Summary: A Reader Response To Starship Troopers

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A Reader Response to Starship Troopers In Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein’s novel presents the future of mankind; a future riddled with racism, fascism, and militarism. This future also contains bravery, loyalty, and patriotism among its people, and it can be seen as a utopian society by some. This new version of humanity is presented through the rose tinted glasses of Juan Rico as he remembers his time in the mobile infantry, an elite branch of the army that makes up the horns of this new-age military. This military is built upon a foundation of loyalty and trust, as one man must be able to trust his fellow soldiers with his life. Bravery is another key component in this military, any man is willing to risk his own life to save the lives of his comrades. The way these values …show more content…

Crime rates are extremely low though the colonies of man and murders are almost unheard of. Patriotism and unity
Torres 2 are two key ideas that are reinforced throughout the novel. Patriotism is shown through the encouragement and respect to those who wish to serve man. Serving in the military is a great honor and it grants veterans special privileges over normal citizens. The entire human race has become united as one as they all pursue a common goal, the preservation of man. However, this galaxy-wide unity and pride lead to problems as these inhabitants of the stars encounter other space- faring people. “The universe will let us know later whether or not Man has any ‘right’ to expand through it. In the meantime the M.I. will be there on the bounce on the side of our own race”(Heinlein 186) This result of all this is a sort of Arianism where humans believe that they are superior to any and all other creatures, only referring to other species through slurs such as “Skinnies” and “Bugs”. The Humans in this future also believe that they are destined to colonize the universe as represented in the quote

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