Character Stereotypes in Aelita
I too was dissatisfied with the reading of Aelita because of the shallow characters and pervasive imperialistic attitude, as well as issues of credibility. I was surprised by the manner in which these two Russians approached an alien culture, and I found it hard to believe that they would be so casual about it. From what I understood, this is the first time anyone is coming into contact with the Martian species, and possibly the first time humans come into contact with any alien species. Yet the Russians, and Gusev in particular, act in a manner that shows him to be solely focused on one thing – his profits. The entire story reeked of imperialism and this character fit uncomfortably well with the stereotype of the explorer seeking to exploit the native people.
Gusev’s preoccupancy with conquering and exploiting is carried to unfortunate comical extremes, with him offering up useless trash for gold, exposing the aliens to smoking and hard alcohol, and declaring a claim to Mars as a Russian territory. If we look at where Russia was historically at the time, it seems logical that a comrade would be preoccupied with gaining international credibility through whatever means possible, in order to advance Russia’s social position. Yet the belittling of this Martian culture, which is obviously extremely complex, into a relationship between the cultured “white man” and “native” (whom he refers to as bastards) seemed to do nothing but reinforce this unfortunate character mold. Even his initial reaction of violence by handgun seems forced, when combined with the apparent wisdom of his companion Los. One wonders whether the reader is supposed to seriously believe that an insensitive man like this would be sent off as a first human contact to a new species of people.
Yet Los seems to be exactly the opposite of the bold and wily explorer – he plays the role of introspective, curious scientist too well to allow the reader to be emotionally invested in him. His pacifist actions serve as a counterbalance and a voice of reason to Gusev’s impulses, and he, rather inexplicably but predictably, is able to comprehend the beauty of this alien culture within a week of study. This parting scene might have been wishful exaggeration, but it does secure these two characters into unappealing character molds that easily and unsurprisingly dictate the patterns of this story.
While I did enjoy Aelita more than you did, I have the same misgivings about the book. The plot was relatively two dimensional and did not seek to enlighten us about either Martian culture or to provide any sort of narrative other than that of the colonial oppressor landing in his new territory. The character of Gusev was particularly annoying due to his predisposition towards revolution and violence, he had the adventurous spirit but no sense of responsibility. He would have been quite happy just to shoot everything that he found on the planet.
I really liked Los though. He may have been a stereotypical scientist placed in a new environment but at least his actions made sense to me. Los spends most of his time trying to understand the culture that he has encountered and to learn the language so he can read. Though that is not the most sexy of plot lines of character developments it is one that is a lot more believable than Gusev trying to lead a revolution after being on Mars for two days. Los is a stereotypical, two dimensional character with not a lot of personality behind his intellectuality, but he is a much more satisfying character than that of Gusev simply because his actions could be interpreted as being logical.
However there is not a lot about this text to make it into one of my favourites. After reading We I found it a little lacking in its efforts as both adventurous Sci Fi and at a political criticism, it was neither but I felt like it was trying to be something of both. It didn’t have the rich history that Bogdanov had created in his novel and that frustrated me since Bogdanov plainly spent a lot of time thinking about how a socialist revolution could occur on Mars and Tolstoy just glossed over how Martian society got to this point except that there were some abandoned buildings. Overall it was, in isolation, a good text, but when it’s compared to We, especially when you read them in the same week, it is too full of two dimensional characters and strange decision making.
It’s hard to believe that Aèlita was written after We – though it makes perfect sense that Aèlita was published in the USSR while We could not be. (And painful to think what Zamyatin could have done if the censorship hadn’t clamped down on him.) Tolstoy is really writing in the mold of the adventure story, and you’re right, Tania, to see imperialist elements in the way the Russians (even Los, who’s more respectful) react to the Martians.
Jamie, I think Gusev must be meant to provide comic relief, though in later editions of the novel (revised by A. N. Tolstoy, who could see which way the wind was blowing) his greed and crudity is cut back. He’s a bit like the character of Chapaev, a commander in the Civil War (1918-21) who was made famous by a Soviet movie. (But that’s moving away from SF!)