The Chessmen of Mars · Chapter
The Headless Humans explained
Tara of Helium is caught in a devastating storm that wreaks havoc on Lesser Helium.
What happens
Tara of Helium is caught in a devastating storm that wreaks havoc on Lesser Helium. Her flier, the Vanator, is blown far off course, and after the storm abates, she finds herself in a strange valley with dome-capped towers. She lands, hides her flier, and cautiously explores the valley, encountering dangerous banths and struggling to find food and water. She manages to gather fruit and drink from a stream, but realizes the peril of her situation and the difficulty of returning to her flier.
Themes in this chapter
Courage and Resilience
Tara demonstrates resilience by surviving the storm, foraging alone, and facing the dangers of the valley despite exhaustion and fear.
Slavery and Freedom
Tara's precarious situation in the valley hints at the threat of capture and loss of freedom, as she must hide from the tower dwellers.
Characters to notice
- Tara of Helium
Survives the storm, lands in a strange valley, and forages for food and water while evading banths and the unknown inhabitants of the towers.
- John Carter
The Warlord orders the search for Tara to be suspended to focus on saving Lesser Helium from destruction caused by the storm.
Key passages
“The tempest struck her in the stern as with a mailed fist and stood the great ship upon her nose, and then it caught her and spun her as a child’s top spins”
The storm hit the flier violently, flipping it and spinning it uncontrollably.
Describes the force of the storm on the Vanator.
“Never in the memory of man or the annals of recorded history had such a storm raged across the face of Barsoom.”
No storm of this magnitude had ever been recorded on Barsoom.
Emphasizes the unprecedented nature of the storm.
“The girl was exhausted from loss of sleep, from lack of food and drink, and from the nervous reaction consequent to the terrifying experiences through which she had passed.”
Tara was physically and mentally drained from her ordeal.
Highlights Tara's state after the storm.
“If the tower was the deserted relic of a bygone age she would scarcely find food there, but there was still a chance that there might be water.”
She considered that the tower might be abandoned, offering water but likely no food.
Tara's reasoning about the tower she spotted.
“To depend upon this valley for sustenance she now saw to be beyond the pale of possibility because of the banths that would keep her from food and water by night, while the dwellers in the towers would doubtless make it equally impossible for her to forage by day.”
She realized that the valley was too dangerous to rely on for food and water due to the banths at night and the tower inhabitants during the day.
Tara's assessment of the valley's dangers.