Group C should answer TWO of the following:
Q1: We’ve discussed why Holmes and Batman are the prototype
for the superhero of the 20th century. How might John Carter
function as a prototype for a different kind of ‘hero’? Even though he has a
lot of the superhero in him (Superman, etc.), who else might he remind us of?
Where might we see this in the book itself? (you might also consider that
Burroughs created another iconic figure—Tarzan—in his most famous novel).
Q2: John Carter often criticizes the Green Martians for
being without “the finer feelings and higher humanitarian instincts” (38). How
does he explain how they came to be so savage and unfeeling, especially since
some of them—notably, Sola—have recognizably human instincts? What made them so
“broken” in his opinion?
Q3: When this book was published (1917), various theories of
race and science were often used to explain why one group was superior or more
advanced than another. A Princess of Mars seems to tackle this debate
head-on with its Martian world of Green Martians, Red Martians, and White Apes.
Do you think Burroughs is sympathetic to ideas we would consider racist today?
Or is the book challenging racist stereotypes from the convenient distance of
Mars?
Q4: Though many writers wrote science fiction at this time,
what makes A Princess of Mars such a uniquely ‘American’ novel? How
could John Carter not be mistaken for someone like Sherlock Holmes in his
attitude and beliefs, and why does Mars specifically evoke the American ‘Wild
West’?
Comments
Post a Comment