Red Planet (1949, Uncut Version)

Robert A. Heinlein

Del Rey, New York; ISBN: 0-345-34039-6; Pages: 196

This is one of the best of RAH's ``juvies.'' Although not nearly as speculative as his adult material, it nevertheless is an engaging read, with suspense, action, unlikely heroes, philosophical musings, and an absolutely endearing creature. The recent edition (1990) is the fully uncut novel like RAH intended it to be and before the butchers at Scribner's got their (her) dirty little hands on it. It is incomprehensible to this truly jaded modern spirit what in the world the editor found offensive or subverting. The whole issue about the gun-totting colonists and their children is relatively mild to some of the stuff we have been hearing from the NRA these days. The licensing scheme is ludicrous (it would have been much simpler to just dispense with this formality). As usual, RAH's ideas of personal liberty dominate the narrative, and although the colonists almost manage to get themselves killed and/or evicted, the sentiment rings true to the reader.

Earth-humans have recently settled on Mars. They have two main colonies, one to the North and another to the South, between which they migrate annually, to avoid the cold winter season. The planet has its own native residents, some dangerous (like the water-seekers), others funny and friendly, though rare (like the bouncers), and yet others---the real Martians, three-legged 12-feet tall creatures who live in their own cities and keep away from humans, although they have given them permission to settle.

Jim Marlowe, a young boy about to go to school, has befriended one of the bouncers, whom he calls Willis. This Martian is one of the most memorable and loveable creatures ever to populate a fictional story. The little furry ball, who grows tendrils as the occasion calls, follows Jim with complete devotion and has but one obvious talent: she can reproduce sounds exactly as heard, polyphonous and long, like a perfect recorder. Jim takes Willis with him and Frank (a friend of his) to Lowell Academy, in the city of Cyrtis Minor, about a thousand miles from their home at Charax, the Martian dwelling with South Colony nearby.

Midway to their destination, the scooter which is taking them to Cyrtis stops for a lay over at Cynia Station. Jim, Frank, and Willis wander off to see the Martian town nearby and get acquainted with a Martian named Gekko, with whom they share water, a ritual which makes them something like brothers.

At the academy, the new headmaster Howe gives everyone grief by trying to turn the school into barracks with an endless stream of oppressive rules and regulations. He takes Willis from Jim charging that pets are not allowed at school but Jim decides to recover his friend. He does that with Frank's help only to discover that Willis has unwittingly been witness to a sinister plot hatched by the Company's representative, Beecher, and Howe. The scheme will discontinue the annual migrations of the colonists thereby opening the second colony to new settlers (more profit). Jim and Frank decide they have to go home and warn everybody about the plan. They set out on a long trek, first with a scooter until they are abandoned at Cynia, and then on foot, skating down the icy canals of Mars. With the help of the Martians, they manage to reach home and deliver the news.

The colonists, led by Jim's father, decide to challenge the Agent General, board their scooters and migrate anyway. They reach Cyrtis Minor, where they confront Beecher but due to incompetent leadership, find themselves boxed in the building of the academy, with sharp shooters taking down anyone who ventures out. Jim sends Willis with a plea for help to the Martians but before she returns, the colonists find a way to break the stalemate and take charge of the situation. When the Martians finally show up, the make Howe and Beecher disappear, after which they deliver an ultimatum to the colonists: get off Mars!

Beecher's intention to sell Willis to a zoo, and the earthlings' inability to resolve matters amicably have strained the fine sensibilities of the Martians. However, the strong bond between Willis and Jim makes them compromise and they let the colonists stay (who promptly declare autonomy from Earth). It turns out Willis is a Martian in her first stage of development. She is to go into hibernation for around forty years to emerge a real Martian, which is, however, only their second stage of life. From thence they go into the ``other world'' to become something like ghosts, except real but timeless.

There are three main themes throughout: the right to bear arms, the way to organize government voluntarily, and how these relate to personal liberty. Although not completely worked out, it is easy to see how a frontier society will need its weapons, even for children too young to vote. The democratic assembly quickly turns into the tyranny of the majority, as in most RAH novels, which offers only a limited vision of democracy. Finally, Jim's acute sense of freedom (which he finds challenged left and right, often with no good reason) does not allow him to treat Willis as a pet, but as a friend, much to the good fortune of his fellow colonists. I hate to think what the Martians would have done if they thought Willis was in some kind of home zoo!

The novel is excellent, not for its profundity, but for its engrossing narrative, with meticulous attention to scientific detail---just read carefully the depiction of Mars, its weather patterns, the canals, the heliotropic cabbage, and the sky to realize how careful RAH has been. The dialogue is so-so, considering the brilliant conversationalists in the later works, but the story moves fast, poses difficult questions, and pretends to find no answers. The Martians never reveal much of their enigmatic identity and we are left to wonder what the big mistake of the first colonists has been (alluded to several times but never explained). For these reasons, this is one of my favorite juveniles.

January 15, 2000. BLS