Well where does one begin in a reflection on this work. I guess I must begin with a warning:
Danger Intrepid Blogger, Danger!
I am a historian, and thus I always tend to view sci-fi as a theoretical progression from the world the author is writing in. In this case, the height of the Cold War.
Heinlein is using this future situation as a example of what he feels is likely to happen if the world were to continue on its policies of the mid-1960s. There are several themes throughout the book that leads me to this claim.
First there is the colonization of the moon. Heinlein published this in 1966, that is a full three years before "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Heinlein lived in a world where the two world superpowers, the USA and the USSR, in the midst of the Space Race whose ultimate goal was in controlling the moon. At the time that was not simply in being the first to land a man on the moon but also both nations thought that they could colonize the moon.
The next issue is that of the mingling cultures. In the '60s there were generally two powers with several others being influential. The Loonies are clearly pretty American as the Professor shows by constantly referencing American History. In addition, they are also quite Russian as their language suggests. If you are unclear about this read it with a Russian accent and you will see what I mean. Also the Hindus and the Chinese have a substantial role, these were the other two big groups that people believed would play a larger role in the future.
Another significant commentary is Mike. In the '60s computer technology was making leaps and bounds in development and many feared that one day technology would wind-up controlling the humans. The more practical fear at the time was that by entrusting Nuclear Missile Firing Control to computers an accidental apocalypse would ensue.
Finally, my favorite is that of the Federated Nations. This is obviously a reference to the United Nations with the Grand Assembly referring to the General Assembly. Several times their predecessors are mentioned meaning that the Federated Nations is some sort of a reincarnation of the United Nations. This makes sense when considering that the United Nations was not the first such organization but really just a new and improved League of Nations just as the Federated Nations is a new and improved United Nations. Also the fact that the soldiers sent to Luna are called the Peace Dragoons is clearly a commentary on the new concept of UN Peacekeepers.
There is one thing that bothers me about the military tactics of the Loonies. Why are catapults the most effective weapon? With all of the knowledge of missiles why is the most dangerous weapon one of history's oldest weapons?
In the end, there is really only one thing that can sum up Heinlein's work. They named a Martian Crater after him! How can you top that?!
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3 comments:
The catapult isn't a traditional catapult -- it's basically a gravity defying cannon that can accelerate things at a rate 10 times Earth's gravitational field. The Loonies don't have any better weapons, but they don't need any. Think of movies like Deep Impact. When you can drop a giant rock anywhere on the Earth you want, what better weapon do you need?
I also noticed that about the Federated Nations. The reactions of the people on Earth were pretty interesting and definitely chiefly concerned with whether they'd get the resources off the moon. Otherwise they just see the Loonies as backwards, the rif-raf of society that they've effectively put out sight and thus mostly out of mind.
In reference to Scott. I didn't mean literally the old time catapult, I should have explained that a little better. I meant simply that it was one more example of the references back to historical events of Earth. Yes, the technology is new but it hearkens back to traditional methods like many of the other themes throughout the work.
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