A Mirror for Observers by Edgar Pangborn
**Overview of "A Mirror for Observers"**
"A Mirror for Observers" is a science fiction novel by Edgar Pangborn that explores the interactions between Earth and a hidden Martian civilization known as the Salvayans. These extraterrestrial beings, who have lived on Earth for centuries in underground cities, observe humanity while anticipating a future union. The story follows Elmis, a Salvayan observing Earth, who takes on the mission of preventing a rogue Salvayan named Namir from corrupting a young boy, Angelo Pontevecchio. The narrative delves into themes of friendship, identity, and the consequences of manipulation as Elmis and Angelo, both outsiders in their own ways, navigate a world filled with danger and ideological conflict.
As the plot unfolds, Angelo is influenced by Namir and his son, leading him into a gang and a path of violence. Tragedy strikes when Angelo's mother dies following a confrontation with the police. Years later, Elmis discovers that Angelo, now Abraham Brown, is entwined with a sinister political group that seeks to unleash a deadly plague on humanity. The novel examines the fragility of human life, the impact of choices, and the pursuit of hope amidst devastation, culminating in a poignant resolution that leaves Elmis optimistic about humanity's future.
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A Mirror for Observers
First published: 1954
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—invasion story
Time of work: 1963 and 1972
Locale: Latimer, Massachusetts, and New York City
The Plot
In Edgar Pangborn’s A Mirror for Observers, the inhabitants of Earth are watched by Martians who came to the planet eons ago and live in underground cities scattered throughout North America, Asia, and Africa. Blessed with enormously long lives and an elastic bone structure that enables them to radically alter their appearance, the Salvayans, as they call themselves, look forward to the day when humanity has advanced enough to merit union with the hidden space travelers.
Elmis, an observing Salvayan, leaves his city (246 feet below the tundra of northernmost Canada) to prevent Namir, a renegade, from corrupting a small Earth boy and, if the situation warrants, to assassinate the malefactor. A musician turned historian, Elmis finds the boy, Angelo Pontevecchio, and develops a friendship of sorts with him. They are both, essentially, outsiders. As is often the case with young and avid readers, the boy is brilliant, with a deep interest in Platonic philosophy. In his paintings and his thoughts, Angelo also shows a deep sensitivity for nature that manifests itself in kindly acts toward his ailing mother.
Namir kills and takes the place of a kindly old man who lives in the same boarding house as Angelo. The Salvayans wage a war of wits to direct the boy’s mind. Despite Elmis’ best efforts, Namir and his son convince Angelo to join a gang and rumble with a rival gang. When Angelo is brought home by the police after the fight, his sickly mother has a heart attack and dies. The boy disappears into the night.
Nine years later, Elmis sees a newspaper photograph of the leader of a Nazi-like political party, with Namir’s son standing in the background. He soon learns that Namir and his son are powers behind the Organic Unity Party of Joe Max, and Angelo, renamed Abraham Brown, is their unwilling student. The party has convinced a disreputable scientist to engineer a plague virus, and it plans to loose the disease on unwary humanity.
Elmis finds Abraham and convinces him to leave Namir’s organization. They learn that the disease has been released accidentally. The virus kills forty million people in the United States, and other countries report proportionately similar or even higher casualties. Walking through the streets of New York City, Elmis comes face to face with Namir’s gift to all forms of mammalian life: widespread death, with the panic and irrational destruction that accompanies it.
There is a final act to the drama. Abraham’s girlfriend, Sharon, a promising concert musician, catches the disease and recovers from it slowly. The virus, however, leaves her deaf. Elmis slips into the background as Abraham guides Sharon out of her depression. When they marry and go into the Maine woods for recovery, Elmis returns to his Salvayan city under the northern tundra, hopeful about the future of humanity.