Sixth Column
| First Edition cover First Edition cover for Sixth Column | |
| Author | Robert A. Heinlein |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Edd Cartier |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Gnome Press |
Publication date | 1949 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 256 pp. |
| ISBN | NA Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Sixth Column, also known under the title The Day After Tomorrow, is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, set in a United States that has been conquered by the PanAsians, a combination of Chinese and Japanese. Originally published as a serial in Astounding Science Fiction (January, February, March 1941, as by Anson MacDonald) it was published in hardcover in 1949.
The book is notable for its frank and controversial portrayal of racism. The conquerors regard themselves as a chosen people predestined to rule over lesser races, and they refer to white people as slaves. "Three things only do slaves require: work, food, and their religion." They require outward signs of respect, such as jumping promptly into the gutter when a member of the chosen race walks by, and the slightest hesitation to show the prescribed courtesies earns a swagger stick across the face. One character is Frank Mitsui, an Asian American whose family was murdered by the invaders because they did not fit in the new PanAsiatic racial order. The Americans in the novel respond to their conquerors' racism by often referring to them in unflattering terms, such as "flat face", "slanty" (a derisive reference to the epicanthal folds typical of Asian genetics), and "monkey boy".
Sixth Column and Farnham's Freehold, another novel by Heinlein, both center on the issue of race. Whereas some people perceive Sixth Column as racist, Farnham's Freehold turns the tables by reversing the racial stereotypes. The original idea for the story of Sixth Column was proposed by John W. Campbell, and Heinlein later wrote that he had "had to reslant it to remove racist aspects of the original story line" and that he did not "consider it to be an artistic success."[1] It was written in the same year as the attack on Pearl Harbor. A more complete discussion of race in Heinlein's fiction is given in the main article on Heinlein.
Plot summary
Template:Spoiler A top secret research lab hidden in the Colorado mountains is the last remaining outpost of the United States Army after its defeat by the PanAsians. The conquerors had absorbed the Soviets after being attacked by them and had then gone on to absorb India as well. The invaders are depicted as ruthless and cruel—for example, they crush an abortive rebellion by killing 150,000 American civilians as punishment.
The remote mountain lab is in turmoil as the novel begins. All but six of the personnel have died suddenly, due to mysterious forces generated by an experiment operating within the magneto-gravitic or electro-gravitic spectra. The surviving scientists soon learn that they can selectively kill people by releasing the internal pressure of their cell membranes. They discover other awesome forces, yet their challenge is this: how can a handful of men overthrow an invasion force, when all communications are controlled by the enemy and it is a crime to print a word in English? Noting that the invaders have allowed the free practice of religion (the better to pacify their slaves), the Americans set up a church of their own, and begin acting as Priests of Mota (Mota is Atom spelled backward) in order to build a resistance movement—which Major Ardmore, the protagonist of the book, refers to as the Sixth Column (as opposed to a traitorous Fifth Column).
Notes
- ^ Robert A. Heinlein, Expanded Universe, foreword to "Solution Unsatisfactory", p. 93 of Ace paperback edition.
External link
- Sixth Column title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database