Farnham's Freehold (1964)

Robert A. Heinlein

Baen Publishing, Riverdale, NY; ISBN: 0-671-72206-9; Pages: 333

Although not the best of Heinlein's works in terms of writing or even ideas, it is certainly a worthwhile read. The novel sort of addresses things that were surely taboos when it was written. It is all the more exciting once you realize that little has changed in the 90s except that same taboos went from socially unacceptable to politically incorrect. As usual, the story features a strong male protagonist, Hugh, and a (sometimes even stronger) female, Barbara. The plot itself is uncomplicated but the pace is lively, the narrative engaging, and there are several places where the reader is glued to the seat, reading on and on, just like watching a good film, impatient to see how the story will unfold. This reviewer was not able to put the book down until he turned the last page.

The year is around 1963 (the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is mentioned), the Cold War is raging, and the nuclear scare is in full swing. Hugh (around sixty) and Grace (an alcoholic) are married, with two children, Duke and Karen, and a male servant (a Negro boy) named Joseph. On the night the story begins, they are at their house, playing contract with a female classmate of their daughter's, Barbara. The bomb warning comes, and the whole group barely manages to escape to the bomb shelter that Hugh has built before the first nuke hits. The third blast (from a neutron bomb) sends them hurling through time, two thousand years into the future. At first, they settle in a daily survival routine, Hugh's estrangement with his wife and son is complete, but the love between him and Barbara results in twins. Soon, however, the group is discovered by the Chosen Ones, a negroid race who now rules the Earth. The whites are bred like animals, as servants and for food. The Chosen possess advanced technology and live in a stagnant decadent society loosely based on Muslim principles. Hugh serves a stint as a Chief Researcher to his new master, while constantly plotting the escape of his family (sans ex-wife and son). By now, Grace has become the bedwarmer to the master, and Duke has been castrated to keep her company. After his attempt is foiled, Hugh is forced to participate in a time-travel experiment which would return him, Barbara, and their two children to the 20th century. They survive the ordeal, the nukes (again), but this time they manage to settle, with Hugh vowing never to permit the existence of the Chosen Ones.

The bare-bones summary does not do justice to some of the complicated twists and intricate ideas in the story. First, there's the original marriage -- Hugh helpless to stop his wife's slide into drunken stupor (a reference to RAH's first wife, perhaps?), and Duke's resentment toward his father for allowing it. As soon as they are in the shelter, the first serious confrontation explodes and ends with Duke's pants down and Joe pointing a gun at him, on Hugh's orders. Hugh takes command of the family, his authoritarian manner strangely contrasting with his laissez-faire philosophy. On that first night, he makes love to young Barbara. More convention is broken as the family is forced to hop around in the buff, making Joe extremely uncomfortable (for unknown, presumed-gentlemanly reasons). Duke's racism manifests itself on several occasions, as does Grace's, which in her case is blended with resentment towards Barbara (the pregnant whore). As it turns out, Karen has become pregnant by some friends of hers and she dies giving birth to her daughter, who dies a day later. This, however, is not before she has made clear to her father that she would rather sleep with him than her brother (in the interests of propagating the race). Barbara also concedes to marry whoever Hugh chooses (i.e. either Duke or Joe) but he divorces from Grace and marries her instead. Although not shocking, these arrangements would surely provoke the more prudish among the readers.

The other (and more bizarre) part of the story begins when they are discovered by the Chosen Ones. Briefly, after the nuclear-biological-chemical war, most of the white race is wiped out, and the negroid (actually, a cross between black and latino) race comes to dominate. The whites (this includes mongoloids) are specifically bred to remain short, and docile. The language is simple and is designed to reflect the caste system, with specific inflections used to denote one's rank (or lack thereof) in society. Servants also have several classes: studs (used for breeding), sluts (same purpose, also serve as bedwarmers to their masters), department heads (who run different parts of the household), and so on. Slaves are subjected to all sorts of indignities, such as cutting off thumbs, castration, and muting. Perversely, they are all content with their lot, and even treat these atrocities as sign of benevolence (as they mean advancing up in the slave hierarchy). Finally, all slaves are encouraged to drink, snort, smoke, or eat, Happiness, which is a drug that keeps them numb to all adversity. The lineage of the Chosen passes through the female line, but from uncle to nephew (not father to son). Because of this, family is extremely important but wives and children are not. The Chosen keep extensive households, complete with harems. The political and religious are fused into one well-ordered society, which lacks innovation. Slavery, however, is not the only new feature -- the Chosen are partial to the flesh of young whites. Since it would be bad taste to eat members of one's own household, they breed them as livestock in special farms.

As this society reveals its nature with mundane horrors, the worst is yet to come -- in the toll that the inhuman arrangements will exact on the ``savages.'' Grace, hateful and spiteful of her ex-husband, becomes the bedwarmer for their master. Duke, who at first tries to rebel, especially after thinking that his mother is being raped by niggers (not true), sets into his own routine, with a heavy dose of Happiness, and finally (on his mother's insistence) is tempered (castrated) and brought in to live with her. The two are broken, without much resistance, and become slovenly and repulsing. Joe, whose race has instantly made him a Chosen, enjoys the privileges of his status, but shows remarkable restraint toward Grace and Duke (at whose hands, he has suffered many indignities). His fondness of Hugh and Barbara does not, however, urge him to help them much, and he fades into the background as another forgettable character. The strongest line runs through Hugh and Barbara -- his fierce love of freedom cannot tolerate even the gilded oppression he is subjected to. Facing bad odds, outwitted at almost any occasion, he struggles to preserve his identity, and his pride, while balancing those with the necessities of survival. Eventually, even he comes close to the breaking point, when he must choose between a sterile life with his wife and children, and death. He wavers, but she adamantly refuses to submit to such existence, and is prepared to sacrifice herself, the twins, and Hugh, if necessary. The scene is moving as the spirit of liberty triumphs over adversity and fear.

Although not profound, the novel has a consistent and coherent message. This reviewer, who has many in common with Hugh, could not be shocked by the breaking of taboos, or norms of political correctness. In fact, the obvious ease with which Hugh and Barbara share their love is refreshing. As is the notion that one must accept the inevitable and struggle for the impossible. Given the circumstances, make the most of it, never despair, but always preserve your dignity as a human being. A straightforward, if often unheeded, call. One cannot be responsible for others, he can only help them be responsible for themselves.

December 15, 1999. BLS