The "Rules" of a Water Brother
In this article, I'm totally avoiding the issue of "what Heinlein really meant" when he wrote Stranger in a Strange Land, for in all honesty I have no clue. I'm simply listing all the main references to water brothers in the earlier part of the novel, compiling the results as a list of "rules," and then adding a few conclusions. The word "rule" doesn't quite apply, as there are no punishments for violating such rules; it's just that it would never occur to a water brother to violate them, or so I grok.
[The page numbers come from my paperback Berkley edition.]
CH IV. p. 16 He decided that if [Jill] died now he must die at once also- he could not grok it any other wise, not after giving of water.
CH VIII. p. 62 ...a water brother could not lead him into wrongful action.
p. 63 [Jill:] "You just do what I tell you to do."
[Mike:] "Yes."
It was an unlimited acceptance...Jill suddenly felt that Smith would jump out the window if she told him to- and she was correct; he would have jumped, enjoyed every second of the twenty-story drop, and accepted without surprise or resentment discorporation on impact...If a water brother selected for him such strange discorporation, he would cherish it and try to grok.
CH XIII p. 128 [Jubal:] "He'll trust you utterly,- so don't [become his water brother] unless you are willing to trust and stand by him, no matter how rough things get."
CH XVII p. 172 [Mike:] "For water brothers, [kissing] is a growing closer."
p. 173 [Mike:] "Dorcas and Anne and Miriam and Larry...are your water brothers, my brother Jubal...in catenative assemblage, they are my brothers."
CH XXII p. 238 [Mike contradicts Jill, when he groks she is mistaken.]
CH XXVII p. 284 [Jill:] "...this is like being baptized...and like getting married...it 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. But once it is done it can never be broken. If you broke it, we would die- at once...If we broke it- But we won't."
p. 292 [Jill:] "...we don't want you ever to do anything you don't feel easy about. 'Sharing water' has to be easy."
p. 292 [Mike:] "Here on Earth we call it 'water brother' business. On Mars there's no problem... but here I grok there sometimes is. 'Water brother' business you don't repeat."
CH XXXII p. 353 [Duke:] "Hell, I could pick up a babe in a bar, share water, take her to bed- and then bring her to the Temple. But I wouldn't. That's the point; I would never want to...you will never again crawl in with one who is not your water brother."
So from all this, and the rest of Stranger, I extract these Rules:
1. A water brother could not lead a brother into wrongful action.
2. Water brothers trust each other.
3. Water brothers can tell each other anything, but aren't required to.
4. The water brother of your water brother is your water brother.
5. Water-brotherhood is permanent.
6. Water brothers will only make love to other water brothers, and can make love to all water brothers of the opposite gender, causing no jealousy anywhere.
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