Stranger In A Strange Land
January 6, 1985
A review of "Stranger In A Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein.
Copyright © 1998 Property of Deborah K. Fletcher. All rights reserved.
The book that I read was Stranger In A Strange Land. It was ritten by Robert A. Heinlein. It was published by Berkley Books of New York.
The title of this book was probably meant to attract attention to the fact that the min character was unlike the other characters. It may also have been meant to point out that the state of affairs on Earth at the time of the story was apparently a constant SNAFU.
The main setting of Stranger In A Strange Land was Earth in the early- to mid-twenty-first century. Earth's government had been reformed so that the entire planet was ruled by a Secretary General. Ground travel had become nearly obsolete and most people travelled in hovercraft. Two missions had been sent to Mars. One had been lost; the other had found and rescued the sole survivor of the first. There was a great deal of conflict on Earth concerning custody of the survivor. He was wanted by politicians, scientists, and the military.
The final part of the setting was the most important part to the story. This was because the survivor of the first mission to Mars was the main character of the story. He was the Man-Martian Valentine Michael Smith.
The protagonist in Stranger In A Strange Land was Valentine Michael Smith, commonly known as Mike. One of his most important traits was a total adherence to Martian law and customs, which were the only laws and customs he had ever known. Mike considered himself to be a Martian. It was not until two-thirds of the way into the book that he believed that he was human.
The antagonist in Stranger In A Strange Land was the government. The giovernment tried at various times to take Mike into custody or to make him disappear. This was because he was considered to be too dangerous to have around. The government was afraid of him.
In the course of the story, and the final third in particular, many characters changed. Mike started a church and converted Jews, Catholics, Atheists, and Protestants. His church preached a new philosophy: "Thou art God." It taught total awareness and all the members were at peace with themselves, each other, and the world.
Mike's total devotion to the teachings of Mars contributed greatly to his success and the success of the church. His own total self-awareness was projected to all those around him. Without it, his church probably could not have succeeded.
I neither admired nor disliked any characters in the book. They were all equally convincing and well-rounded, in my opinion. I felt that they were all well-constructed and that they all unfolded equally well in the course of the story.
Mike's rearing on Mars was the main factor that made him the way he was. He was taught to respect the Old Ones of Martian society and to take no credit for his own successes, as all such credit belonged to the Old Ones. He was taught total honesty. He was also taught to place total trust and faith in those he was close to. He was taught that those who had shared water with him (a Martian custom, important because of the scarcity of water on Mars) could not do anything to harm him or to lead him astray.
Mike's main connection with the plot was that the plot was caused by his existence. Jill's connection with the plot was in the fact that she had been the first person to take an active interest in Mike's welfare on Earth. She had helped him to escape from the government and had taught him Earth's customs. Jubal's connection with the plot was the fact that he took Mike and Jill into his home and became Mike's lawyer. Ben was connected to the plot for two reasons: he was Jill's boyfriend and became jealous of Mike, and he was a newspaperman and tried to uncover the government's plot to get rid of Mike. Mr. Douglas was connected to the plot because he was the head of the government.
The main problem that Jubal was confronted with was the problem of ensuring Mike's safety. He also had to protect Mike's interests, which included a controlling share of Lunar Enterprises, the largest source of income for the government. His interests also included sovereign ownership of Mars. Jubal finally settled the problem by having Mike place Mr. Douglas in charge of all of his affairs.
The main turning point of the story was when Mike discovered the meaning of being human. At that point he decided to show all of humanity that life need not be wretched. In order to do this, he founded his church.
The main plot was very realistic, however the scenes in Heaven were very unrealistic. The angels just stood about and chatted or argued about affairs on Earth. Some of the stunts which Mike pulled off were also unrealistic, but must be attributed to his upbringing.
I felt that the ending suited the story in that Mike's martyrdom proved that he was truly dedicated to his preaching. He died by stoning so that his disciples would be free to continue their ministry. The ending almost paralleled the death of Jesus in the Bible; he was killed so his followers could continue to spread his truth.
For all the philosophies stated in Stranger In A Strange Land, there did not seem to be a universal truth involved, outside the plot. It seemed to be written for entertainment alone.
This novel has not influenced my thinking, though i am certain that it could if I allowed it to, since I am very impressionable.
My awareness of social problems has not been affected, either. This is because no current social problem was stated clearly enough to affect my thinking.
I think the book would make a very successful movie. I cannot name the actors who I would cast for the movie, however, because I have almost no knowledge of actors or actresses.
I do not feel that there were any particularly strong or weak parts in Stranger In A Strange Land, I feel that all parts were equally strong.
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