The Princess of Mars Themes

Torn between Two Worlds: A lesson in acceptance of “the other”

In Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, A Princess of Mars many socially stringent issues come to the forefront of the novel. A Princess of Mars deals with issues of race by employing John Carter as “the other” who is torn between two completely different social structures, the old American way, and the new Martian way. Burroughs uses John Carter’s character to show the striking hypocrisy which the United States dealt with racial issues of the American Indian in the 1850’s into the early Twentieth Century. John Carter a Captain who served in the American Civil War is given the opportunity to resolve the racial subversion found on Mars, an opportunity not presented to him on Earth.

Upon initial discovery, John Carter makes a lasting impression upon Mar’s Martians. He proves to not only be the strongest and most agile warrior, jumping up to windows, across the landscape and out of harm’s way numerous times, but also proves to be the most intellectual being on the planet. When he enters the Atmosphere Factory he states in his manuscript that, “I did not apprise [the old man] of my ability to sense his mental operations, and thus I learned a great deal which proved of immense value to me later and which I would never have known had he suspected my strange power”(112). John Carter learns the secret of how to open the doors to the Atmosphere Factory which, many years later results in him saving Mars and becoming the ultimate hero and saviour of the Martian race. This would seem to some readers to reflect a certain American ideological standard. It draws distinct connections with the stereotyping placed upon the American Indians. It could be construed that this story shows that the American way is the most civilized, while the American Indian is an animalistic being that must be tamed. John Carter is the civilized hero being captured and threatened in two different worlds by two different, but...