Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
The Red Planet. If you'll allow us to summarize Robinson's exquisite introduction to the planet from Part 1, Chapter 1:When ancient societies believed the constellations had the power to alter huma...
Narrator Point of View
Robinson employs a limited omniscient third person narrator. Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day.Just kidding. You know we have a bit more to say on this topic.Okay, so the book is written i...
Genre
The Sci-Fi GuyYou're probably not surprised to discover that Red Mars is shelved in the science fiction section. After all, it takes place on Mars and prominently features, well, science—we're ta...
Tone
Elsewhere in this guide, we've made a big deal about all the scientific know-how present in Red Mars since there's a lot of scientific know-how in this beastly book. But just because it's intellige...
Writing Style
That is, Robinson's writing style is both simple and technical. Yes, that is an oxymoron, but no less accurate for being so. Just consider this small example:All these adapted abilities are coded a...
What's Up With the Title?
Red Mars certainly is an apt title. The story takes place on Mars, a.k.a. the Red Planet—you know, because it looks red. The redness of the planet takes on an extra layer of meaning, though, when...
What's Up With the Ending?
Imagine Red Mars as a juggler. As with any decent beast of a novel novel, it puts a whole lot of plot balls up in the air and has been juggling them for our amusement. But now, the end of the spect...
Tough-o-Meter
Red Mars can, at times, be more daunting than it is difficult—it's a brick of a book, and inside it has massive paragraphs dominating several pages. Size aside, though, the book isn't a particula...