Stranger In A Strange Land Character Analysis

Anthony Stroman
Dr. Ardaiolo
GNED 102
March 8, 2007

Michael Smith and his Learning of the Earth Culture

Michael Valentine Smith is a fictional character in the novel Stranger in a Strange Land. Smith is a very interesting person because he was brought to Earth, from Mars, and because of the way he was conceived. Michael Smith is an American that grew up thinking as a Martian. Smith was brought to Earth after the spaceship named the Envoy tried to reach Mars. The spaceship Champion went on a voyage to Mars to determine if there was any life that developed there. To their surprise, they discovered Smith. Smith was born to two Americans from the Envoy, but Smith was raised in the Martian culture. There are a lot of differences between
the two cultures. One of the differences is the way that people are born. On Earth people are born by way of sexual intercourse, but on Mars when the "Old Ones" think that it is time for some more Martians to be born, it is that time. Even though Smith is considered to be a Martian he was born through sexual intercourse out of wedlock by two Americans. Michael Valentine Smith is trying to learn about himself through self-education and the community, but he does not succeed because he fails to explain about himself to others. The first thing that Smith has to adapt to is the education of himself.
That means that Smith has to get used to his surroundings and try to learn the human culture. Smith being raised in the Martian culture did not teach him to think like someone on Earth. On Mars they taught Smith not to live with two of the most dangerous feelings. These feelings are called jealousy and greed. Jealousy and greed are the two factors behind this novel. Being that Smith was a native of Mars, when Smith is recovered General Douglas automatically wants to lay claim to Mars even though America only has one of the many occupants. Since Smith is a Martian and has not learned of any of this type of behavior, he does not know any of General Douglas's true meanings. As the story progresses Smith gets very close to Mrs. Boardman. As he studies her he starts liking her (Martians do not have females on Mars) and becomes more inept with his human capabilities. You see as story goes forward Smith learns more and more about his human
heritage. The second way that Smith tries to develop through himself, is through the community.
Smith has never been to Earth so he does not know any of the customs that happen on Earth. One custom that happens on Earth is the Church. Most people attend church, but Smith had no idea what a church was until he saw a religious gathering on television. Smith started his own church that involved the community being free-spirited. Smith taught the community how to make objects "disappear" through magic shows. This was his idea of letting the community know about his magical talents. Even though the community had not seen anything like this before, they tested Smith's knowledge about his own powers. That is how the community is nowadays also. If something cannot be outright explained to the community, the community will not believe its actual presence. After Smith could not explain this unique feature of his, he was banned. That is one way that a community will not accept an individual. A community will not accept an individual when that individual will not or can not agree with them on certain
aspects.
Smith's situation is like the In-group Out-group essay by David Myers. The in-group is the group that agrees with a lot of the same things, whereas the out-group does not even have to agree on the same things. The out-group just has to disagree with the in-group's belief. When Smith started his church, the church members were part of the in-group, and the people that were not in the church were members of the out-group. This led to Smith's demise, because he was killed right outside of his church Smith was killed because his newly learned American ways conflicted with his Martian ways.
Smith tried to find his autonomous self but did not exactly discover this. Smith tried to please everyone that he met, but he never truly understood why he was brought to Earth. Smith was supposed to spread his knowledge, but he just learned about Earth and never explained the things that he learned while he lived on Mars. Smith should have talked about Mars, and try to explain what his powers were actually used for. When Smith developed the church he thought he was helping the community out. But he did try to find himself that way, because he was experimenting with trying to find the right religion. Religion is a key point in finding out something about someone. In conclusion, Smith was portraying your everyday person. Every time a person changes environment the person has to adapt to that new society. Smith adapted, but his adaptation led to his fall. A person should learn about his self before the person tries to "fit" into a new society.