The Tree of Life, C. L. Moore

Jekkara Press via Flickr"The Tree of Life" by C. L. Moore is a short science fiction/horror story that can be found freely at Gutenberg.org.

I am somewhat sorely trying to find some redeeming feature of this story to justify the hour, give or take, that it takes to read. It is well written, there just seems to be nothing of substance to justify it.

Basically, some sort of fighter warrior has crash landed in what is thought to be an abandoned area of Mars. While there, he is led by some mysterious priestess to a "Tree of Life" which seeks to devour him, not to mention some local denizens of the planet. Though hypnotized to the point of destruction, as the living tree lifts him to devour him, he manages to find his free will. He grabs his blaster and blasts the plant to oblivion.

Is there some deeper meaning somewhere that ought to make the read entertaining and worthwhile? It is hard to say. If this is some kind of jab at religion, and how it devours people who are shells of what their ancestors were, then that would certainly make it more interesting. Whereas the warrior is on the verge of being devoured by this same religion, manages to escape. If one were to interpret it in this way, it might make it more interesting. I wanted to see if there was any reference to an interpretation like this online, and found nothing. Hence, I wouldn't necessarily believe in this possible interpretation.