Science Fiction and Fantasy
American Military University
The classic science fiction serial novel A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs was a welcome departure from the previously assigned fantasy readings. The exciting Barsoom stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs chronicled the adventures of Virginia gentleman John Carter on the planet Mars. So many superior science fiction authors like Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke have been influenced by the Barsoom writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Further, younger authors, such as L. Neil Smith, have even borrowed or slightly changed Barsoom character names in their own novels.
This exciting story had several interesting and well-developed characters. Of particular interest to me was Tars Tarkas, the senior military commander who took John Carter prisoner for the warrior society known as the Tharks. From John Carter?s first encounter with Tars Tarkas, it was clear that the Thark chieftain was exceptional when compared to his semi-barbaric peers. His intellect, instincts and willingness to challenge societal norms was an interesting contrast to the barbarism and violent tendencies of the greater Thark society.
For instance, during the initial capture of the human John Carter shortly after his arrival on Barsoom, Tars Tarkas displayed a keen ability to defuse a tense situation in a manner that benefited both the Tharks and their human prey. The Thark chieftain?s willingness to disarm himself and approach Carter slowly and peacefully, rather than continuing to escalate the situation, demonstrated an ability to rise above his clan?s almost instinctive violent nature. It would have been easy and simple for Tarkas to kill Carter with one of the rifles his men carried with them. This simple gesture gained him John Carter?s cautious trust, allowing Tars Tarkas to take the human prisoner without bloodshed. So Tarkas chose to return to Thark territory with Carter as his live prisoner, and in a position to learn more about the unusual human than he would ever fathom from a useless corpse.
As the reader would learn from John Carter?s interactions with Sola, a female Thark tasked to assist him with domestic and caretaker duties, Tars Tarkas was also different from his peers in an astonishing manner. The young Sola, who demonstrated unusual compassion and kindness compared to other Tharks, was not born in her society?s traditional communal manner which ignored biological ties in favor of selective breeding and the tragic ?first come, first served? style of passing out newborns randomly among the female population. Such communal parenting destroyed parent-child ties and decimated the Thark psyche over thousands of years, which ultimately led to the society?s descent into barbarism. The same would have been true for Sola, had it not been for her unusual parents, who of whom was Tars Tarkas.
Tars Tarkas as a young man fell in love with a female Thark and began to see her under covert circumstances in order to keep their taboo liaisons from being discovered. This relationship eventually led to Sola?s solitary birth in secret. Through his secret romance and the non-conformist parentage of Sola, Tars Tarkas aptly demonstrated his desire to be more than his society would traditionally allow him.
Tragically, Sola and her mother were discovered by the ever spiteful Sarkoja, who reported the mother and daughter to Tal Hajus, the Thark Jeddak. Sola?s mother was able to safely integrate her into the population before being taken into custody. Tal Hajus interrogated and tortured Sola?s mother for an extended period of time in an effort to force her to name Sola?s father. Tal Hajus was unsuccessful in this attempt and Sola?s mother died with this secret secure. During the time of Sarkoja?s discovery and the torture and interrogation of Sola?s mother, Tars Tarkas was on an expedition and completely unaware of the tragic events that tore apart his new family. Upon his return, he vowed revenge, becoming one of the fiercest Thark warriors and quickly rose through the ranks, biding his time until he could exact his revenge on Tal Hajus.
In another pivotal incident, which would tie the most significant events of his life together, Tars Tarkas once again transcended contemporary Thark behavior by offering to sacrifice his leadership position and very possibly his life to help John Carter escape to safety from Tal Hajus, the brutal leader of most of the five million Tharks on Barsoom. Carter declined this exceptional offer of self-sacrifice and instead offered to help Tars Tarkas exact his revenge for the death of Sola?s mother. With John Carter?s support and assistance, Tars Tarkas challenged Tal Hajus for the leadership position of Jeddak. Tarkas won and Tal Hajus was slain. Ultimately, breaking from Thark tradition, Tars Tarkas proudly and publicly claimed his paternal ties to Sola.
In the end, Tars Tarkas was finally able to be the same man in public that he was in private. I found the combination of his fierce fighting prowess and leadership abilities and the secret love for his taboo family to be a fascinating subplot, almost more interesting than that of John Carter?s struggles.