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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
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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 |
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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. |
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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. |
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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.
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John
Carter |
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· 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. |
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Dejah
Thoris |
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· 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. |
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Tars
Tarkas |
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· 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. |
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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 21st 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
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