Robert A. Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in Robert A. Heinlein's classic science fiction novel "Stranger in a Strange Land" (1961), the character Mike, the son of lost astronauts from Earth, is raised on Mars by Martians, and returns to Earth only as an adult, making him the "stranger in a strange land". The author points out that the title may refer to the 'Book of Exodus' from the "Old Testament" where Moses names his firstborn son "Gershom" meaning "a stranger there"; however, the usual interpretation is that Mike, the "stranger in the strange land", is a Christ-like figure. The paper concludes that, like Jesus, Mike seeks to make the earth a better place; however, a better analogy is to parallel Mike to the Old Testament's Moses rather than the New Testament's Jesus.

From the Paper:

"In other ways, though, Mike is nothing like Jesus. First, Mike is indisputably the orphaned son of two Earthlings; while Jesus either was or was not (depending on one's religious convictions and viewpoint) the son of God. Jesus, however, knew Mary and Joseph as his parents on earth, even if Joseph was perhaps not Jesus' real father; while Mike, on the other hand, never knew his parents."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Heinlein, Robert A. Stranger in a Strange Land. New York: Putnam's, 1961.

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• Poem Review # 32952 : "The Stranger in The Poems of Robert Frost"

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