Excerpt

Excerpt from A princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs

I have ever been prone to seek adventure and to investigate and
experiment where wiser men would have left well enough alone. It
therefore now occurred to me that the surest way of learning the exact
attitude of this beast toward me would be to attempt to leave the room.
I felt fairly secure in my belief that I could escape him should he
pursue me once I was outside the building, for I had begun to take
great pride in my ability as a jumper. Furthermore, I could see from
the shortness of his legs that the brute himself was no jumper and
probably no runner.

Slowly and carefully, therefore, I gained my feet, only to see that my
watcher did the same; cautiously I advanced toward him, finding that by
moving with a shuffling gait I could retain my balance as well as make
reasonably rapid progress. As I neared the brute he backed cautiously
away from me, and when I had reached the open he moved to one side to
let me pass. He then fell in behind me and followed about ten paces in
my rear as I made my way along the deserted street.

Evidently his mission was to protect me only, I thought, but when we
reached the edge of the city he suddenly sprang before me, uttering
strange sounds and baring his ugly and ferocious tusks. Thinking to
have some amusement at his expense, I rushed toward him, and when
almost upon him sprang into the air, alighting far beyond him and away
from the city. He wheeled instantly and charged me with the most
appalling speed I had ever beheld. I had thought his short legs a bar
to swiftness, but had he been coursing with greyhounds the latter would
have appeared as though asleep on a door mat. As I was to learn, this
is the fleetest animal on Mars, and owing to its intelligence, loyalty,
and ferocity is used in hunting, in war, and as the protector of the
Martian man.

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Explanation

Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Context of the Source

A Princess of Mars (1912) is the first novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series, a classic of early 20th-century science fantasy and planetary romance. The story follows John Carter, a Confederate veteran who mysteriously transports to Mars (called "Barsoom" by its inhabitants) and becomes embroiled in its political and martial conflicts. The novel blends adventure, sword-and-planet action, and romantic intrigue, heavily influencing later works like Star Wars and Dune.

This excerpt occurs early in the novel, after Carter has been captured by the green Martians (Tharks) and is being held in their city. He encounters a strange, dog-like creature (later revealed to be a calot, a Martian guard beast) that seems to be guarding him. The passage highlights Carter’s resourcefulness, physical prowess, and growing understanding of Martian life.

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Themes in the Excerpt

1. Adventure and Exploration

   • Carter’s curiosity and boldness drive the narrative. He actively tests his limits, embodying the frontier spirit of early 20th-century adventure heroes.
   • His experimental approach ("where wiser men would have left well enough alone") reflects the scientific and exploratory zeal of the era, mirroring real-world explorers and inventors.

2. Survival and Adaptation

   • Carter must quickly assess threats and exploit weaknesses (e.g., judging the calot’s speed based on leg length).
   • His physical abilities (jumping, agility) are emphasized as key to survival on Mars, reinforcing the Darwinian struggle common in pulp adventure stories.

3. Man vs. Beast (and the Unfamiliar)

   • The calot represents the alien and unpredictable nature of Mars. Carter’s initial assumptions (that the creature is slow) are challenged, forcing him to adapt.
   • The beast’s loyalty and intelligence foreshadow its later role as a companion and protector, a common trope in Burroughs’ work (e.g., animals as allies in Tarzan).

4. Masculinity and Heroism

   • Carter’s confidence, physical dominance, and willingness to take risks align with the hyper-masculine hero archetype of early 20th-century pulp fiction.
   • His amusement at testing the calot ("thinking to have some amusement at his expense") suggests a playful but dominant attitude toward danger.

5. First Contact and Cultural Misunderstanding

   • The calot’s behavior is misinterpreted at first—Carter assumes it is a guard, but it later becomes clear that the beast is protecting him (a Martian custom).
   • This reflects the novel’s broader theme of cultural clash between Earth and Mars.

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Literary Devices & Stylistic Choices

1. First-Person Narration (Unreliable but Confident)

   • Carter’s subjective perspective shapes the reader’s understanding. His overconfidence (e.g., underestimating the calot’s speed) creates dramatic irony when the beast proves far more dangerous than expected.
   • The conversational tone ("I have ever been prone to seek adventure") makes the narrative feel like a personal account, enhancing immersion.

2. Foreshadowing

   • The calot’s loyalty and ferocity are hinted at before its full reveal as a Martian war-beast.
   • The line "this is the fleetest animal on Mars" foreshadows later chases and battles where such creatures play a role.

3. Imagery & Sensory Details

   • Visual: The calot’s "ugly and ferocious tusks" and "appalling speed" create a vivid, monstrous image.
   • Auditory: The "strange sounds" it utters add to the alien atmosphere of Mars.
   • Kinesthetic: Descriptions of jumping, charging, and shuffling make the action feel dynamic and physical.

4. Contrast & Irony

   • Carter’s initial assumption (that the calot is slow due to short legs) is contradicted by its explosive speed, reinforcing the unpredictability of Mars.
   • The beast’s protective role is ironic—Carter misreads its intentions, thinking it’s a jailer rather than a guardian.

5. Pacing & Suspense

   • The gradual escalation (from cautious movement to sudden chase) builds tension.
   • The abrupt shift from Carter’s confidence to the calot’s terrifying charge creates a moment of shock.

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Significance of the Passage

1. Establishing Carter’s Character

   • This scene defines John Carter as a bold, adaptive, and physically superior protagonist.
   • His willingness to test limits sets up his later leadership and heroism on Mars.

2. Introducing Martian Fauna & Culture

   • The calot is the reader’s first glimpse of Martian animals, emphasizing the strangeness and danger of Barsoom.
   • The beast’s loyalty and utility in war hint at the Martians’ warrior culture, a recurring theme in the series.

3. World-Building & Immersion

   • Burroughs grounds the fantasy in pseudo-scientific detail (e.g., comparing the calot to greyhounds).
   • The physicality of the scene (jumping, charging) makes Mars feel tactile and real, a hallmark of pulp adventure writing.

4. Reflecting Early 20th-Century Attitudes

   • The colonialist undertones (Carter as the Earthman "mastering" an alien world) reflect imperialist ideals of the time.
   • The emphasis on physical prowess aligns with the cult of masculinity in early adventure fiction.

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Line-by-Line Breakdown (Key Moments)

1. "I have ever been prone to seek adventure..."

   • Establishes Carter’s character as a risk-taker, setting the tone for the novel.
   • The phrase "where wiser men would have left well enough alone" suggests foolhardy bravery, a trait that will both aid and endanger him.

2. "I felt fairly secure in my belief that I could escape him..."

   • Overconfidence—Carter assumes he understands the calot’s limitations, but he is wrong about its speed.
   • His pride in jumping ability foreshadows later physical feats (Martians are known for their leaping due to lower gravity).

3. "Slowly and carefully, therefore, I gained my feet..."

   • The deliberate, cautious movement builds suspense.
   • The calot’s mirroring of his actions suggests intelligence and intent—it is not just a mindless beast.

4. "He then fell in behind me and followed about ten paces in my rear..."

   • The distance ("ten paces") implies guarded protection, not direct threat.
   • Carter’s misinterpretation (thinking it’s a jailer) adds dramatic irony.

5. "Evidently his mission was to protect me only, I thought..."

   • Foreshadowing—the calot is later revealed to be a guardian, not a captor.
   • The phrase "I thought" undermines Carter’s initial certainty, showing his limited understanding of Martian customs.

6. "Thinking to have some amusement at his expense..."

   • Carter’s arrogance leads him to underestimate the calot, a classic hero’s flaw in adventure stories.
   • The playful challenge escalates into real danger, a common narrative turn in pulp fiction.

7. "He wheeled instantly and charged me with the most appalling speed..."

   • The sudden shift from caution to violence creates shock and excitement.
   • The hyperbolic description ("appalling speed") emphasizes the calot’s terrifying power.

8. "As I was to learn, this is the fleetest animal on Mars..."

   • Retrospective narration—Carter is looking back, implying he survived and learned from this encounter.
   • The explanatory tone ("owing to its intelligence, loyalty, and ferocity") serves world-building, educating the reader about Martian life.

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Conclusion: Why This Passage Matters

This excerpt is microcosmic of A Princess of Mars as a whole:

• It introduces the protagonist’s bold, adaptive nature.
• It immerses the reader in an alien world through action and sensory detail.
• It subverts expectations (the calot is not what it seems), a recurring theme in Burroughs’ work.
• It blends adventure, science, and fantasy, defining the planetary romance genre.

The passage also reflects Burroughs’ storytelling strengths:

• Fast-paced, physical action that keeps readers engaged.
• A mix of humor and danger (Carter’s amusement turning to shock).
• World-building through show-not-tell (the calot’s behavior reveals Martian culture).

Ultimately, this moment sets the stage for Carter’s greater adventures on Mars, where misjudging alien customs and creatures will be both his greatest challenge and his path to heroism.

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Questions

Question 1

The narrator’s initial assumption that the calot’s short legs would limit its speed is best understood as an example of:

A. a deliberate attempt to mislead the reader into underestimating Martian fauna.
B. an ironic commentary on the limitations of human observational skills in alien environments.
C. a narrative device that exploits the protagonist’s terrestrial biases to create dramatic tension.
D. a subtle critique of Darwinian theories of adaptation by highlighting their inapplicability to extraterrestrial life.
E. an unintentional error in world-building that undermines the passage’s internal consistency.

Question 2

The calot’s behavior—letting the narrator pass through the city but blocking him at the edge—most strongly suggests that its role is analogous to:

A. a prison guard enforcing conditional parole rather than absolute confinement.
B. a shepherd dog herding livestock within designated boundaries.
C. a ceremonial sentinel marking the threshold between sacred and profane space.
D. a predator testing the weakness of potential prey before attacking.
E. a domesticated pet obeying contradictory commands from an unseen master.

Question 3

The phrase "thinking to have some amusement at his expense" primarily serves to:

A. establish the narrator’s sadistic tendencies as a flaw in his heroic characterization.
B. foreshadow the calot’s eventual domestication and subservience to human will.
C. underscore the moral equivalence between the narrator and the Martian beast.
D. reveal the narrator’s hubris as a precursor to his near-fatal miscalculation.
E. introduce a comedic element to alleviate the passage’s otherwise relentless tension.

Question 4

The passage’s description of the calot’s speed as surpassing that of greyhounds is most effectively interpreted as:

A. a literal comparison intended to provide a familiar Earthly benchmark for an alien trait.
B. an example of the narrator’s unreliable perspective, given his limited exposure to Martian biology.
C. a metaphorical exaggeration that aligns with the pulp adventure genre’s emphasis on hyperbolic action.
D. a scientific observation that grounds the fantasy in pseudo-empirical plausibility.
E. an intertextual reference to contemporary debates about animal husbandry and selective breeding.

Question 5

The structural shift from the narrator’s cautious shuffling to the calot’s sudden charge is primarily designed to:

A. illustrate the unpredictability of Martian physics compared to Earth’s gravitational norms.
B. contrast the narrator’s methodical reasoning with the beast’s instinctual aggression.
C. emphasize the thematic conflict between human intellect and alien brutality.
D. generate a moment of narrative surprise that recontextualizes earlier details about the calot’s capabilities.
E. parody the conventions of adventure fiction by subverting the hero’s expected triumph.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: C

Why C is most correct: The passage deliberately sets up the narrator’s terrestrial assumption (short legs = slow speed) to create dramatic irony when the calot proves explosively fast. This is a classic narrative device in adventure fiction, where a protagonist’s familiar frameworks fail in an alien context, heightening tension. The misjudgment forces the reader to reassess earlier details (e.g., the calot’s cautious backing away) and primes them for the sudden reversal of the chase.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: The narrator isn’t deliberately misleading the reader; his misjudgment is a natural extension of his character’s flaws, not a meta-narrative trick.
• B: While the passage does highlight human limitations, the primary function of the assumption is plot-driven tension, not philosophical commentary.
• D: There’s no critique of Darwinism here; the calot’s speed is presented as a fact of its biology, not a counterargument to evolutionary theory.
• E: The "error" isn’t unintentional—it’s a purposeful setup for the later reveal, consistent with the story’s internal logic.

2) Correct answer: A

Why A is most correct: The calot’s behavior mirrors conditional parole: it allows the narrator limited freedom (movement within the city) but enforces a boundary (the city’s edge). This suggests its role is not absolute confinement (like a jailer) but controlled release, akin to a guard ensuring a prisoner doesn’t escape a designated area. The calot’s sudden aggression at the boundary reinforces this interpretation—it’s enforcing a rule, not acting on instinct or domestication.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• B: A shepherd dog herds actively, but the calot passively follows until the boundary is crossed. The dynamic is more legalistic than pastoral.
• C: There’s no ritual or sacred/profane dichotomy implied; the city edge is a practical limit, not a symbolic one.
• D: The calot isn’t testing prey—it’s reacting to a violation of its perceived duty, which aligns with guardian behavior, not predation.
• E: The calot acts autonomously, not as if obeying contradictory commands. Its actions are consistent with a single directive (keep the narrator within bounds).

3) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The phrase reveals the narrator’s overconfidence ("amusement at his expense") right before his near-disastrous miscalculation of the calot’s speed. This is a classic hubristic moment in adventure narratives, where the protagonist’s arrogance leads to peril, forcing them to adapt. The line sets up the dramatic reversal and underscores the danger of underestimating the alien world.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: The narrator isn’t sadistic; his intent is playful testing, not cruelty. The passage doesn’t frame him as morally corrupt.
• B: The calot is never domesticated—it remains a Martian war-beast, not a subservient pet. The line doesn’t foreshadow taming.
• C: There’s no moral equivalence suggested; the narrator is humanized by his flaw, while the calot is portrayed as a loyal but dangerous creature.
• E: While there’s a moment of levity, the primary function is tension-building, not comedy. The tone shifts sharply to danger, not relief.

4) Correct answer: C

Why C is most correct: The comparison to greyhounds is hyperbolic—it’s not a scientific measurement but a pulp-adventure exaggeration designed to electrify the reader. The genre thrives on larger-than-life action, and the description aligns with Burroughs’ sensationalist style. The claim isn’t meant to be literal (we have no data on Martian animal speeds) but to convey awe and raise stakes.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: It’s not a literal benchmark—greyhounds are the fastest Earth dogs, but the comparison is rhetorical, not empirical.
• B: The narrator’s perspective isn’t unreliable here; the calot is fast, and the comparison is stylistic, not a misjudgment.
• D: There’s no pseudo-science at play—the line is purely dramatic, not an attempt to ground the fantasy in fake biology.
• E: There’s no intertextual reference to debates about breeding; the greyhound is a cultural shorthand for speed, not a commentary on husbandry.

5) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The shift from cautious shuffling to sudden chase is a narrative surprise that recontextualizes earlier details. The calot’s short legs and passive following initially suggest slowness and docility, but the charge forces the reader to revisit those assumptions. This retroactive tension is a hallmark of adventure writing, where apparent weaknesses become strengths (or vice versa) to keep the audience engaged.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: Martian physics aren’t the focus—the surprise comes from the calot’s hidden ability, not gravity.
• B: The contrast isn’t methodical vs. instinctual—the calot’s sudden aggression is purposeful, not mindless.
• C: The conflict isn’t intellect vs. brutality—it’s misjudgment vs. reality. The narrator’s error is the point, not a thematic duel.
• E: There’s no parody—the moment is played straight, as a genuine threat, not a subversion of heroism.