The Lion of Mars

The symbolism of lions and pride runs throughout the novel. Bell, who has grown up on Mars, is fascinated by the older settlers’ stories about their lives back on Earth. He is particularly intrigued by Earth animals, which he learns about from a book Phinneus gives him called “Animals of the World” (65). The young boy’s favorite animal is the lion, not just because they are “fearless” as Phinneus points out when he compares Leo to one, but especially because of their communal lifestyle:

How could I not love the big cats? They were social and lived in a group called a pride. They helped each other and raised their cubs communally. They sounded just like us. All our grown-ups had raised us together. One sentence stood out to me: Lions who are rejected by their pride do not survive long (68).

In a parallel to that passage, Bell later compares his friends to different animals based on their personalities:

Sai was a lion, of course. Darby and Eliana were wolves (which mate for life). Meems was a protective mother cat, and I was her kitten. Flossy was a beautiful peacock in her lovely clothes. Of course, Vera was a sneaky fox. Trey was a loyal dog. Salty Bill was easy: he was a cranky ostrich (68).

The fact that Bell imagines Sai as a lion highlights the Commander’s leadership position and his fearless attitude. However, it also hints at Sai’s need for community, which he rejects for the majority of the story until reconnecting with his friends. In Chapter 27, Bell makes this connection between lions and humans explicit in a conversation with Sai:

‘Did you know that lions without a pride don’t live long?’ I asked.

‘What?’ Sai asked.

‘We’re like lions,’ I explained. ‘We’re alone on Mars. We need the people in the other settlements to survive. We need a pride’ (237).

Bell echoes this when he calls the community of settlers from different countries “the pride of Mars” (251), which suggests that forming these bonds is also a source of pride.

The title of the story marks Bell as the “fearless” and caring protagonist who leads the others to realize the importance of working together to achieve a common goal. Leo, whom Phinneus jokingly refers to as an “old lion” (25), may be the one who initiates contact between the settlements, but, in the end, it is Bell who truly becomes the “Lion of Mars.”