Sucess of the Revolution

I thought that this was an incredibly well written book that captured the "realities" of a revolution much more so than many more idyllic views of a revolution rising up from brilliant leaders with an unquestionably right cause. It also is extremely illustrative of the point which we have discussed in class several times; it is much easier to read social theories when they are wrapped up in a plot and displaced from current circumstances. There are several different parts of the book which lent to its believability. While it was clear that those on Luna were receiving oppressive treatment, two of the primary protagonists (Mike and Mannie) had little interest in politics or revolt at the beginning of the book. While Mike is a special case, Mannie seems to take the place of a kind of everyman on Luna, and it is clear that most of them have little independent interest in revolt as long as life is tolerable. That, along with the fact that all of the characters made a conscious decision to start the revolution, complete with mathematical analysis, rather than being swept up in a tide of patriotic fervor, made the plot very believable.

That said, I was concerned in the last few pages of the book and victory was declared, that Heinlein was going to leave the novel with a 'happily ever after' for Luna, and rid himself of all of the verisimilitude he had built up in the previous 350 pages. However, in the last few pages he came through with an ending which fits what we know of most historical revolutions. The great revolution, which had finally come to fruition, was bogged down by bureaucracy and internal division. While it seems that Luna is not going to tolerate being subjugated, it is also not going to turn into the ideal libertarian society that the professor talked about.


The other question which this book calls into question is the definition of humanity. While this is a fairly common theme in science fiction, the manner in which Heinlein chooses to address it is somewhat unique. Throughout the book, Mike is as 'human' as any other character. In fact, from Mannie's perspective Mike is far more human than any of the people on Terra. However, Mike's 'death' at the end was a very peculiar way to close the book. It is interesting that after having written an entire novel about revolution, Heinlein chooses to spend the last few pages reflecting more on the loss of Mike's humanity than on the loss of the ideals of the revolution. While that does not undermine the political commentary in the book, I think it does call into question its absolute centrality.