Events on Mars would have transpired differently if Gallinger had stopped to question his assumptions more. Perhaps the Martian population may not have been saved from extinction, he may have come across the prophecy earlier, and he might not have even brought the prophecy to light at all.
If Gallinger had stopped to analyze Braxa’s feelings for him the Martian population may not have been saved. That night when Braxa entered his room, her attention and fascination with Gallinger, along with her willingness to sleep with him made him think that all these events had only occurred because Braxa was in love. Had he taken the time to think, he might’ve realized that before that night Braxa had shown no interest in him nor did she show any afterwards. No proclamations of eternal love had been made by either party, and Gallinger could have easily moved on from Braxa, reevaluating the circumstances to be just a casual fling. This then would have had a large impact on the Martian future. With no emotional attachment to Braxa, Gallinger would’ve finished his work and headed back to Earth, never knowing about his unborn half-human half-Martian child. He wouldn’t have preached his words to the elders, in order to save them from extinction. In fact, he might have been wholly unconcerned with their existence overall. However, Gallinger could have tried to convince the Martians to let them be examined by human doctors to see if it was possible to save the Martian’s existence, but perhaps he might not have done it with the same determination and vigor as had he had when he was trying to save Braxa and his child. Gallinger’s assumption that Braxa was in love with him, and he was in love with Braxa had one of the biggest impacts on the story.
M’Cwyie asks Gallinger if he wants to see the “explicitness of the doctrine of Locar in its fullness” and when M’Cwyie simplifies this to the “Dance of Locar”. Gallinger assumes that M’Cwyie has trouble with the translation. He thinks that she does not know how to describe the dance correctly, when in fact she is telling him the significance of dance. If he had taken what M’Cwyie had mentioned more seriously, he may have gone back and analyzed the “Dance of Locar” more clearly, and may have become more aware of the prophecy. However, seeing as both of them were still learning the other’s language there could be a lot lost in translation. But Gallinger, as a world famous interpreter, should have paid more attention to what she was saying, and should not have immediately presumed that it was a because of M’Cwyie’s inadequate language skills.
When Braxa approached Gallinger in his bedroom that night, and told him about the sterility that had taken over, he assumed that both men and women were sterile. If he had stopped to analyze, and think that perhaps that it was only males or only the females that were sterile he wouldn’t have taken the risk of sleeping with Braxa at all. There was no proof that it was either, so perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to take that risk. Of course, there was no way that Gallinger could have known that Martians and humans were compatible. Considering there was so much that he didn’t know, it would have been better not to take the risk at all, and then there would be no pregnancy, and the “The Promise of Locar” may have not gone through, despite Braxa’s attempts. Questioning assumptions makes the greatest difference. If Gallinger had questioned his assumptions more often, so much on Mars would have gone differently. The prophecy may not have been discovered, and Braxa’s love- or lack thereof-may not have driven Gallinger to attempt suicide, and perhaps Mars’ population would have been doomed to extinction. Gallinger’s self-righteousness and his immediate notion that whatever he was thinking was always correct, would have made a world of difference.

I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment.