Stranger in a Strange Land

Stranger in a Strange Land, written by Robert A. Heinlein, is set in a future United States where organized religions are politically powerful. The book opens up with a ship returning from a trip to Mars with an interesting passenger, Michael Valentine Smith, the son of crewmembers from a previous voyage to the planet. He was born on the ship twenty-five years ago and raised by Martians until he came to Earth. The story focuses on Michael’s adaptation to humans and their culture. In Stranger in a Strange Land, Heinlein questions and criticizes major axioms of western culture by following Michael Valentine Smith as he explores Earth through fresh, naïve eyes and experiences new-to-him but otherwise normal human concepts such as religion, the opposite sex, and sex itself. One of the most significant aspects of humanity, and western culture in particular, experienced by Michael for the first time is the concept of religion. In Stranger in a Strange Land, religion seems to present itself similarly to how religion is presented in the real world—there are several very popular groups who believe their…

The story Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein describes the life of a modern day “prophet” who is born in a spaceship during an expedition to the planet Mars. His name is Valentine “Mike” Smith and although his life was short it was extraordinary. When he is 25 years old he is returned to his people on Earth and begins to live a life unlike any other. He learns how normal humans act and discovers how horrible humans truly are and believes that he can cure humanity using his martian…

This paper will review and evaluate the article written by Carole M. Cusack, the professor at the University of Sydney. The article is called “Science Fiction as Scripture: Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and the Church of All Worlds” and was published in journal Literature and Aesthetics in 2009. At that point professor Cusack was already a recognized expert on Religion Studies and Contemporary Religious Trends. She received her Bachelor degree in Religious Studies and English…

Reno begins the discussion of Stranger in a Strange Land by explaining how Heinlein was able to develop the material for the novel through the already present concepts in the 1950s. However, not only does Heinlein use the 1950’s social culture as inspiration for sexual exploitation of female characters, but Heinlein also uses inspiration from the Whorfian hypothesis in order to develop Smith’s Martian background. Reno states that the Whorfian hypothesis is the basic idea that people see the…

they are passionate about and to put in the effort to persuade the class to see their point. Most students are very passionate about something, whether it is something simple like sports and cars or something with a large impact at a national or global level, such as global warming and abortion. This assignment gives them the ability to choose any topic they like. Since most students do not care too much for school work this is an important aspect of the assignment; if it is boring or they…

describes this through the process of how multiple beings rely on each other for survival. Morton describes this as, “Water and air are like hair and feathers. Living and nonliving beings become the medium in which other beings exist.” (Morton 61) He also goes on to say, “There is no static background. What we call Nature is monstrous and mutating, strangely strange all the way down and all the way through.” (Morton 61) Morton is describing that the evolution of the beings that live on Earth has…

What Caused Scientists to Think Honeybees Turned into ZomBees? Amy Barth’s purpose in writing “Rise of the ZomBees!” is to recount that scientists think bees are turned into ZomBees. John Hafernik, the biologist, spotted bees walking in circles on the sidewalk outside of his lab. Because of this strange behavior, Hafernik put them in a container. John Hafernik discovered that the bees have died in the container and with them were tiny brown pupae. Hafernik figured out that when a female zombie…

In Abdul Wali’s short story, ‘They Die Strangers’, at least two of his characters demonstrate how strangers are perceived in two different worlds, one being in a village in Yemen and the other in Ethiopia. It starts with Saleh Said a relative to the main character Abdou Said. Saleh Said only appears in the minds of the village women who seem amazed at his ability to construct a three story house, which becomes the main topic in the village corners. These talks make Abdou Saidto emigrate to…

“Land, land!” I was out playing with my childhood friend when we heard shouting. What we caught a glimpse of was the strangest thing we could possibly think. We were hidden behind the trees so that ‘it’ could not see us. What could they possibly be? As my curiosity grew stronger, I could no longer help it and went out to meet them. My friend tried to stop me, but was unable to, so he had no choice but to follow me in my adventure. Once they noticed us, they tried speaking to us in a language we…

Imagine living in a world that is entirely distraught and inhumane in which you are being entitled to a limited amount of freedom and no form of expression whatsoever. Where having any sense of individuality or the desire to be different is dead, and the only way to rejoice is through ingesting drugs. Not such a pleasant world, is it? This corrupt society is seen in Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, where a number of different thematic concepts are explored; stranger in a strange land being…