Can't we all just get along? More Than Human seems to say so. The novel positions friendship as the opposite of loneliness and isolation—a cure-all to these very human ailments. Sturgeon defines friendship broadly, ranging from camaraderie to consummated (or unconsummated) love to a sort of mutual support called "bleshing." It's a little like food being the opposite of and cure for hunger; you can have plenty of different types of food, but they're all still the same basic solution. Also, we like food. More pizza please.
Questions About Friendship
- What acts of friendship can you find in the novel? There are so many—what sorts of groupings can you place them in? For instance, some involve sharing food. What else?
- Lone and Evelyn do not have sex; nor do Hip and Janie. What reasons does this novel give for either pair to simply remain friends instead?
- Bleshing is the super-cool form of friendship in the book. What instances of characters bleshing can you find?
- Compare and contrast the friendship between Janie and the twins with the friendship or camaraderie between Janie and Lone. Use examples from the text, not examples from Mars.
Chew on This
More Than Human takes a romantic view of friendship, seeing the love and belonging it brings as the answer that will bring our society to a higher level.
More Than Human takes a practical view of friendship, seeing collaboration and amicability as the key to evolving as a society.