Red Mars

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death.

The leader of the US group on the Ares mission, Chalmers is a central figure in Red Mars. In this sense, his natural counterpart is Maya. He’s a determined, forceful figure who tries to bend the world around him to his will. Unlike Maya, however, he’s guarded and unemotional, regarding other people more as pawns in his political schemes than as fellow humans. This political scheming draws attention to his other natural counterpart, Boone, with whom he’s often at odds. Fittingly, Chalmers is caught in a complicated love triangle with Maya and Boone. He views his relationship with Maya as a negotiation in which he can win her affection through powerplays and diplomacy rather than affection or intimacy.

Whether in politics or love, Chalmers reveals that his primary talent is as a tactician. This is evident in the negotiating positions he takes up. Chalmers has no great dream for a Martian society. His ambition is to make Mars like the US, but more so. He’s a broker for the status quo, someone who preaches compromise over everything else. The deal itself, for Chalmers, is more important than its consequences, which is why he gambles everything on negotiating and renegotiating the Martian treaty.