Red Mars Allusions and Cultural References

When authors give shout outs to other great works, people, and events, it's usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References

  • Albert Camus (1.2.53)
  • Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (1.2.65)
  • Machiavelli (1.2.29; 3.5.136; 6.4.51)
  • David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (2.3.15)
  • Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit (2.4.145)
  • Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko (3.4.68-69)
  • William Topaz McGonagall (3.4.70)
  • Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars (3.7.50-51; 5.8.145)
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson (4.2.43)
  • Aristotle (4.2.51)
  • Hermes Trismegistus (4.2.51)
  • William Shakespeare, Hamlet (5.4.1)
  • Pantheism (5.7.82)
  • Existentialism (5.7.82)
  • Rumi Jalaluddin, "I Died as a Mineral" (5.7.109)
  • Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (6.2.42)
  • P.G. Wodehouse, Reginald Jeeves (6.4.4)
  • Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer (6.5.75)
  • Arthur C. Clarke (6.4.77-79; 6.5.7)
  • George Orwell (7.1.16)
  • Thomas Paine, The American Crisis (8.2.50)

Religious and Mythological References

Historical References

Some Choice (Not All) Science References

Place References

  • Mauna Loa (1.2.15)
  • Mojave Desert (2.2.52; 5.2.73)
  • McMurdo Station (2.1.6)
  • McMurdo Dry Valley (2.2.52)
  • Aptera, Greece (3.3.49)
  • The Roman cisterns (3.3.49)
  • Sahara Desert (3.5.23)
  • Gobi Desert (3.5.23)
  • Ayers Rock (3.5.49)
  • The Urals (3.6.1; 3.7.4)
  • Karakoram Mountain Range (3.7.30)
  • The Himalayas (3.7.30; 8.2.66)
  • Mt. Fuji (3.7.30, 3.7.32, 3.7.33)
  • Villefranche-sur-Mar (4.2.1, 4.2.64, 4.2.68)
  • Pont du Gard (4.2.23)
  • Lascaux (4.2.63)
  • Avignon (4.2.62, 4.2.64)
  • Côte-d'Or (4.2.69)
  • Golden Gate Bridge (5.7.69)
  • Chryse (5.8.145)
  • Lake Missoula and the Washington scablands (5.8.9)
  • Calcutta (6.2.45)
  • Limestone Caves of Luray (6.3.30)
  • Mecca (6.3.82)
  • Havana (6.5.172)
  • Barcelona (7.1.16)
  • Straits of Gibraltar (7.2.18)
  • The Amazon River (8.2.38, 8.2.62)
  • The Grand Canyon (8.2.66)
  • The Arctic Sea (8.2.107)
  • Stonehenge (8.2.141)

Pop Culture References

  • Fauvist/Fauvism (1.2.7; 5.9.135)
  • Mardi Gras (1.2.65, 1.2.95)
  • Comedy and Tragedy masks (1.2.93)
  • Toots & the Maytals, "Pressure Drop" (2.2.73)
  • Sherlock Holmes (2.3.13; 5.5.26)
  • Lone Ranger (2.3.13)
  • Beethoven, Pastoral Symphony (2.3.59, 2.3.111)
  • Buster Keaton (2.3.94)
  • Clarence and Spencer Williams, "Royal Garden Blues" (3.2.7)
  • King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (3.2.30)
  • Bessie Smith (3.2.39)
  • Louis Armstrong (3.3.51, 3.3.57; 3.4.68)
  • The Hot Five (3.3.55)
  • Jimmy McHugh and Dorthy Fields, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" (3.3.56)
  • Fats Waller, Harry Brooks, and Andy Razaf, "Ain't Misbehavin'" (3.3.59)
  • Harry B. Smith, Francis Wheeler, and Ted Snyder, "The Sheik of Araby" (3.5.27)
  • Rene Magritte (3.5.100)
  • Johnny Appleseed (3.7.90)
  • Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox (3.7.93-94; 6.1.12)
  • Frankenstein's monster (4.1.4; 6.5.146)
  • Sami Claus and Böögen (5.3.9; 5.3.19)
  • Tibetan mandalas (5.9.34)
  • M.C. Escher (5.10.6)
  • "Carrying coals to Newcastle" (5.10.8)—an idiom
  • Mona Lisa (5.10.85)
  • Superman (6.4.35)
  • The Wizard of Oz movie (7.1.19; 7.3.101)
  • "Like the cat that ate the canary" (7.3.75)—an idiom
  • Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (7.3.41)
  • Arthur Johnston and Jonny Burke, "Pennies from Heaven" (7.3.41)
  • Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Oscar Hammerstein II, "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" (7.3.41)
  • Sergei Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf (7.4.150)
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