# Preferment explained — The Master Mind of Mars

> Chapter companion for The Master Mind of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

## What happens

Vad Varo learns the Barsoomian language and assists Ras Thavas in his laboratory, mastering the secrets of the embalming fluid and the revitalization solution. Ras Thavas explains his scientific philosophy, devoid of sentiment, and reveals that the old woman Vad Varo saw was Xaxa, the Jeddara of Phundahl, who purchased the body of a beautiful young woman. Thavas also recounts the story of a resurrected slave who resented his new body, illustrating the conflict between reason and sentiment.

## Themes in this chapter

### Science vs. Sentiment

Ras Thavas contrasts his purely scientific, unsentimental approach with the emotional folly of others, using examples like the resentful resurrected slave and the Phundahlians' loyalty to Xaxa.

### Identity and Body Transfer

The chapter details the process of brain transfer and the ethical and personal conflicts arising from inhabiting another's body, as seen in the slave's grievance and Xaxa's purchase.

### Ethics of Science

Ras Thavas's amoral pursuit of knowledge, treating human subjects as mere material for experimentation and profit, raises questions about the ethical boundaries of scientific work.

## Character check-ins

### Vad Varo

Narrator and assistant to Ras Thavas; learns the secrets of the embalming fluid and revitalization solution; continues to adapt to Barsoom.

### Ras Thavas

The old surgeon of Toonol; trains Vad Varo in his laboratory; explains his scientific, unsentimental worldview; reveals the identity of Xaxa and the story of the resurrected slave.

### Xaxa

Jeddara of Phundahl; revealed to be the old woman whose brain was transferred to a beautiful young body; described as ignorant, arrogant, and cruel.

### Valla Dia

The young woman whose body was given to Xaxa; mentioned as a beautiful subject preserved by Ras Thavas for ten years before being sold.

## Key lines

> He had a purely scientific mind entirely devoid of the cloying influences of sentiment, of which he possessed none.

Ras Thavas's mind was completely scientific, lacking any sentimental feelings.

_Describes the core of Ras Thavas's character and his worldview._

> I bought her with a batch of prisoners of war. I do not even recall from what country my agent obtained them, or from whence they originated. Such matters are of no import.

He purchased her among a group of war prisoners and doesn't remember where they came from, as such details are unimportant to him.

_Illustrates Thavas's detachment from the humanity of his subjects._

> Sentiment is indeed a bar to all progress.

Emotion and sentiment hinder scientific and societal advancement.

_A key statement of Thavas's philosophy, contrasting reason with emotion._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters/ii-preferment
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters