Imagery and Character Symbolism in A Princess of Mars: A Critical Exploration

 

Martian Symbolism

AI-generated picture by Prof. Jonathan Acuña Solano in November 2025

Introductory Note to the Reader      Having watched the movie John Carter, I felt drawn to examine Edgar Rice Burroughs’s A Princess of Mars through the lens of imagery and character symbolism, using the analytical instrument I have created for my narrative students at the university.      I wanted to see what the story reveals about how Burroughs’s vivid descriptions of Martian landscapes, color motifs, and tactile sensations help construct the symbology behind the setting and its principal characters, John Carter, Dejah Thoris, and Tars Tarkas, who represent distinct human ideals and cultural tensions.      My literary exploration goes beyond the adventure aspects of the novel; I want to invite readers to uncover deeper philosophical and ecological arguments embedded in the narrative.

Imagery and Character Symbolism in A Princess of Mars: A Critical Exploration

	Abstract This paper analyzes Edgar Rice Burroughs’s A Princess of Mars through the framework of imagery and character symbolism using Acuña-Solano’s Character Analysis Worksheet. By examining the novel’s panoramic landscapes, chromatic contrasts, and tactile descriptions, the study reveals how Burroughs constructs an intricate symbolic universe that extends beyond mere adventure. The planetary decay of Barsoom, the complex racialized color imagery, and the archetypal roles embodied by John Carter, Dejah Thoris, and Tars Tarkas illustrate the novel’s engagement with ecological anxiety, cultural hybridity, gender expectations, and moral evolution. This analysis positions A Princess of Mars as an early exploration of environmental consciousness and cross-cultural ethics, making its themes relevant for contemporary readers.	Keywords: Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars, Imagery, Symbolism, Eco-Criticism, Character Analysis, Color Motifs, Cultural Allegory, Science Fiction Studies
	Resumen Este artículo analiza A Princess of Mars de Edgar Rice Burroughs mediante un enfoque centrado en la imaginería literaria y el simbolismo de personajes, utilizando el Character Analysis Worksheet de Acuña-Solano. Al examinar los paisajes marcianos, los contrastes cromáticos y las descripciones sensoriales, el estudio demuestra cómo Burroughs construye un universo simbólico complejo que trasciende la narrativa de aventura. La decadencia ecológica de Barsoom, la imaginería racializada y los arquetipos representados por John Carter, Dejah Thoris y Tars Tarkas revelan preocupaciones relacionadas con el medio ambiente, la hibridación cultural, las normas de género y la evolución moral. Este análisis posiciona la novela como una exploración temprana de la conciencia ecológica y la ética intercultural, relevante para lectores del siglo XXI.
	Resumo Este artigo examina A Princess of Mars, de Edgar Rice Burroughs, por meio de uma abordagem centrada nas imagens literárias e no simbolismo das personagens, utilizando o Character Analysis Worksheet de Acuña-Solano. Ao analisar as paisagens de Marte, os contrastes cromáticos e as descrições táteis, o estudo revela como Burroughs cria um universo simbólico que ultrapassa a simples aventura. A decadência ecológica de Barsoom, a imagética racializada e os arquétipos representados por John Carter, Dejah Thoris e Tars Tarkas evidenciam reflexões sobre consciência ambiental, hibridização cultural, papéis de gênero e evolução moral. Assim, a novela é posicionada como uma obra pioneira na discussão de temas ecológicos e éticos que permanecem relevantes na contemporaneidade.

Introduction

Prof. Acuña-Solano’s Character Analysis Worksheet (n.d.) provides a comprehensive method to study the physical, social, and psychological dimensions of fictional characters. Applying this instrument to Edgar Rice Burroughs’s A Princess of Mars (1917/2005) uncovers a complex interplay between imagery and symbolism that transcends the novel’s adventure surface. Burroughs’s Barsoom is not merely a backdrop for interplanetary romance and combat; it is a moral and philosophical landscape. Through vivid visual detail and archetypal characterization, Burroughs crafts a meditation on civilization, ecological decline, and human resilience.

Taken for educational purposes from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Princess_of_Mars#/media/File:Princess_of_Mars_large.jpg 

Imagery in A Princess of Mars

Burroughs’s depiction of Mars is both panoramic and full of sadness. His barren seas, ruined cities, and fading canals evoke a world haunted by loss that was once but won’t be anymore. Filonenko (2022) observes that “Burroughs’ depictions of landscape … repeatedly underscore that Mars is a dead landscape … a terrain wracked by interracial and intertribal conflict resultant from the planet’s endemic resource scarcity” (p. 127). This interpretation frames Barsoom as an active moral presence, a planet conscious of its extinction and groups of Martians wanting to survive despite the bareness of the planet.

John Carter’s journey across these dying terrains amplifies that desolation: “We were twenty days upon the road, crossing two sea bottoms and passing … through or around a number of ruined cities … Twice we crossed the famous Martian waterways … and then camp until dark, when we would slowly approach the cultivated tract … creep silently … across to the arid lands …” (Burroughs, 1917/2005, p. 58). The sensory layering, motion, silence, and ruin, converts travel narrative into lamentation, situating Carter as both explorer and mourner. The readers can activate all their senses while traveling with Carter along all those indomitable dusty run-down places and landscapes.

Color imagery further intensifies meaning of the story’s plot. The contrast between the “red-skinned” Martians of Helium and the “green-skinned” Tharks becomes a visual metaphor for social division and potential unity. According to GradeSaver (n.d.), “the imagery of the green- and red-skinned Martians serves to underscore the essential differences between the cultures of Earth and the cultures of Mars, but … that they are all essentially similar powerfully demonstrates the surface-level value of skin color.” This color polarity present in the narrative of Burroughs critiques superficial hierarchies while exposing the fragility of identity in a decaying world.

Burroughs also uses tactile and chromatic imagery to construct Dejah Thoris as both aesthetic ideal and emblem of vitality: “Her skin was of a light reddish copper color, against which the crimson glow of her cheeks and the ruby of her lips shone with a strangely enhancing effect” (Burroughs, 1917/2005, para. 42). Her description fuses sensuality with her position in Helium’s monarch family, suggesting that physical beauty symbolizes moral endurance amid planetary decline.

Character Representation and Symbolism

Using Acuña-Solano’s framework, each major figure in A Princess of Mars embodies a moral or philosophical archetype.

	John Carter
·       Carter epitomizes the heroic mediator (a man form Earth whose integrity bridges cultures, something is noted when he declares, “I measured my abilities with those of the mighty Tharks, and I knew that though I might fall, I would never dishonor myself” (Burroughs, 1917/2005, p. 36). ·       His insistence on honor situates him within the tradition of the “noble knight” in Arthurian times, translated into a cosmic setting. As The Brussels Journal (2013) asserts, Burroughs “refined and codified a robust popular masculine narrative … celebrating heroic character, literate knowledge and philosophic inquiry.” ·       Carter’s moral courage transforms conquest into communion, making him an emblem of ethical heroism rather than imperial domination.
Dejah Thoris
·       Based on how Burroughs portraits the princess of Helium, she is a synthesis of nobility, sensuality, and intellectual agency. The novel’s author writes about the princess that “Her face was oval and beautiful in the extreme … her eyes large and lustrous … she was entirely naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her figure” (Burroughs, 1917/2005, paras. 42–43). ·       The absence of adornment accentuates authenticity; Dejah Thoris represents truth unveiled in the eyes of John Carter. Far from a passive damsel in many Arthurian knights’ stories, Dejah negotiates politics and conflict with reason and grace. ·       The Brussels Journal (2013) emphasizes that Burroughs’s heroine “exceeds all in her realized humanity,” rejecting both submissive and militant extremes. And if one refers to the time in which this novel was written, Burroughs is going against the social and personal status quo for women. The princess of Helium is one of a kind.
	Tars Tarkas
·       The green Martian chieftain, the first true friend that Carter makes is Barsoom personifies the paradox of the noble savage. Physically monstrous, “around fifteen feet tall … green skin … double torso … tusks” (Wikipedia, n.d.), Tars Tarkas is nonetheless compassionate, loyal, rational, and an individual ready to learn from his encounters with humans, such as his encounters with Carter. ·       Burroughs contrasts the communal austerity of the Tharks, whose society is “a matter of community interest … coupled with … gloomy, loveless, mirthless existence,” yet “absolutely virtuous” (Liberty Fund, 2023, para. 7). It is by far an “alien” society difficult to understand if one goes by human standards. ·       Tars Tarkas’s rise to leadership, aided by Carter, symbolizes moral evolution: empathy triumphing over brutality, civilization emerging from barbarism. There is a transformation in this character much more evident than when compared to the inhabitants of Zodanga.

Interpretative Discussion

The convergence of imagery and character symbolism produces a multilayered allegory present through John Carter’s narration of his Barsoom adventures. The Martian deserts, dried seas, and ancient, ruined cities, from a symbolism literary approach, mirror ecological and moral exhaustion: an implicit warning about environmental and ethical neglect on our planet and among our societies. Filonenko (2022) interprets Barsoom’s decay as “the literary echo of planetary death, a mirror to human industrial exhaustion” (p. 133). Thus, Burroughs’s Mars anticipates 21^st Century eco-fiction, turning pulp adventure into planetary lamentation. It can be concluded that Burroughs expresses his subjective experience and evokes his emotional states in regard to what can happen to our world in the future.

Color imagery in the novel’s narrative reinforces ethical complexity: while red and green Martians signify racialized difference, their shared emotions and moral codes reveal a universal “human condition.” GradeSaver (n.d.) notes that this “surface-level value of skin color” undermines prejudice, suggesting unity through empathy. In parallel, John Carter’s chivalric ethos contrasts with early-twentieth-century imperial narratives; he conquers by understanding, not by domination. The Brussels Journal (2013) rightly identifies this as a celebration of “philosophic inquiry” within masculine virtue.

Yet Burroughs’s text also engages in colonial discourse. The outsider hero intervenes in native affairs, a motif critic have linked to expansionist ideology (OAPEN, 2023). However, his partnerships with Tars Tarkas and Dejah Thoris subvert simple hierarchies, implying that nobility arises from moral conduct rather than birth or race.

Implications for Contemporary Reading

For twenty-first-century readers, A Princess of Mars resonates in unexpected ways. a) Ecologically, the dying planet parallels Earth’s own anxieties about climate crisis and resource depletion. As Filonenko (2022) argues, Burroughs’s Mars “functions as a speculative mirror for human ecological mismanagement” (p. 134). b) Socially, its depiction of color-coded species encourages reflection on race and cultural empathy. ThoughtCo (n.d.) points out that although the Tharks are introduced as “ignorant and primitive,” characters like Tars Tarkas reveal “intelligence and warmth,” undermining colonial stereotypes.

Moreover, Dejah Thoris’s portrayal complicates gender norms. Her courage and wisdom prefigure later science-fiction heroines who embody both intellect and compassion. Carter’s loyalty to her fuses romantic idealism with ethical partnership, reinforcing Burroughs’s humanist core present throughout the novel’s plot. The enduring appeal of A Princess of Mars lies in this dual capacity: to thrill and to provoke reflection.

Conclusion

Applying Jonathan Acuña-Solano’s analytical instrument to A Princess of Mars exposes a narrative rich in imagery, symbolism, and ethical resonance. Mars itself becomes a character, a decaying world that warns and instructs. Through John Carter’s integrity, Dejah Thoris’s nobility, and Tars Tarkas’s moral awakening, Burroughs dramatizes the triumph of virtue across boundaries of race, species, and planet. The novel’s vivid sensory language (its reds, greens, silences, and ruins) constructs a universe where beauty and decay coexist. Over a century later, Burroughs’s vision endures not only as escapist fantasy but as allegory for ecological stewardship, cultural humility, and the universal search for honor in an uncertain cosmos.

📚 References

Acuña-Solano, J. (n.d.). Character Analysis Worksheet. Unpublished classroom handout.

Black Gate. (2012, January 3). Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Mars, Part 1: A Princess of Mars. https://www.blackgate.com/2012/01/03/edgar-rice-burroughss-mars-part-1-a-princess-of-mars/

BookRags. (n.d.). A Princess of Mars Symbols & Objects. https://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-a-princess-of-mars/symbolsobjects.html

Brussels Journal. (2013). Edgar Rice Burroughs and Masculine Narrative. https://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4066

Burroughs, E. R. (1917/2005). A Princess of Mars. Modern Library.

Filonenko, S. (2022). Delineating Mars: The Geopoetics of the Red Planet in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s A Princess of Mars. Revista Hélice, 8(2), 126–140. https://www.revistahelice.com/revista/Helice_33.pdf

GradeSaver. (n.d.). A Princess of Mars Literary Elements. https://www.gradesaver.com/a-princess-of-mars/study-guide/literary-elements

Liberty Fund. (2023, August 28). Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Martians. https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2023-08-28-birzer-edgar-rice-burroughs-martians

OAPEN Library. (2023). Literary Criticism and Cultural Imperialism. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/24083/1006049.pdf

ThoughtCo. (n.d.). A Princess of Mars Study Guide. https://www.thoughtco.com/princess-of-mars-study-guide-4173049

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Tharks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tharks

Reader’s Handout for A Princess of Mars

Reader’s Handout by Jonathan Acuña

Imagery and Character Symbolism in a Princess of Mars by Jonathan Acuña

Resilience in the Reflective Classroom: Preventing Burnout through Emotional Literacy and Pedagogical Balance

 

Visualizing resilience through reflective harmony

AI-generated picture by Prof. Jonathan Acuña Solano in November 2025

Introductory Note to the Reader      I often wonder how much one bears at work in terms of burnout, disengagement, or the constant pressure that comes with planning, teaching, and responding to institutional demands. Over the years, I have found that my reflective journaling, what others call reflective practice, has helped me remain attuned to my classes and my students’ language development. It has grounded me in the reality of what teaching feels like, not just what it looks like on paper.      My hope is that this essay can contribute to conversations on teacher well-being by helping instructors and academic coaches better understand the emotional landscape of our profession. If reflection can help us become more emotionally literate and more capable of coping with what we bear in education, then perhaps our classrooms can become not only spaces of learning, but spaces of renewal.

Resilience in the Reflective Classroom: Preventing Burnout through Emotional Literacy and Pedagogical Balance

	Abstract This essay explores how reflective practice strengthens teacher resilience and mitigates burnout within ELT contexts. Teaching is inherently emotional work, and the pressures of planning, cognitive overload, and institutional expectations often lead to emotional exhaustion and professional detachment. Drawing on research in emotional competence, resilience theory, and the Kirkpatrick Model’s Level 3 (behavioral transformation), the article argues that reflective habits and emotional literacy equip teachers to identify stressors, regulate emotions, and sustain pedagogical balance. Additionally, the essay highlights the importance of collegial empathy and institutional reflection, emphasizing that resilience is both an individual and collective endeavor. By integrating emotional awareness into reflective routines, educators can transform stress management into a continuous professional learning process that supports long-term engagement and well-being.	Keywords: Resilience, Reflective Practice, Emotional Literacy, Burnout Prevention, Teacher Well-Being, ELT, Kirkpatrick Model
	Resumen Este ensayo analiza cómo la práctica reflexiva fortalece la resiliencia docente y previene el agotamiento profesional en contextos de enseñanza del inglés. Dado que la docencia es un trabajo inherentemente emocional, las demandas cognitivas, la presión institucional y la sobrecarga laboral pueden generar cansancio emocional y desapego profesional. Basándose en investigaciones sobre competencia emocional, teoría de la resiliencia y el Nivel 3 del Modelo de Kirkpatrick (transformación del comportamiento), el artículo sostiene que los hábitos reflexivos y la alfabetización emocional permiten a los docentes identificar factores de estrés, regular emociones y mantener el equilibrio pedagógico. Asimismo, se subraya la importancia de la empatía entre colegas y de la reflexión institucional, entendiendo la resiliencia como un proceso tanto individual como colectivo. Integrar la conciencia emocional dentro de la práctica reflexiva convierte el manejo del estrés en un proceso continuo de aprendizaje profesional que favorece el compromiso y el bienestar a largo plazo.
	Resumo Este ensaio examina como a prática reflexiva fortalece a resiliência docente e ajuda a prevenir o burnout em contextos de ensino de inglês. Como o trabalho docente é profundamente emocional, as exigências cognitivas, a pressão institucional e a carga de planejamento podem levar ao esgotamento e ao distanciamento profissional. Com base em estudos sobre competência emocional, teoria da resiliência e o Nível 3 do Modelo de Kirkpatrick (transformação comportamental), o texto argumenta que hábitos reflexivos e literacia emocional permitem que professores identifiquem estressores, regulem suas emoções e mantenham equilíbrio pedagógico. O ensaio destaca ainda a importância da empatia colegial e da reflexão institucional, reconhecendo a resiliência como um esforço individual e coletivo. Ao integrar consciência emocional à prática reflexiva, educadores transformam o manejo do estresse em um processo contínuo de aprendizagem que sustenta engajamento e bem-estar a longo prazo.

Introduction

Resilience in teaching is more than endurance; it is the ability to adapt, recover, and continue teaching with authenticity and hope despite all types of institutional or pedagogical challenges. Within ELT, language instructors frequently face cognitive overload, emotional demands, and institutional pressures that can erode motivation and lead to burnout. Reflective practice offers a powerful framework for cultivating emotional resilience and behavioral sustainability. Through reflection, teachers become aware of stress triggers along their teaching or at the workplace, reinterpret their practicum experiences, and realign their practices with personal and professional (and/or institutional) values. The intention behind this essay is to explore how reflective habits and emotional literacy can transform stress management into an ongoing professional learning process, connecting to Kirkpatrick’s Level 3, behavioral transformation after training.

The Emotional Landscape of Teaching

Though I never heard Argentinean educator, Laura Lewin, say that teaching is inherently emotional work, she is bound to say something like this because of her way of training teachers (I was one among them.) from a psychology stand. However, Jennings and Greenberg (2009) do describe the classroom as an emotional ecosystem, where teachers’ emotional competence directly affects student engagement and classroom climate. In ELT contexts, where affective connection underpins communication and learning, emotional balance becomes critical. Mercer and Gregersen (2020) also emphasize that teacher well-being encompasses not only job satisfaction but also psychological safety, self-compassion, and a sense of belonging. Without emotional (self-)awareness, teachers risk internalizing frustration and fatigue, leading to teaching and planning burnout and professional detachment. Reflection allows teachers to process these emotions constructively, converting experience into insight to help them better fit to face the teaching profession.

Resilience as Reflective Growth

Resilience is not innate; it is cultivated through reflection, relationships, and meaning-making. Gu and Day (2007) argue that resilient teachers sustain their commitment by maintaining a strong sense of professional identity. Reflective practice in the workplace (or simply at home) supports this identity construction, enabling instructors to reinterpret difficulties and hassles as opportunities for professional growth. When reflection becomes a consistent behavior among teachers rather than an isolated exercise, it forms part of an adaptive cycle: experience → reflection → adjustment → renewal. Kirkpatrick Model’s Level 3, behavior, thus represents the moment reflection becomes embedded in one’s daily teaching, not as a reactive tool but as a proactive resilience-building habit that can help instructors stay aligned with educational and pedagogical principles and to cope with challenging situations.

Preventing Burnout through Emotional Literacy

Feeling burnout is characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, and a reduced sense of accomplishment (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2018). Reflective emotional literacy, recognizing, labeling, and regulating emotions, provides a counterbalance to this burnout process. Teachers who develop reflective awareness of their emotions can intervene before stress coming from work tasks escalates into burnout. Mercer and Gregersen (2020) suggest incorporating short reflective rituals such as gratitude journaling, collegial check-ins, or mindfulness pauses into teaching routines. These micro-reflections promote emotional recovery, enhance empathy, and prevent the isolation that often precedes burnout. Reflection, therefore, acts both as an early warning system and a pathway to renewal. Not seeing the signs or red flags can be disastrous for teachers bearing fatal consequences into their teaching practices and expected results with students.

Collegial Empathy and Institutional Reflection

Resilience is not solely an individual attribute but a collective one. Jennings and Greenberg (2009) advocate for emotionally supportive school cultures that prioritize teacher well-being through mentoring and peer reflection. Institutional frameworks that encourage open dialogue and shared reflection build collective resilience. When reflective communities are embedded into professional development systems, e.g., in education, they reinforce Kirkpatrick’s behavioral phase by aligning emotional well-being with teaching quality. As Gu and Day (2007) note, sustained teacher resilience depends on “a balance between professional agency and supportive collegiality” (p. 1310). Thus, institutional reflection transforms resilience from a personal coping mechanism into a shared professional ethic making reflective practice a collective endeavor.

Conclusion

Reflective practice provides the emotional scaffolding that sustains resilience and prevents burnout in ELT. By embedding emotional literacy and collegial reflection within professional development frameworks, teachers can transform their responses to stress into opportunities for professional (or personal) growth. Through the lens of Kirkpatrick’s Level 3, reflection becomes a behavioral norm that supports sustained engagement, empathy, and well-being. Ultimately, resilience is not achieved through isolation or endurance but through reflective connection with oneself, with colleagues, and with the larger pedagogical mission. A reflective classroom, therefore, is not only a space for learning but a sanctuary for renewal.

📚 References

Gu, Q., & Day, C. (2007). Teachers resilience: A necessary condition for effectiveness. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(8), 1302–1316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.06.006

Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693

Kirkpatrick, D. L., & Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2006). Evaluating training programs: The four levels (3rd ed.). Berrett-Koehler.

Mercer, S., & Gregersen, T. (2020). Teacher well-being. Oxford University Press. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348889326_Sarah_Mercer_Tammy_Gregersen_2020_Teacher_Wellbeing_Oxford_Handbooks_for_Language_Teachers_Oxford_Oxford_University_Press-by_Danuta_Gabrys-Barker

Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2018). Teacher self-efficacy and perceived autonomy: Relations with teacher engagement, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion. Psychological Reports, 122(4), 1182–1200. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294118782191

 Reader’s Comprehension and Reflection Worksheet

Reader’s Comprehension and Reflection Worksheet by Jonathan Acuña

Preventing Burnout Through Emotional Literacy and Pedagogical Balance by Jonathan Acuña