Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

In the book, Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein, Heinlein tells the story of the unique relationship of Gillian Boardman and Valentine Michael Smith, with human ancestry but originating from Mars. Throughout the book, Heinlein covers very abstract and alien themes and ideas. However, although these concepts are seemingly unlike all earthly issues, they symbolize and uncover multifaceted social and political issues in our society.  One of these Martian concepts is “grokking.” Grokking is from Mike’s Martian language, but he teaches his “water brothers” all of its meanings.

One of the meanings of “to grok” is to drink. Mike often says the phrase, “may you always drink deep and never be thirsty,” this shows how although grokking can mean drinking, drinking has a deeper meaning. The action of drinking and sharing water is often used as a “growing closer.” In Martian culture, sharing water makes two people water brothers. Jill says that becoming water brothers “means you trust us and we trust you… we can tell you anything and you can tell us anything… and that we are partners, now and forever.” Since Jill and Mike basically share a mind by this point in the story, this shows how seriously Martians take the act of sharing water. Sharing water in modern culture would be like making a personal contract to show complete companionship. Also, Mike often claims that he doesn’t grok love. However, I disagree because Mike’s concept of water brethren is almost identical to love.

Another way that the characters in Stranger In A Strange Land use the word “grok,” is as a synonym for understand. Mike comes to the realization that he groks god and is now human. He has a few realization moments- grokking laughter, grokking love, and grokking growing closer. Mike sometimes goes into a hibernation mode- at the bottom of a pool or curled up in a ball- in order to grok something to its fullest. I think that it is intriguing how much effort Mike puts into understanding something, because it shows how much he cares for his water brothers.

Grokking relates to other themes in the book because Mike is always trying to grok growing closer- both on Earth and Mars- and this shows through inn his personality. Mike and Jill have an incredible relationship; they are incredibly dedicated to each other and have a telepathic connection due to their bond. Although this seems slightly alien, their telepathy is immensely human in character and it is only because they grok each other so well. In Stranger In A Strange Land, characters often throw around the word grok and develop I into their own personal meaning. This shows how comprehension can be interpreted so differently.