Religious Imagery
The book is replete with religious imagery and religion is the major cause of conflict in the story. Mike is portrayed as a religious student, prophet and then as a martyr at the end of the novel. After reaching earth, Mike realizes that humans can be manipulated through religion, so he lays the foundation of a new religion which includes the Christian rites, but he calls it a ‘Church for all words.’ This religion puts emphasis on liberal ideas and rejects the traditional religious views. Mike is assassinated for his liberal religious views. He is portrayed as a Christ figure because of making attempts to save humanity from exploiting by the religious ideals and he is also assassinated by the society just like the Christ. The author has also employed the images of afterlife where Mike is converted into an archangel because of his services as a prophet and for being a martyr.
Images of Alien
The images of an alien have been conveyed through the character of Mike. Although he was born on Mars, but he was not a Martian. Despite of coming to earth at an early age, he is not considered as an inhabitant of earth. He is treated with prejudice and he is isolated by the society. The inhabitants of Mars also take him as an outsider because of his identity as an earthling. Mike is neither accepted as a part of earth nor as an inhabitant of Mars, so he is portrayed as an alien for both the planets. The title of the novel also conveys the images of an alien landing on a strange place.
Images of Freedom
The author has also portrayed the imagery of unconstrained freedom in the novel. The images of free life have been represented through the demonstration of Mike’s life. He lives with several naked wives in a house and roams around in a naked way. Mike does not care about what others think or say about him. His version of religion also propagates freedom and a carefree life, full of joy and happiness. He does not follow the societal values of American society.
