Starship Troopers Essay Research Paper

Starship Troopers Essay, Research Paper

“The historians can’t seem to settle whether to call this one “The Third Space War” (or the fourth), or whether “The First Interstellar War” fits it better. We just call it “The Bug War.” Everything up to then and still later were just incidents, patrols or police actions. However, you are just as dead if you buy the farm in an incident as you are if you buy it in a declared war.”

Welcome to the 22nd century as depicted by Robert Heinlein in his book Starship Troopers. Around 1987, the Russo-Anglo-American Alliance went to war against the Chinese Hegemony. The result of this was the destruction of society as we know it. What grew out of the ashes and rubble was a governing body entitled the “Terran Federation.” The federation is a united Earth that now stands together as one.

As we can see from the opening statement, Earth is now at war with a race of giant bugs called Arachnids (deadly, man-sized spiders). We are witness to all of this through the point of view of Juan “Johnny” Rico, a member of the mobile infantry. The story opens with a guerrilla- strike against a Skinnie (the humanoid allies of the bugs) settlement. This introduces the methods used by Heinlein’s futuristic army. Soldiers don powered armor capable of carrying tremendous loads and jumping city blocks. These warriors also have an arsenal ranging from hand held flame throwers to rockets tipped with nuclear warheads.

At the conclusion of the mission, we flashback a few years to the time of Johnny’s graduation from high school. It is here that we are presented with the idea of Federal Service. Many debates continue to rage nearly fifty years after the book was published, concerning specific details of it. However, what is certain is that federal service is much like the armed forces of today. Upon one’s eighteenth birthday they are given the opportunity to enlist and serve a term of no less than two years. As Johnny himself says, “It’s the first completely free choice anybody gets (and maybe his last) . . . he or she can volunteer and nobody else has any say in the matter.” (Heinlein 22) The reward for serving is very simple. A person is given the title of citizen and they are given the right to vote. Therefore, the only people in society who have a true say are those who have completed their term of service.

Much of the debates mentioned earlier center around this aspect of Heinlein’s society. Many find it to be a fascist/military dictatorship while others feel it is merely a meritocracy. We will depart from this for the time being so that we may continue on with the book summary.

Johnny’s father is outraged at the thought of his son attempting to gain citizenship. He feels that living as a civilian is the best thing for everyone. After all, civilians are entitled to the same rights as citizens except they lack the right to vote. This disgruntled opinion is expressed when Johnny’s father says, “So what is this so called Federal Service. Parasitism, pure and simple. A functionless organ, utterly obsolete, living on the taxpayers. A decidedly expensive way for inferior people who otherwise would be unemployed to live at public expense for a term of years, then give themselves airs for the rest of their lives.” (Heinlein 24)

Despite his father’s efforts to dissuade him, Johnny travels to the federal building and enlists. The Fleet Sergeant in charge of the recruiting office does everything he can to discourage Johnny from enlisting. The government does not believe in allowing anyone to serve unless he is fully committed as well as capable. After listening to the Sergeant’s stories about recruits having to test experimental survival suits on Titan or living in a science colony in Antarctica, Johnny still decides to enlist. Tests of all kinds ensue and when all is said and done, he is assigned to the mobile infantry.

From here, the story consumes nearly half the book by describing Johnny’s experiences with boot camp at Camp Arthur Currie in Northern Canada. Along the way, Heinlein provides us with a continuous view of this futuristic society. The majority of this comes from Johnny’s reflections toward his high school class, History and Moral Philosophy taught by a Mr. Dubois. History and Moral Philosophy is a required class for all students, but the grade one receives is irrelevant. It is impossible to flunk. Mr. Dubois presents many of the controversial issues that have caused such heated debates, as mentioned earlier. The first time we encounter him, Mr. Dubois is teaching his class the importance of military force throughout our world’s history. One of his female students insists that “violence never solves anything.” Mr. Dubois argues that one should conjure up images of Napoleon, Hitler, the Dodo bird and goes on to state that, “Violence, naked force has settled more issues in history than any other factor . . . Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedom.” (Heinlein 26)

Several weeks later, Johnny is still fighting his way through the rigors of boot camp when we encounter the judicial side of the federation. Administrative punishment, as well as capital punishment, are both accepted and commonly used. Johnny himself is flogged five times for needlessly placing one of the soldiers under his command in danger. We are also witness to the execution of a desert