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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
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Part 2, Chapters 18-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “A Rabble in Arms”
Part 2, Chapter 18 Summary
That night, Manuel meets with Dr. Chan, a Chinese member of the Credentials Committee of the Federated Nations. Dr. Chan asks Manuel how resources could be cheaply shipped from Earth to the Moon. Manuel explains that a catapult like that used on the Moon could be used on Earth. He describes how it would work and emphasizes that it would have to be built on a high mountain. The ice and snow around the site would have to be melted, but Manuel explains that the resulting water could be efficiently sent to the Moon via the catapult. A “space tug” could be used to ferry the shipping containers from the Lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon. Over the next few weeks, Manuel makes the same Earth-to-Moon catapult pitch to representatives from many countries. He makes it seem like the proposal is secret and being shared only with that nation.
Manuel and the Professor travel to North America as part of their tour. Manuel visits Salem, Massachusetts, where one of his ancestors was born. Meanwhile, the Professor pitches potential investors on projects they could undertake on the Moon. For instance, he talks to a Playboy hotel chain managing director about opening hotels on the Moon. The Professor emphasizes that there are no taxes there, which interests businesses.
During the press tour, the Professor advises Manuel to always respond to reporter questions with other questions when he does not have a prepared response ready. However, during a press junket in Kentucky, Manuel answers questions off-the-cuff about his polyamorous marriage structure while explaining that there are only private marriages on the Moon. He shows a reporter a picture of his family. The next day, he is arrested for polygamy, bigamy, “open immorality and publicly inciting others to the same” (262).
Part 2, Chapter 19 Summary
LaJoie arranges for the charges against Manuel to be dropped. Soon afterward, the team returns to Agra to meet again with the Committee, which has made its decision about whether to recognize the Moon’s sovereignty. The Committee rejects their claim of sovereignty and instead decides that they will “civilize” and reform the system on the Lunar colony themselves. They will offer Loonies who want to return to Earth the possibility to do so, or else they can stay there and work under the Authority’s new system. The Professor points out that, due to the change in gravity, returning to Earth would effectively be a death sentence for many Loonies.
After the meeting, the Chairman of the Committee meets privately with Manuel. He offers Manuel the position of “Protector Pro Tem,” effectively a role as the new Warden (269). He presents Manuel with a detailed, printed copy of the Authority’s new plan for the Lunar colony. Manuel tells the Chairman he will consider it.
That night, Manuel and the Professor get on a ship to return to the Moon. LaJoie, having spent his fortune on Earth to support the revolution, decides to return with them.
Part 2, Chapter 20 Summary
Upon return to the Moon, Manuel, the Professor, and LaJoie are held in quarantine for two days. While in quarantine, Manuel laments to the Professor that their bid for international recognition failed. The Professor tells Manuel that he always knew they would fail; the point of the trip was to “fight hard every instant—and lose” (275). During the press tour, the Professor intended for their messaging “to be divisive” (276), thereby weakening the inevitable Earthly military response. Further, the rejection, along with Manuel’s arrest, would strengthen the revolutionary zeal in the colony.
Wyoming joyfully meets the trio upon their re-entry to the colony. Manuel is happy to see she is wearing the red dress he bought her.
Part 2, Chapter 21 Summary
Manuel reunites with his family, who are all wearing Liberty Caps. Then, they go to a rally celebrating their success. The Professor gives a rousing speech and then has them sing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
After the rally, Manuel, the Professor, and LaJoie meet with Wyoming and Mike. Manuel turns over his recorded reports to the computer for analysis. Wyoming informs them that an elected Congress was formed in their absence. At first, Manuel is perturbed by this, but Wyoming reassures him that the Congress is constituted mainly of dedicated revolutionaries. Manuel realizes that Mike must have fixed the results of the election. Then, they discuss military strategy. Mike advises they wait for Earth to attack first.
Manuel and the others attend a meeting of Congress and a final governmental structure is approved. The Professor is confirmed as the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Manuel is confirmed as Minister of Defense. Manuel reports to Congress about his trip and the Authority’s proposed reform. The representatives are outraged, and they vote to embargo all shipments of grain to Earth in response.
Part 2, Chapter 22 Summary
To prevent a major economic slowdown following the embargo of grain shipments, the newly formed government begins to issue “National Dollars” that are “in theory” pegged to the Hong Kong dollar. They decree that only countries that recognize Lunar sovereignty will be allowed to land. Thus far, only Chad has recognized Luna. Meanwhile, the colonists prepare for war.
As Minister of Defense, Manuel is put in charge of the combat preparations. He arranges militias, has laser guns made to intercept missiles and ships, and arranges drilling schedules. He requisitions a Bank of Hong Kong computer to be used to calculate ballistics for a bombing campaign. When Manuel notices that men are not showing up to drills, he incorporates women into the militias to encourage attendance.
Meanwhile, Congress continues to debate and establish details for the new government. The Professor attempts to slow them down by highlighting the various flaws in their plans and sowing discontent among the group. He encourages them to consider non-traditional modes of government, like a body of Congress whose only job is to repeal laws. He emphasizes that the government should not collect any taxes and should find other ways to finance projects.
Afterward, Manuel asks the Professor how they will pay back all the money they have borrowed to finance the revolution if they don’t collect taxes. The Professor tells them they will not pay it back; they are stealing the money, which is better than “the villainous precedent of taxation” (303). Then, LaJoie, a monarchist, proposes to nominate the Professor for the position of king. Manuel and the Professor strongly object.
Part 2, Chapters 18-22 Analysis
In the second half of Part 2, Manuel and the Professor return to the Moon, where the Loonies celebrate them for their efforts to win diplomatic recognition for the Lunar government. A key theme of this section of the novel is The Concept of Liberty and the Libertarian Ideal. Upon their return, the Professor gives a rousing speech in which he paraphrases American revolutionary Patrick Henry, saying, “Give us liberty…or give us death!” (283). Henry said these words as part of his rallying cry for the Revolutionary War in 1775. The American revolutionaries were fighting their colonial rulers, the British, for the right to self-governance. The right to self-governance is the “liberty” to which Henry is referring. The Loonie rebellion, similarly, is a fight for their right to self-governance. However, the Professor’s concept of liberty differs in an important way from that of the American revolutionaries. The “Founding Fathers” fought to establish a representative democratic government, believing an elected government was a core element of liberty. In contrast, the leaders of the Loonie rebellion are unconcerned with actual democratic governance.
This becomes evident in Chapter 21, when Wyoming explains that the revolutionaries had ensured that their “party” would be guaranteed seats in the elected Congress. When she shares the polling results with Manuel, he realizes that Mike has likely fixed the election in their favor. As a result, he “no longer worried about new Congress” (286); he is unconcerned that the elections were not free or fair. Later, the Professor says he hopes that Congress will be so divided that they will be unable to govern, thus rendering them useless as lawmakers. He derisively refers to the democracies on earth as “managed democracy,” meaning that there is only the pretense of representation while real power is wielded behind the scenes. However, the Loonie revolutionary government is effectively a “managed democracy” as well, as the results of the elections are decided in advance and information is closely controlled by leadership. Thus, the Loonie concept of liberty (as articulated by its leadership) does not include the right to a representative democracy. Instead, the Professor and his supporters attempt to create liberty through the near-total abolition of government, with democracy only serving as a façade to appease the people. The central libertarian ideal that the Professor values most is freedom from taxes; he describes this as “villainous.” Heinlein thus presents liberty as primarily economic freedom from government.
Manuel’s realization that Mike had fixed the election results without oversight or direction touches on the theme of The Nature and Role of Artificial Intelligence. The incident emphasizes one of the potential threats of AI, as imagined by techno-futurists like Heinlein: The possibility that artificial intelligence could independently decide to alter critical information, like election results, effectively overriding and distorting human control. This moment raises questions about the extent of Mike’s autonomy and whether the Loonies’ reliance on Mike has begun to detract from their own control over their revolution.
A hallmark of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Robert Heinlein’s work more generally is the frequent use of technical jargon. Because the novel is narrated in Manuel’s Loonie pidgin, these technical terms are often truncated or otherwise simplified. For instance, in this excerpt, Manuel describes engineering aspects of the Loonie’s munitions: “Were indeed a few loaded barges; these we unloaded and reloaded with rock, with changes made in guidance transponders so that Poona Control could not affect them. Their retros were removed, leaving only lateral thrustors, and spare retros were taken to new catapult, to be modified for lateral guidance” (294).
In this excerpt, Manuel explains how the Loonies have designed the rock-filled cannisters that will be flung out of the catapults to hit the Earth. The use of technical phrases such as “guidance transponders” and “lateral guidance” reflect his expertise. Particularly notable is his use of the term “retros,” an abbreviation of “retrothrusters,” which are the jets on spacecraft that counteract gravitational forces. Manuel’s language reflects his training and experience as a technician. It also reflects how the novel as a whole valorizes characters with technical knowledge—like engineers, technicians, and farm managers—holding them up as the true architects of social progress.
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By Robert A. Heinlein
