Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land is an attempt to examine people in a technologically advanced society from a meta-perspective. Written in the 1960s, the novel describes events set in a distant future—one that, for us, is almost modern.
A space expedition from Earth discovers a human on Mars who was born there. The boy survived thanks to the Martians, who raised him as their "chick." Well, not exactly as their own. He was meant to fulfill a specific task on Earth for his foster parents. This becomes clear to the protagonist and readers only by the end of the book.
Michael Smith (the Earth name of the hero) is a paradox from the moment he arrives on Earth. Human in appearance and physiology, he cannot withstand Earth’s gravity or air. With a human brain and powerful intellect, he operates with concepts of life, the universe, time, and moral values that are fundamentally different from human ones. Comparing them to human concepts (for understanding) is possible only very approximately. It’s simply hard to grasp.
Smith quickly masters English. After all, there’s nothing strange about a person learning languages. Yet the only language he has ever known, the one he thinks in, is Martian. The human vocal apparatus is not adapted for it.
With no concept of ownership or money, Michael Smith, by Earth’s laws (and legal paradoxes), becomes the richest person on the planet. To a reader, who by default carries human psychology, it’s clear how dangerous this unexpected wealth is for Michael in human society. Yet for Michael himself, this is completely incomprehensible.
The phenomenon known as "Michael Smith" triggers the "bug in an anthill" effect, as described by the Strugatsky brothers (A. and B. Strugatsky, The Bug in an Anthill). His existence forces people whose paths cross his to make a choice. "There comes a moment in every person’s life when they must decide whether it’s worth risking their life, happiness, and sacred duty for an uncertain outcome. Those who fail this challenge are merely children who grew up too soon—and no one else" (quote).
A Stranger from Mars primarily offers people a chance to learn more about themselves. The question is whether anyone will dare take advantage of this opportunity. The author, through one of the characters, asks: "...how did you manage to learn so much about technology—and not know how you yourself are built?" (quote).
If language, according to experts, is a code, then Mike uses a completely different code for communication with the world than humans do.
What happens if you turn the world’s human notions of right and wrong "upside down" and inside out? If you free yourself from the "self-evident" and "default," many things in human reality prove difficult to explain, illogical, or absurd.
Can human norms withstand the test of the absence of rationalization, the devaluation of appeals to "every normal person knows this" and "it’s always been this way"?
Sarcasm and sorrow, seriousness and reflection, humor, pity, and the surprises of reality permeate the entire book. "...the history of development is a long, long list of experts who were terribly wrong when they were certain of their correctness," says one of the researchers of the Martian Man phenomenon (quote).
When you strip away the assessments that we, as humans, are accustomed to assigning to phenomena and take them "as is," everything becomes possible. The founder of a new hedonistic religion, where the church includes a casino and bar, turns out to be a high-status angel.
A simple, ordinary offer from a nurse to bring water to a patient reveals itself to be an invitation to a ritual—one that is a great honor to receive. The consequences cannot be undone. Only with life itself.
Actions that are normal and ordinary for Mike are impossible or difficult for others. Yet they don’t realize this. He sincerely believes that "I am just an egg" (quote). It’s so human to overlook one’s own strengths!
The numerous limitations of human society—let alone the limitations of language itself—stand out when viewed from the outside.
Limitations in time, knowledge, values, and the desire to learn. Can beings who limit the concept of "long" to the span of their physical existence—about 100 years—comprehend the idea of "forever"? Unlike those who do not die and can calmly ponder any question for hundreds, or even thousands, of years by Earth’s standards. Under such conditions, not understanding something immediately is not a cause for disappointment. You simply need to "wait for completeness."
Limitations even paralyze the work of a renowned astrologer. She cannot cast Michael’s horoscope because the problem is "...insurmountable. Smith was not born on Earth." In her astrological bible, there was not even a thought that a human being could be born elsewhere. The anonymous author lived and died before the first rocket was sent to the Moon" (quote). Later, another character warns: "...do not rely on knowledge acquired in the past, because here you will fail" (quote).
Michael Smith sincerely tries to "grok" (a Martian concept that cannot be fully translated; far deeper than "comprehend," "understand," or "feel") people. His success varies in paradoxical ways depending on the idea: "'hurrying' is one of the human ideas he could not grok at all" (quote). In contrast, communication with animals comes easily. "The cat and Mike grokked each other immediately, and Mike found its predatory thoughts pleasant and very Martian" (quote).
As for people—some find Michael’s personality, worldview, and offer of life changes important. Others prefer to use him or fear him. In particular, the dominant religion in the Federation wants to have the Man from Mars in its ranks. Heinlein satirically and psychologically accurately depicts the technology of creating an attractive wrapper to sell ideas. "...he [the cult founder] took as much from Freemasonry, Catholicism, the Communist Party, and Madison Avenue as he did from several ancient sacred books—and wrote his New Revelation based on them... wrapping it all in a sugar coating of a return to primitive Christianity—to satisfy his customers" (quote).
Michael Smith does not know how to create "sugar coatings." He says things that are not just incomprehensible to the average citizen. He formulates them in an entirely unfamiliar way. This frightens and provokes aggression. After all, aggression always hides fear. That’s just how human psychology works.
"You can always analyze a culture through its language—and in Martian, there is no word for 'war'" (quote). He does not say that war and weapons are evil (the division into good and evil is at least somewhat familiar to humans). He says they make no sense. To understand, or worse, to grok this, a completely different level of development is required.
No matter how brilliant new ideas may be, the law of resistance to them at the societal level is formulated by a highly educated follower of Mike: "...no society—no matter how liberal—will allow a challenge to its fundamental ideas to go unpunished" (quote).
The conclusion of the Earthly stay of the Man from Mars is inevitable from the author’s perspective and tragic from the reader’s. From Mike’s point of view, it was merely a separation from the body.
Thus, Archangel Mike calmly gets acquainted with his assistant, adjusts his halo, and gets to work. After all, there is so much change he must bring about.
