The Lion of Mars

“The surface digi-cam at the northwest quadrant of the settlement has been destroyed. The pole supporting it was knocked over as well. It is my conclusion that this was done deliberately by a hostile actor.”

Sai’s secure message to Earth command introduces the story and seemingly foreshadows an important plot point—the broken digi-cam—which turns out to be a Red Herring. This creates suspense about a potential conflict and sets up a mystery to be solved later in the story. However, it is eventually revealed that the camera was accidentally broken by children playing. This reframes the opening as a misleading cue, and plays into the motif of Prejudice.

“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