Stranger in a Strange Land Chapters XXVII–XXIX Summary & Analysis

Summary

Chapter XXVII

Patty gives Jill and Mike advice on their magic act. Patty senses that Jill and Mike are "seekers," and she hopes to expose them to her Fosterite beliefs. Patty takes off some clothes and shows Jill and Mike her tattoos, many of which portray the life story of Foster. Her bra covers some tattoos. Jill can sense that Patty wants to share these, so Jill encourages Patty to remove the bra. But before Patty can, Mike makes her underwear disappear. He makes his own robe and Jill's negligee disappear as well. Patty believes the disappearances to be a miracle, and she believes that Mike is a holy man.

Mike and Jill explain that Mike is the Man from Mars. Patty still believes that Mike is the Archangel Michael descended to Earth. Jill has now learned enough of the Martian ways that she and Mike can communicate telepathically; they discuss whether to make Patty a water-brother, and they decide that they should. After water-sharing, Mike makes love to Patty, and then Jill. Patty then tells Jill and Mike about Foster's prophecies and philosophies.

The narration gives a brief history of Foster's church and Foster's own liberal sexual practices. Patty shows Jill and Mike a very special tattoo she has, of a kiss that Foster himself put over her heart. The next morning, Mike gives Patty a kiss on the opposite side of her body that he wills to leave a permanent tattoo-like mark. Patty is thrilled.

Chapter XXVIII

In Heaven, Foster and Digby watch over the scene of Mike, Jill, and Patty together on a television-like device called an "omniscio." Digby is offended by Patty's assertion that Mike is an archangel. Foster tells Digby that she may well be correct. Foster takes Digby to task for his continued resentment of Mike, and suggests that Digby take an assignment watching over another planet, where he will get solid angelic experience and not be distracted by Mike.

Chapter XXIX

Mike tells Jill that he still does not grok the Earth concept of "love." Mike asks Jill if she would like to get married; she tells him that she does not want a relationship with him that would exclude their other friends. They move on to Las Vegas, where Mike learns to grok why people gamble and Jill works as a showgirl. Jill finds she enjoys being looked at by men; they evince a kind of primal desire of which Mike is incapable. She finds herself understanding Duke's affinity for pornography.

Jill considers sending a raunchy picture of herself to Duke. She tells Mike this idea, which leads to a discussion of whether Jill would go to bed with Duke. Though she has been faithful to Mike, they decide that making love to another water-brother would be a "goodness." Mike is curious about what constitutes a pornographic pose, so Jill demonstrates a series of such poses.

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