The Lion of Mars

“The trip to Mars was the hardest thing they’d ever experienced. That’s what the grown-ups said. The small, cramped ship. The constant fear of something going wrong. The knowledge that they could never return to Earth.”

Bell emphasizes the difficulty of the settlers’ trip to their new home. This echoes Holm’s goal to connect her story to her family history. She highlights the human aspect of immigration stories by focusing on everyday life rather than their historical dimension. This furthers characterization by showing the hardships and sacrifices that the settlers made to get to Mars.

“Football was an Earth game where you threw around a ball and knocked into people. I didn’t really understand it.”

This quote is one of many examples that illustrate Bell’s innocent point of view throughout the story. Bell is confused by a lot of Earth concepts and traditions, which serves to characterize him as a naive protagonist and enhances the alien setting of Mars. His distorted perspective on football, for example, assumes that the reader is familiar with the sport and creates humor through misunderstanding.

“The interior walls were constructed from a space-tech gray rubber that curved gently, flowing from one room to the next like a smile. The rooms were round, almost bubble-like, for improved structural integrity. Sai told me he’d thrown out the old rules when he designed the settlement. Apparently, on Earth, people lived in boxy structures with hard corners. Earth sounded sharp to me.”

This description of the settlers’ habitat establishes the setting of the story. In her Author’s Note, Holm states that many elements in her story are grounded in science, which infuses this science fiction narrative with verisimilitude. Additionally, this quote contrasts the older settlers’ knowledge of Earth customs and Bell’s innocence, as his only frame of reference is Mars.

“It was probably a rover from one of the other countries. It was always a little scary to think how close the other settlements were to us. I sometimes wondered what they looked like, as I’d never seen them. We weren’t allowed to go past the little cemetery on the edge of our territory; it was far too dangerous.”

Bell’s reflection explores the motif of Prejudice by showing how little he knows about the world outside of his settlement. What he does know are partial or distorted facts that only make him fear the unknown and therefore create suspense. Bell’s curiosity foreshadows his eventual exploration of the other settlements.

“SETTLEMENT RULES

Do not go outside without a buddy.

Use the alarm bell in an emergency.

Keep a glow stick in your pocket.

Rovers are off-limits for children.

Do not go beyond the flag.

No contact with foreign countries, ever.”

This list of rules highlights the dangers of life on Mars and serves several narrative purposes. First, it creates suspense by introducing potential dangers and conflicts the characters may have to face. Secondly, it foreshadows the specific events that will take place in the story, such as the children stealing the rover and Bell needing glow sticks in the train tunnel. Finally, it sets up rigid rules that some characters later interpret in more creative ways. In Chapter 18, for instance, Bell sees that Trey is afraid of going to the other settlements by himself, so he volunteers to go with his friend. To avoid embarrassing Trey, Bell cleverly cites the rule that states that one cannot go without a “buddy.”

“When the Mars Settlement Mission was announced, Sai said he received over ten thousand applications. But when it came time to choose the crew, he threw out the résumés and went looking himself. He said he’d needed people who were problem solvers. People who were used to messy work in difficult conditions. Like plumbers and electricians and farmers. Sai said that was who kept a settlement running.”

This passage characterizes Sai as a practical leader who cares about creating a healthy and organized community. It also highlights the fact that the settlers are ordinary people with useful capabilities, rather than merely scientists and astronauts. This echoes Holm’s intention to focus on the daily life of this “small, family farm version” of a Mars settlement (252).

“‘There’s that old lion,’ Phinneus said, observing Leo. [...]’

‘What’s a lion?’

‘It’s a very large cat,’ he explained.

‘[...] So why do you call Leo that?” I asked. “He’s not very big.’

‘It’s his attitude. He acts like a lion. He’s fearless.’

This is the first time that the symbol of Lions is introduced in the story. Phinneus compares Leo to a lion because of his attitude, which later prompts Bell to compare his friends to Earth animals (Chapter 8). This develops the young boy’s love for lions, which then becomes a recurring symbol throughout the book, concluding with Bell’s statement that the settlers are “the pride of Mars” (251).

“I didn’t know what I was going to do for her this year. It was a few months away, so I had some time to come up with something. But it was hard because I didn’t have a talent like everyone else.

Flossy could sew, and Albie made music. Trey could make just about anything with the 3D modeler. And Vera, for all her snark, could draw soulful kittens and sweet butterflies. But me? I wasn’t good at anything. I’d probably end up painting another rock.”

In this passage, Bell reflects on his lack of defining talent, which he contrasts with his friends’ abilities. Bell struggles to find his place in the group. This is echoed in Chapter 23, when Bell briefly wonders whether ping-pong might be his “gift” (191). However, by the end of the story, Bell has found his place and does not define himself by his abilities, but rather by what he is able to do for his community.

“I used to be Trey’s person.

We were famous—Trey and I. The story went that when he saw me, he immediately claimed me as his ‘Bell-Bell.’ Trey would climb into my crib and entertain me with toys and books, even nap with me. We were inseparable.

I was a late talker, which worried everyone until Meems realized Trey was my voice. Whenever I wanted something, he just got it for me. I didn’t need to speak, because I had Trey.”

This passage delves into Trey and Bell’s background, which is only hinted at until this point in the story. Bell has been lamenting that he and his best friend have grown apart after being “inseparable.” This conflict precludes their eventual reconciliation and is later echoed in Chapter 21 (see Important Quote #20).

“One of our crew members, a woman named Lissa, had died near the French settlement. I was a little unclear on what had happened because none of the grown-ups liked to talk about it. She was buried in the cemetery with the cats.”

This quote introduces a key plot point. Although little information is given at this point in the story, the mention of Lissa’s tragedy creates suspense about the potential dangers of living on Mars and foreshadows the significance of Lissa’s death. Bell’s point of view underlines the adults’ secrecy and buried feelings about the event, which can be tied to the motif of Prejudice—Bell knows nothing but the wrong information provided to him.

“Good boring was predictable—like doing chores at the same time every day. It was no fun, but you knew what was expected. Bad boring was being bored and having absolutely no idea what was going to happen. Not knowing was scary—scarier than aliens or even French people.”

Bell’s comparison of “good boring” and “bad boring” highlights a significant aspect of his character. At the beginning of the story, his comfortable routine makes him feel safe whereas the unknown scares him. His equation of aliens with French people reveals that, to him, they are both fantastical, abstract threats.

“But the lions were my favorite. How could I not love the big cats? They were social and lived in a group called a pride. They helped each other and raised their cubs communally. They sounded just like us. All our grown-ups had raised us together. One sentence stood out to me: Lions who are rejected by their pride do not survive long.”

This is the first instance where Bell makes an explicit connection between lions and his own family dynamic. This running comparison is established as a symbol throughout the rest of the book, driving Bell’s effort toward cooperation.

“If a piece of clothing could perfectly describe a person, this sweater was it for Phinneus. It was fuzzy, with fraying threads and two missing buttons. But it was soft and comforting and always made me feel safe. When I was little and had nightmares, Phinneus would tuck that sweater around me and read to me until I fell asleep again.”

Bell uses a metaphor, where something is compared to something else without using “like” or “as,” to describe Phinneus. He compares Phinneus to a cozy sweater, suggesting that Phinneus, like the sweater, is also “soft and comforting.” Bell describes Phinneus’s influence on him as a father/grandfather figure throughout the years. He highlights the old man’s advanced age (“frayed threads and two missing buttons”), which helps make sense of his death within the narrative.

“Here on Mars our skin colors were varied. From darker than me (Darby) to lighter than me (Vera) to just about like me (Sai).”

This briefly touches on the American settlers’ physical appearance and racial background. It is the only instance in the book where characters’ skin colors are described. Bell points out that Earth movies mostly depict white people, which implies that he has some awareness of the concept of race/ethnicity.

“The Nanny Program was an international project to encourage young people to settle on Mars. They could be scientists or engineers or cooks or plumbers or a dozen other things. They just had to have some talent that was useful in a settlement. The catch was that each person, or “nanny,” had to bring an orphaned baby and take care of it on the journey. Babies did surprisingly well in space. Once on Mars, the nanny dropped the baby off at the host country settlement, then went on to their own country.”

This passage explains how Bell and the other children were brought to Mars. It clarifies the dynamic between the settlers, who are not related but raise the children communally. Bell does not seem to know what mothers and fathers are, but he evidently views the adults as parental figures.

“‘Do you think we should have saved two mice?’ I asked him. ‘Won’t Muffin get lonely without a friend? He—I mean she—doesn’t have anyone to play with.’

Kind of like me these days.

‘Ah, I see,’ [Phinneus] said, and gave me a knowing look. ‘We’ll just have to give her a lot of love and attention, then, right?’

‘Right,’ I said.

We watched Muffin scratch at the edges of the walls of the habitat as if trying to get out.

‘Poor thing wants her freedom,’ Phinneus observed.

‘But it’s not safe outside for her,’ I said.

He gave me a long look.

‘I suppose,’ he said. ‘But living in a cage is no kind of life, even for a mouse.’”

This conversation between Bell and Phinneus reveals Phinneus’s view on community and cooperation. Phinneus uses the mouse, Muffin, to indirectly tell Bell that he is aware that he and Trey have fallen out, and that their settlement cannot thrive on its own. This portrays Phinneus as a shrewd, caring mentor to Bell, who does not understand the old man’s underlying meaning yet. The passage foreshadows Bell’s later realization that they need to cooperate with the other settlements to survive.

“While the mouse disease didn’t affect us kids, the grown-ups didn’t have any resistance to it.

But the worst part was knowing that it wasn’t aliens or the other countries that had brought danger to our home: it was something from Earth. What if other threats were lurking in the supplies? Was it even safe to eat the food? Had one of the killer weeds Phinneus had told me about hopped a ride, too? It was terrifying to consider.”

Bell is maturing as he starts to reflect on what he’s been taught about the dangers of the world. For the first time, he is not facing a hypothetical external threat like “aliens or French people,” but a concrete, seemingly innocuous threat. These lines foreshadow his future introspection about other hidden threats within the settlement, such as resentment and prejudice.

“Then I sat and logged in to Sai’s account. I scrolled through Sai’s messages with Earth Command. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. He worried about everything—from Trey’s pimples to the strength of the outside coating of the COR. He ended almost every message with the same phrase: Please advise.

Command always responded the same way: we’ll send whatever you need on the next supply ship. At first, it struck me as a little cold, but then I realized it was all they could do. They were too far away to actually help. Like the sun in my bedroom, it was all an illusion. The truth was that we were on our own. And we always had been.”

This passage illustrates Bell’s realization that the settlement is completely isolated. The contrast between Sai’s messages and the responses he receives from Earth command characterizes Sai as caring and devoted to his work while revealing that nobody can really help the settlers. This leads Bell and his friends to realize that they need to contact the other settlements and cooperate in order to survive. Bell uses a simile—comparing something to something else using “like” or as”—to show how far away command is: “Like the sun in my bedroom, it was all an illusion.”

“I clutched the glow sticks, fear dancing up my back. ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ I confessed.

‘Just pretend the tunnel is the corridor outside our bedroom, and it won’t be scary,’ Trey said. ‘Be brave, Bell-Bell!’

And just like that, something was right again. Even though our world was falling apart, Trey was still my best friend. He would literally sit in the dark for me.

But instead of his doing everything for me, like when I was little, it was my turn to do something for him. I had to be our voice now and get help."

Trey and Bell’s relationship, which had been on the mend in the past few chapters, is now entirely repaired. Trey’s use of Bell’s nickname as a baby (“Bell-Bell”) harks back to their shared history. Trey’s sacrifice (“He would literally sit in the dark for me”) and Bell taking charge to help his friend (“it was my turn to do something for him”) reveal their respective growth.

“It turned out all those horror digi-reels got it wrong. The scariest thing in the world wasn’t a monster or an alien chasing you. It wasn’t killer slime mold or zombie plague. It was being alone.”

This passage echoes Bell’s realization that real threats are often invisible and insidious (see Quote #18). Bell now rejects fantasized fears (“monster” or “alien”): He understands The Importance of Community for survival.

“Amélie introduced me to all the other kids, and I was surprised to learn that they were all from different countries—France, Russia, China, Finland.

‘Do you do this a lot?’ I asked.

‘Play Ping-Pong?’ Wei asked.

I struggled to explain.

‘I meant get together with the other countries.’

Bell grapples with the idea that the other settlements have achieved the sense of community which he is beginning to understand is vital for survival. Bell “struggling to explain” shows that he has not fully put that feeling into words yet, but foreshadows his later reflections on friendship and cooperation.

“‘Bell,’ Sai said, ‘Trey told me what happened on the train. It was very, very brave of you to walk through the tunnel by yourself to get help.’

But he was wrong. I hadn’t been brave.

‘I almost gave up. I was scared the whole time,’ I confessed.

His eyes met mine, and he nodded.

‘That’s what bravery feels like,’ he said.”

This conversation between Bell and Sai introduces bravery as the willingness to face one’s fears, rather than simply achieving a result. Bell expresses his fear several times throughout the book, and is often able to confront those fears in order to help his friends. Sai’s remark validates his effort and provides important characterization: Bell is compassionate and someone willing to confront his fear to help others.

“I wanted to run away, too. Because I finally understood how Muffin must have felt. This settlement—my home—didn’t feel so cozy anymore. I felt trapped. Like a mouse in a cage.”

Bell uses a simile, comparing his sense of confinement to being “like a mouse in a cage.” This echoes Quote #17, where Phinneus implied that the settlement may feel like a cage because it’s so closed-off. Bell now realizes what the old man meant, which reveals his emotional growth. A few pages earlier, Bell claims that, thanks to their new friends, “our world [is] so much bigger now” (213), adding to the idea of community as a metric for happiness.