Robert A. Heinlein: A Stranger in His Own Land

66 Pages·1976·3.318 MB·English

by  George Edgar Slusser

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Stranger in
"';8 Own .cant!
(Jet1rge Zligar Slusser
A Newcastle/Borgo Press Original
THE MILFORD SERIES
Popular Writers of Today
Volume One
A.
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8trllll,.r III
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011111
by
George Edgar Slusser
R. Reginald
The Sorgo Press
San Bernardino, California
MCMLXXVI
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Slusser, George Edgar.
Robert A. Heinlein.
(Popular writers of today) (The Milford series)
1. Heinlein, Robert Anson, 1907- --Criticism and
interpretation.
PS3515.E288z87 813'.5'4 76-6104
ISBN 0-87877-201-4
Excerpts frolll Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein.
©
Cupyright 11)56 by Rohert A. Heinlein.
Reprinted hy permission of Doubleday & Company, Inc.
Excerpts from Have Space Suit - Will Travel hy
Rohert A. Heinlein.
Copyright © J 958 by Rohert A. Hdnlcin.
R(!l'rinterl by permission of Charlc$ Scribncr's Sons.
Excerpts from Stranger in a Strange Land; Farnham's Freehold;
Time Enough for Love.
Copyright ® 1961, }1)64, 1973 respectively by
Robert A. Heinlein.
Reprintrd hy permission of(; .1'. f>utnam's Sons.
Copyright © 1976 by George Edgar Slusser
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be repro
duced in any form without the expressed written consent
of the publisher.
R. Reginald, The Borgo Press is a wholly-owned sub
sidiaryof Lynwyck Realty and Investment Company, Inc.,
P.O. Box 2845, San Bernardino CA 92406.
First 'Printing - March, 1976
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INTRODUCTION
During the past ten years, Robert A. Heinlein has gaint~d
considerable reputation as a writer outside the narrow sphere
of science fiction t~nthusiasts. His works have a(:hieved "hest
seller" status, and several have become cult items among the
college sel. Despite all this attention, Heinlein has rarely been
treated with the serious consideration his work ohvioul'ly
deservt~s. Brian AMiss, for example, in his book Billion Year
Spree, explains Heinlein's career in terms of a shift from ad
venture plots and gadgetry to what he calls "life-style science
fiction." The first sort derives from a naive faith in technology
as the solution to all man's ills, while the second presumably
originates in the scientist's need to reconcile his pursuits with
more "basic" human yalues. This may he the way of science
fiction in general, but it fails to account for Robert Heinlein.
Heinlein has his own "life-style," and his conception of
man and his world has changed little over the years. Rather
than simply show us how things work, he has always been
ready to tell us how they should work. Heinlein is, and always
has been, a dogmatic optimist, a soapbox prcacht:r who
peddles his pet tlu:ories in the guist: of fiction. In Heinlein's
books, science and human valu(:s are complementary, never
contradictory: science is the tool of man as he marehes for
ward to conquer th(~ stars. Heinlein preaches individualil'm,
and to a lar~e extent hal'; praetised it in his own writin~. At'i
Ju bal Harshaw, the wise man of Stranger in a Strange Land,
remark!;: "What I write is intended to reaeh the eustomer -
and arced him, if possible with pity and terror ... or at least
divert the tedium of his hours ... I want praise from the
customer, given in cash because I've reached him - or I don't
want anything." Heinlein believes in authorship as free
enterprise.
This book examines seven of Heinlein's ·recent novels,
and charts his development as a writer over the past twenty
years, from Double Star (1956) to his most recent book,
Time Enough for Love (1973). I have attempted to show
Heinlein at both his strongest and weakest, the best and worst
of his work, although the emphasis must necessarily be on
negative side, since his powers as a writer have declined ap
preciably over the last fifte(~n years. Readers wishing to delve
further are urged to seek out Alexei Panshin's Heinlein in
Dimension. For those interested, I have appended a short
biography of lleinlein, and a bibliography of his books. Most
of his books are available in paperback from one of four
publishcrs: Ace Books, Ballantine Books, Berkley Books, or
Signet Books.
Gcorge Edgar Slusser
Paris, France
January, 1976
II
I.
l. TWINS AND DOUBLES: TIME FOR THE STARS
AND DOUBLE STAR
Time for the Stars, first published in J 956, is a rncdioere
novel in every respect. Its companion piece of the same year,
Double Star, reads somewhat better, but still has serious flaws.
Yc t both of these works bear further examination, for the in
sights they provide in the way Heinlein creates. The two books
share a common structural weakness: in each, tlw elimax of
the story fails to meet the expectationiO of the beginning.
Earlier critics have sometimes explained this tendency by
pointing to the demands of' the genre; science fiction, they
say, requires an inordinate amount of effort from the author
to put together a believable framework, so much so that suh
sequent action can seem antielimatic, and character develop
ment may be almost nonexistent. But in these two novels, the
initial extrapolation is minimal, so we must look elsewhere for
explanations. Heinlein uses a conventional form in both books,
but in each work he turns these conventions inside out. Tlw
result is two hybrids, differing from each other in plot and
form, but very similar in purpose. Heinlein has evidently made!
a conscious effort to remake the science fiction novel in his
own image, to suit his own prejudices and philosophy, and to
use the fictional form as a vehicle for his personal beliefs.
By its very title, Time for the Stars creates the usual ex
pectations: adventure in space, action, conflict, and resolu
tion. The book was published as part of a series of "juvenile"
science fiction novels issued hy Charles Scribner's Sons be
tween 1947 and 1958; as the series progressed, the books
tended to become more adult in level, and the last few were
among the best action fiction Heinlein ever penned. The
story deals with twin brothers, Tom and Pat, who are able to
communicate with each other by telepathy. Tom joins the
spaceship Lewis and Clark, which is seeking new worlds to
2.
coloniz(~ for an ovcrcrowup,u Earth; and, since thought travels
fastt~r than light, the twins are able to maintain communication
despite the distance. Howev(~r, as the ship approaches the
spet~d of light, Pat grows rapidly old(~r back on the home
plalll~t, and evcntually fades away into the background. The
vl~ssl'l then makes two quick landings on newly-discovered
worlds, there is an aLortivl' mutiny, anu in the nick of time all
are n~scued frolll eertain disaster. A new space drive brings
Tom back to Earth in tillll~ for a final dramatic reunion with
his aged brotlwr Pat.
IIl'inlt'in ';(~I~lllS unsure of him:wl!' in the opening SC(~IWS.
A t first it se('lIIS tlw twin,; an~ fighting to s(~e who will go on
the journey; in n~ality, we soon finu that neither wants to
go, Lut the Foundation np'l'ds td'~paths Lo maintain communi
cations bdwecn ton:hships. The aCLion has hegun. Then the
pl'rspt'ctiv,: sudtknly seems to shift. All the clements of a
psychodrama Lt:gin to appt:ar. Tom, tIlt: twin with the in
feriority compk\, is till' narrator; his natural 1II0de is illtro
slwction, not action. Tlw problems he t'nc:ounters would seem
to ill1t~rfat~ with the possibilities for ativt:tlture, but the plot
must mov(' forward when tlw ship tahs uff. N('ither beginning
iH vny compatible with tllt~ ()tllt~r. In the conventional ad
venture story, a young Illan is shaped by the action around
him. Often, as in this book, dIP potential hero is an underdog,
although his inft'riority or unCl~rtainty is rarely more than
sketcl\l'd out by tilt' author. Then the hero is propelled into a
IWW world of action, and becomes a new man, far distant from
his origins. Usually, a final climactic scene forees him to en
counter his former self in some fashion, and the ghost of his
insecurity is finally laid to rest. Heinlein employs this rough
plot d(~vice in several novels, including Have Space Suit - Will
Travel, and the propaganda piece, Starship Troopers; but in
TrrS it has become a mere skeleton, void of any real power to
shape. Instead, the psychological drama dominates the early
part of the novel.
Tht~ twins manage to maintain communication between
themselves for quite a long period, but their initial relationship
is complicated by tlw ~radually developing- tillle lag- l)('lwf'f~1I
tlwrn. A continuing l'f~rif~s of shocks an~ cVf'utually ff~l'olvf~d hy
timc itself: Pat grows too old to communicate, alld g-raduall)
slips away from hi" broLlwr. Only at tltis point is tlw lIarrator
frce to giv(~ his full alll~ntion to the evcnts happl~ning- arou nd
him. And only then, with two-thirds of thc hook 1!:0IW, dOI~s
f1('inlf~iJl finally gd into his story.
Hcinlein lays befon~ Wi two different fiction forms, 01>
jf~divc heroism (fulfillment of sciI' in action), and suhjf~clivf~
heroism ("df-dominatioll through contemplation), and chooscs
neither, tll(~rehy rejf'cting tlw individual. lk plays OIW a~ainst
tlw other, df'lilwratdy Idting them called f~aeh otlJ('r ouL 'I'll('
twins' personal drama is destinl~d to Iw n~solwd hy tlJ(~ very
I:ours(~ of f~venls which originally heightl~llf'd iL Their (kcision
to partieipalf' in I'rojf~et Lt'bcn;;raum lead;; inf'Xorahly to llwir
separatioll. A fter the ship is launclwd, W(~ slowly Leg-in to
realize that tlw f('al subject of the book i;; lhf' projf'f'i it"d f.
Tlw ship is a microcosm, a floating lahoratory, full (If scif~ntists
studyinl!: phenomena apparcntly of no immf'diatf~ USf' to this
particular voyage. TOIll and Pat also hf~eorne ohjerls of stlldy.
Tom',; personal problems are just another casl~ of tinlf' lag,
eonvI~niently provided for by the FOlllulation in the JH'rSOIl of
the ship\; psychologist, who analy.-:es him and prescrihe,.;
therapy. Sueh treatm~llt is in the Lcst interesls of the collective
effort, of the s"ip as a whole, and is olily incidentally df'sig"[](~d
to hdp tlw individual. Tom at OIW point refers to hilllself and
"is fellow!; as ",.;pare parts." And this is exactly what hI' has
h(~eonw, a spaff~ part ill a complex human machilH~.
It is curious that 1I1'inlf'in ChOOSf~S to Iwgin hi" ;;lor) a"
he dOf~s, hec<luse this kind of opening ereaks probll~IIl"; for him
lah~r. Initially, the narrative foells is dOSf~, inward, hi~hl)
personal. Tom tells his t;tle in his OWII wonb, talking almost
I~xclllsivdy ahou t hirnsel f. W IWlI tlJ(' tillle COIllI~S for adven III rt',
e1f~arly the point-of-view must changf' to accolllnlOdalf' tlw
shift in emphasis. If Torn iii to he, a,; tr:ulition df'mallds, til('
Iwro of these adventures, then he lIeeds SOI1W lIew kind of
voiel~ with whiel! to speak. When thl' shift finally dOI~s occur,
4.
it seems awkward, gratuitous, and badly handled. We learn,
halfway through the novel, that we have not been listening to
Tom after all. Instead, we havt~ been reading a diary written at
some later date in response to the therapy prescribed for him
by the ship's psychologist. lIenee, everything in the first part
of the book is not the immediately-experienced reality it
appears to be, but rath(~r a contemplated, rearranged, and
analyzed autobiography: Torn has been looking at himself in
exactly the same way the scientists on the vessel examine their
specimens. II is therapy has freed him to become part of the
colleetiv(~ effort. Indeed, he is much more a part of it than we
ever could have imagined throughout the first part of the
novel. The diary is a writer's trick, to be sure, but a dever one,
and filled with symbolic significance. For now the part can
stand for the whole; removed from the ef~nter of things, Torn
is removed in some way from himself. He eontiIllws to narrate
the story, but only from the pf~riphery of events; his account
of the fmsuing adventures of tlw Lewis and Clark reads more
like a logbook than anything elSf~. Tom has become the voice
of the ship, the historian of a microcosmic human community
embarked upon a special kind of quest.
Just as Tom's voice becomes that of the community, so
do the adventures which traditionally should have been his;
the role of the hero is assumed by the ship and its crew as a
whole. Now that we have left behind the traumas of initial
separation and "slippage," the action plot so long held in
abeyance is ready to begin. The explorers land on two newly
discovered planets, one good for man, the other completely
hostile. Clearly, adventure is being used for the same ex
emplary purposes as the psychodrama of Torn and Pat. Man
and science are one in this novel, and both are groping in the
dark. The interlude on paradise illustrates the moral that man
eVf~ntually tires of the good life, that his real purpose is to
struggle and survive. On the other hand, the terrible destruc
tion and death experienced by the crew on the purposcly
misnamed Elysia demonstrates man's propensity to error, and,
even more importantly, his relative helplessness against the
s.
forces of chaos. The traditional "hero" plays only a minor rol(~
at best in these actions. Because of his value as a tdepath, TOIII
is forbidden to leave the ship. On the safe planet, Constan(:e,
he sets foot on solid ground only after the initial exploration
and testing has been completed. And, in the battle with the
amphibians of Elysia, he must sit quietly by on tlw sidelines,
and watch his comrades be slaughtered. I1is "time [or the
stars" turns out to be just more time to think, to frd, and
to watch.
Those who survive the encounter with the IJeasts face
the seemingly impossible task of returning home alive. In the
contex t of this Look, it is clear that man alone is irrenwdiably
lost; now it appears that man together will suffer the same
fate. Heinlein borrows an idea from an earlier juvenile, Star
man Jones (1953), ami gives Tom one last heroic action, to
revolt against authority. As in Jones, the hero becomes a figure
of influencc and leadership by the fact that, due to cumulative
losses in ship's personnel, Tom is now the one mall who is
utterly indisp.:nsable, the only one who stands a chance of
pulling the ship through. Jn Sj, however, Jones triumphs, and
thereby proves himself as an individual; Tom, on the other
hand, neither succ.~eds nor fails, but gives in to the unconvinc
ing advice of the Commander, Unele Steve, who acts as Tom's
father figure in the book. The Captain is always right. Whether
tht: advice is right or wrong is irrelevant; the collective wisuorn
dictat(~s the necessity of ending the mutiny, and individual
morality does not apply here. If man is already weak, dividing
his forces can only make him weaker. Once again, action is
intended to exemplify, to reassert the reader's faith in team
work.
We learn from what follows that this collective effort
bears results, in an ironic kind of fashion. All throughout the
voyage, scientists on board the vessel have been pursuing tlH'ir
own personal manias, sending back data to Earth in the spirit
of pure research, with no specific applications in mind. En
gineers on the home planet have had the ben~fit of many years
of elapsed objective time, and have managed to devdop a