More On John Ridenour

Because, in Poul Anderson's "Outpost of Empire," John Ridenour has become a viewpoint character, we are given a physical description of him which I do not think that we received in Ensign Flandry? He is tall, wiry, blond, hatchet-faced, pipe-smoking and unfashionably but serviceably dressed (Captain Flandry, Riverdale NY, 2010, p. 5).

Later, in a passage where Karlsarm of the Freeholder "savages" is the viewpoint character, Karlsarm sees that the Mayor of Domkirk is accompanied by a tall, yellow-haired, sharp-featured fellow who does not look like a Freeholder so we know that we are seeing Ridenour from the outside. Sure enough, Ridenour introduces himself by name and Karlsarm must conceal his excitement at the fact that here is an Imperialist!

So far, we have sympathized with each of these two men when he was our viewpoint character although their aims have been diametrically opposed. Now that they have met, we might begin to receive some elucidation as to why there is a conflict between them. And, first, Ridenour must unlearn what a "savage" is. A few pages later:

"Ridenour stopped chewing because his jaw had fallen. Savages weren't supposed to talk like that!" (p. 30)

So what has the "savage" said? Outbacker society is not a civilization because it lacks cities. In fact, it sets out to destroy the few (nine) cities that there are on Freehold. But can there be a post-civilization whose members retain literacy, literature, numeracy, scientific knowledge, practical understanding of technology, newly developed mental and physical skills and ways of controlling other organisms?