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The immediate ancestors of Starship Troopers are those World War II movies idealizing the military lives of our typical American combat men. In the novel, we see the familiar naive, sloppy civilian being enlisted by the wounded, much-decorated, tough old recruiting sergeant, the brutal basic training that looks like "calculated sadism" administered by grizzled drill sergeants whose rhinoceros hides conceal their love for the recruits, and the thrilling, fearsome combat which demonstrates that every last bit of that training was vital. Half the pages are devoted to the details of our young hero's military training, first as a raw recruit going through basic training, later as a combat veteran making his arduous way through Officer Candidates School. Instead of the cross section of American youth featured in the World War II moviesthe Iowa farm boy, the Texan or Virginian sharpshooter, the Jew from Brooklyn, and the Italian from the Bronxwe have a cross section of the youth of Earth's galactic empirethe martial-arts expert from Japan, the two Germans replete with dueling scars, the drawling, brawling southerner, miscellaneous "colonials" from Earth's galactic outposts, and our hero, Juan (Johnnie) Rico, son of a wealthy Philippine businessman. |
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But the resemblances between the World War II movies and Starship Troopers are somewhat superficial, for this is not about a mass conscript army called up in a war to defend democracythat disappeared back in the twentieth century. Starship Troopers displays the superelite force designed to fight the permanent wars necessary to fulfill Earth's manifest destiny in the galaxy. And the Terran Federation, the society employing this force, is ruled entirely by veterans of this elite military machinery and its noncombatant auxiliaries. |
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Recently there has been some debate about whether Starship Troopers is as militaristic as it seems, and Heinlein himself disclaims any militaristic intentions. But to argue about whether or not Starship Troopers glorifies militarism would be as silly as arguing about whether or not "My Country 'Tis of Thee" glorifies America. Militarism shapes the speech and sets the tone of all the characters, including the narrator-hero; militarism animates every page; militarismtogether with imperialismis the novel's explicit message. What we must probe is not the quantity of militarism in Starship Troopers but its special quality. For Starship Troopers expresses its own time, and gives a striking vision of times to come. The difference between the World War II army movies and Starship Troopers measures the distance from the conscript army that fought against the Fascist-Nazi-New Order drive |
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