A Princess of Mars Literary Elements

Science fiction, fantasy, romance

The novel begins in Arizona immediately after the American Civil War, although it quickly transports the reader to Barsoom (Mars), where most of the book's action occurs.

First-person limited point of view from the perspective of John Carter, a Civil War veteran who is magically transported to Mars.

Adventurous, sensationalist, exciting

Protagonist: John Carter, a well-built and generally good-hearted Civil War veteran who is magically transported from Arizona to Barsoom (Mars), where he undertakes several adventures. There are several antagonists in the novel, including Sarkoja, a vicious female green martian who severely dislikes both Carter and Dejah Thoris, and the green Martians of the barbarous Warhoon tribe.

John Carter is transported to Barsoom (Mars), an unknown planet, and he must deal with the native inhabitants and find his place on the planet.

After Carter settles down, having resolved all conflicts and married the red Martian princess Dejah Thoris, there is a crisis at the Atmosphere Plant, and Carter essentially sacrifices himself to save the planet. At the end of the novel, he finds himself back in the cave in Arizona, wondering how to get back.

When John Carter defeats the high-ranking Thark and wins the loyalty of the others, it foreshadows his leading them into battle against the Zodangans in the novel's climactic battle.

"Bleeding and weak I reached my women, who, accustomed to such happenings, dressed my wounds, applying the wonderful healing and remedial agents which make only the most instantaneous of death blows fatal." (138)

At the beginning of the novel, being a Confederate veteran, John Carter alludes to the American Civil War, which is an important part of his background.

The imagery of the green- and red-skinned Martians serves to underscore the essential differences between the cultures of Earth and the cultures of Mars, but the revelation that they are all essentially similar powerfully demonstrates the surface-level value of skin color.

The only way for John Carter to escape the Tharks is to kill their jeddak, which in turn makes him the new jeddak, tying him closely to the Thark tribe and paradoxically making his escape from them impossible.

The victory of Carter over the Thark jeddak near the beginning of the novel, which instantly bestows fame and power upon him, parallels his defeat of the Zodangans at the end of the novel, which immediately makes him a war hero in Helium.

"...the servant of a state which had vanished with the hopes of the South." (2)

"The South" here is a metonym representing "the Southern states," i.e. The Confederacy.

"As I gazed at [Mars] on that far-gone night it seemed to call across the unthinkable void, to lure me to it, to draw me as the lodestone attracts a particle of iron." (17)