of chieftains. She has a different point of view than most of the Green Martians. John Carter realizes this early on.

Sarkoja, however, is a more typical Green Martian female. She hates Carter from the first moment their paths cross. She attempts to defame him and cause him to lose his newfound status among the Green Martians. When he kills a Green Martian chieftain in Dejah Thoris' defense, her rage knows no bounds. Since she has no way to directly affect Carter, she harasses Dejah Thoris and Sola. She also tries to get a non-chieftain Green Martian to kill Carter. This unsuccessful attempt only serves to make Carter more wary of her plotting. Carter cannot directly harm Sarkoja, either, but eventually he gains the upper hand in the struggle. He informs Tars Tarkis of her long-seated treachery when Tarkis gains power. Tarkis banishes Sarkoja from civilization as punishment.

Sola is the daughter of Tars Tarkis. He and her mother were deeply in love- not Green Martian custom. When her birth (or hatching) was discovered, her mother refused to name the father to Sarkoja. Though Sola knew, she refused to dishonor her mother and endanger her father with this knowledge. She remained silent in her servitude under Tars Tarkis for many years. When her birth is finally revealed, Tarkis breaks his race's traditions and acknowledges her as his daughter.

John Carter sees Dejah Thoris, a Red Martian, as a highly desirable female similar to himself. He defends her from the chieftains. He learns her language and tries to abide by her customs, often bumbling badly in the process. He plans escape attempts to rejoin her with her people. When capture is certain, he remains in the path of danger to ensure her safety. When she is captured by a rival clan of Red Martians, he disguises himself and infiltrates the area to regain her safety. He leads an army of Green Martians to halt a political marriage she must make. When they are finally married, he makes certain that the egg produced is safe. At the end of this particular adventure, he sacrifices himself in an attempt to save the planet.

At first glance, A Princess of Mars concerns itself with adventure and exciting happenings, but a deeper reading of this novel uncovers something else. The reader is treated to a complex web of race characteristics and interracial relationships. Edgar Rice Burroughs has created a novel to please even the deepest reader of Science Fiction literature. His characters, though alien, have many recognizable facets and qualities. They are unique and fascinating, fitting characters for a unique and fascinating science fiction novel.

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