54 pages • 1 hour read
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
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Part 2, Chapters 14-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “A Rabble in Arms”
Part 2, Chapter 14 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence.
The revolutionaries take over the Authority on Luna. The Warden is alive but brain-dead from oxygen deprivation. The revolutionaries kill the Authority’s spies, and they decide to continue using Mike’s alter ego, Adam Selene, as a figurehead leader. Mike creates an avatar of the character that can be shown over video.
The next morning, “Adam” gives a public speech explaining that the Loonies are free and that for the moment, most things will continue as usual while the revolutionary government takes office. That afternoon, Manuel learns that a group of “Terran” (Earth) scientists are planning on sending a message to Earth about the coup. He intervenes and stops them. Meanwhile, the revolutionaries continue to send grain shipments to Earth to keep the Authority on Earth unaware of the rebellion on the Moon. Many Loonies volunteer to help the new revolutionary government, but only a few of them have useful skills and can be put to work as mechanics.
Overnight, the Authority Scrip currency drops in value, and farmers and civil servants are upset. The new government encourages the farmers to grow and sell goods that can be traded in Hong Kong dollars instead. The government also organizes militias to prepare for a future attack from Earth. The Professor organizes an Ad-Hoc Congress to discuss the organization of the new government. He does this to make people feel as if they are contributing to a debate on what form the government will take, but he is certain they “cannot agree on anything” (205), and he has no intention of taking their suggestions seriously.
Eventually, the Terran scientists are able to send a report to Earth about the coup on the Moon. The Authority based on Earth sends a message demanding the Warden “deny this hoax” and “put stop to it” (206). On July 4, 2076, the revolutionaries send a Declaration of Independence.
Part 2, Chapter 15 Summary
On July 2, the Professor directed the Ad-Hoc Congress to write a Declaration of Independence. People debated what the text should say. The Professor arranged for the Congress to be stacked with revolutionaries, and they finalized the text.
Afterward, the Professor asks Manuel to accompany him on a trip to Earth. The Moon does not have any ships, so they will be traveling there in a modified grain shipment canister via catapult. Despite his concerns about the safety of this mode of transportation, Manuel agrees.
The night before he leaves, Manuel eats dinner at home with his family. Afterward, they have a family meeting. At the meeting, his co-husband Greg proposes that Wyoming “opt” (marry) into the family line. Everyone agrees, especially because Wyoming can likely still have children. Late that night, Wyoming goes to Manuel’s bed and tells him she is worried he won’t return from Earth.
Part 2, Chapter 16 Summary
Sometime later, Manuel wakes up from his sedation before the shipping container reaches Earth. He struggles to turn on the light because his prosthetic arm was removed for the trip. He is worried because the Professor looks “dead.” Manuel gives the Professor some medicine, hoping to save his life. Their entry into Earth’s orbit and landing in the ocean is abrupt, and Manuel passes out. He wakes up in the hospital with LaJoie beside him. LaJoie tells Manuel that the Professor is weak but still alive, and he has arranged for Chad passports for the pair of them.
Two days later, Manuel and the Professor go to Agra, India, to meet with the Credentials Committee of the Federated Nations. The Professor tells the Committee that he is there to ask for the other nations to recognize the revolutionary government of Luna as sovereign. He says that “Luna [must] be allowed to take her rightful place in the councils of mankind as a member of Federated Nations” (227). The Committee rejects his request, and they assert that Luna is “property of Federated Nations” (228). The Professor and committee members debate for some time, and eventually, the Committee rejects his claim. Then, the Professor and Manuel collapse from the strain of Earth’s gravity.
Part 2, Chapter 17 Summary
The Earth newspapers carry news of the Professor’s appeal to the Committee. The next day, the Professor and Manuel return to continue negotiations. The negotiations are supposed to be private, but Manuel sneaks in a recording device. The Committee asks the Professor if they will continue to send grain shipments to Earth because India and other countries depend on them. The Professor says they will only continue if “Luna’s sovereign freedom” is recognized (237), and the committee members get angry.
That night, the Professor and Manuel attend a newspaper reception. The Professor evades the reporters’ questions by asking them questions in return. Then, the Professor explains that the Moon will continue to send grain shipments only if Earth sends the Moon resources, too. After he leaves, Manuel responds to a reporter’s question about the Loonies’ desire to “pay not one dime of taxes” (241). Manuel explains that everything is privatized on the Moon, so they do not have to pay taxes. He also notes that no one has ever died of old age on the Moon. A reporter counters that the Lunar colony should pay taxes to reimburse Terra for the police protection they provide. Manuel retorts that police officers were not sent to protect them, but rather to rape and murder Loonies.
Part 2, Chapters 14-17 Analysis
In Part 2 of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Manuel and the Professor travel to Earth to garner support for their nascent government. This section of the novel highlights an important aspect of The Dynamics of Revolution: After winning the battle in their own territory, revolutionaries must gain recognition from the international community to secure their sovereignty. History provides several real-world parallels to this process. For example, after the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party controlled mainland China but the counterrevolutionary government of Chiang Kai-Shek maintained a stronghold on the island of Taiwan. For decades, the Republic of China (Taiwan) was recognized as the sole legitimate government of China by the United Nations and many countries; this continued until 1971, when the United Nations transferred recognition to the People’s Republic of China, signaling the diplomatic victory of the Communist Party. Similarly, in the novel, Manuel and the Professor petition the Federated Nations to recognize their government as legitimate.
The Federated Nations (FN) in the novel represents the real-world United Nations, and the discussions have real-world parallels. For example, in the novel, the FN committee members object to the Loonies’ claim of sovereignty on the basis that “Earth’s Moon [is] a satellite of Earth and property of Federated Nations, just as Antarctica was” (228). This echoes real-world international agreements, such as the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which designates that celestial bodies belong to all of humanity and that no single country can claim ownership. However, not every aspect of the Federated Nations mirrors the real-world United Nations. For instance, the United Nations only has peacekeeping troops whereas the Federated Nations have sufficient troops for colonial invasions.
Manuel and the Professor embark on their diplomatic mission to win Luna’s freedom from government control, underscoring the theme of The Concept of Liberty and the Libertarian Ideal. The revolutionaries claim they do not want just political independence—they want economic liberation. By refusing the Federated Nations’ demand for compensation, the revolutionaries uphold the libertarian principle of freedom from taxation and government oversight. One FN representative complains that the “colonists enjoy benefits and pay not one dime of taxes” (241); by protesting this, the Professor voices the libertarian belief that governments impose unjust financial burdens.
However, although the revolutionaries claim they want a free press—which is a libertarian ideal—they rely on propaganda and media manipulation to gain popular support for their movement. Throughout The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, the novel presents news media coverage as easily bought and paid for, frequently biased, and full of incorrect information. This motif is most evident during Manuel and the Professor’s press junket on Earth. For instance, during an event, Manuel insinuates that the Lunar colonists could use their shipping containers as munitions to attack the Earth. The novel notes that a newspaper headline the next day was “Loonies Threaten to Throw Rice” (240). This shows that newspapers distort information and, in this instance, minimize the threat posed by the revolutionaries. In this “information war,” the revolutionaries’ supporter, LaJoie, fights back by buying favorable press coverage to build support for their cause. This complicates their relationship with their ideals, showing that the revolutionaries make compromises to achieve their goals.
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By Robert A. Heinlein
