Editing Starship Troopers (section)

==Themes==
[[File:Heinlein-face.jpg|thumb|Robert Heinlein in 1976]]

Commentators have written that ''Starship Troopers'' is not driven by its plot, though it contains scenes of military combat. Instead, much of the novel is given over to a discussion of ideas.{{sfn|Booker|Thomas|2009|p=215}} In particular, the discussion of political views is a recurring feature of what scholar Jeffrey Cass described as an "ideologically intense" book.{{sfn|Cass|1999|p=52}} A 1997 review in ''[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]]'' categorized it as a "[[Philosophical fiction|philosophical novel]]".<ref name="Salon"/> Critics have debated to what extent the novel promotes Heinlein's own political views. Some contend that the novel maintains a sense of irony that allows readers to draw their own conclusions; others argue that Heinlein is sermonizing throughout the book, and that its purpose is to expound Heinlein's militaristic philosophy.{{sfn|Cass|1999|p=52}}<ref name="JW"/>

===Militarism===
''Starship Troopers'' has been identified as being a part of a tradition in US science fiction that assumes that violent conflict and the militarization of society are inevitable and necessary.{{sfn|Suvin|2008|p=122}} Although the Mobile Infantry, the unit to which Rico is assigned, is seen as a lowly post by the characters in the story, the novel itself suggests that it is the heart of the army and the most honorable unit in it.{{sfn|Booker|Thomas|2009|p=217}} In a commentary written in 1980, Heinlein agreed that ''Starship Troopers'' "glorifies the military{{spaces}}... Specifically the P.B.I., the [[Poor Bloody Infantry]], the mudfoot who places his frail body between his loved home and the war's desolation{{snd}}but is rarely appreciated{{spaces}}... he has the toughest job of all and should be honored."{{sfn|Heinlein|2003|p=484}} The story is based on the [[Social Darwinism|social Darwinist]] idea of society as a struggle for survival based on military strength. It suggests that some conflicts must be resolved by force: one of the lessons Rico is repeatedly taught is that violence can be an effective method of settling conflict.<ref name="Magill"/> These suggestions derive in part from Heinlein's view that in the 1950s the US government was being too conciliatory in its dealings with communist China and the Soviet Union.<ref name="Goss"/>{{sfn|Booker|Thomas|2009|p=215}}{{sfn|Macleod|2003|pp=232–233}}{{sfn|King|1998|p=1021}}

Heinlein draws an analogy between the human society in the novel, which is well-to-do but needs to be vigilant against the imperialist threat of the Arachnids, and US society of the 1950s. Reviewers have suggested that the Arachnids are Heinlein's analogue for communists. Traits used to support this include the communal nature of the Arachnids, which makes them capable of a much higher degree of coordination than the humans. Bug society is once explicitly described as communist, and is moreover depicted as communist by nature; this has been read as implying that those with a different political ideology are analogous to alien beings.{{sfn|Booker|Thomas|2009|p=218}}<ref name="Magill"/><ref name=Cooke/> The related motifs of alien invasion, patriotism, and personal sacrifice during war, are present, as are other aspects of US popular culture of the 1950s.<ref name="Goss">{{cite journal|last1=Goss|first1=Jasper|title=Reviewed Work(s): Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein; Starship Troopers by PaulVerhoeven|journal=Australasian Journal of American Studies|date=Jul 1998|volume=17|issue=1|pages=54–56|jstor=41415952}}</ref> Commentators have argued that Heinlein's portrayal of aliens, as well as being a reference to 1950s communist countries, aims to "reinscribe the ideologies of America's mythic [[Frontier Thesis|frontier]] history". The concept of the frontier includes a social-Darwinist argument of constantly fighting for survival, even at the expense of indigenous people or, in the case of ''Starship Troopers'', of aliens. Heinlein suggests that without territorial expansion involving violent conquest of other races, humans would be destroyed.{{sfn|King|1998|pp=1022–1023}} Scholar Jamie King has stated that Heinlein does not address the question of what the military government and Federal Service would do in peacetime, and argues that Heinlein has set up a society designed to be continuously at war, and to keep expanding its territory.{{sfn|King|1998|p=1024}}

===Coming of age===
''Starship Troopers'' has been referred to as a [[bildungsroman]] or "[[coming-of-age]]" story for Rico, as he matures through his tenure in the infantry. His training, both at boot camp and at officer candidate school, involves learning the value of [[militarism]], thus inviting the reader to learn it as well.{{sfn|Booker|Thomas|2009|p=217}} This is especially true of the parts of his training that involve indoctrination, such as the claim by one of his instructors that rule by military veterans is the ideal form of government, because only they understand how to put collective well-being above the individual.{{sfn|Booker|Thomas|2009|p=217}} The story traces Rico's transformation from a boy into a soldier, while exploring issues of identity and motivation,<ref name="JW"/> and traces his overall moral and social development, in a manner identified by commentators as similar to many stories about German soldiers in [[World War I]].{{sfn|Crim|2010|p=108}} Rico's transformation has been likened to the common narrative within stories with military themes by scholar [[H. Bruce Franklin]]. This typical narrative is that of a sloppy and unfit civilian being knocked into shape by tough officers, whose training is "calculated sadism" but is depicted as fundamentally being on the right side.{{sfn|Franklin|1980|p=111}} The letter Rico receives from Dubois, partly responsible for Rico "crossing the hump" with his training, is shown as a turning point in his development.<ref name="Magill"/> The classroom scenes embedded in the story serve to explain Rico's adventures, and highlight his reactions to events around. A notable example is the execution Rico is forced to witness after a deserter from his unit murders a young girl; Rico is uncertain of his own reaction until he remembers a lecture by Dubois in which the latter argues that "moral sense" derives entirely from the will to survive.<ref name="Magill"/>{{sfn|Slusser|1986|p=68}} The concept of the American frontier is also related to the coming-of-age theme. Young protagonists across Heinlein's novels attain manhood by confronting a hostile "wilderness" in space; coming-of-age in a military, alien context is a common theme in Heinlein's earlier works as well.{{sfn|King|1998|pp=1019–1021}} Rico's coming-of-age has also been described as being related to his relationship with his father; the journey "outward" through the novel also contains a search for Rico's childhood and a reunion with his estranged parent.{{sfn|Slusser|1986|p=21}}

===Moral decline===
''Starship Troopers'' also critiques US society of the 1950s, suggesting that it led young people to be spoiled and undisciplined. These beliefs are expressed through the classroom lectures of Dubois, Rico's teacher for History and Moral Philosophy. Dubois praises [[flagellation|flogging]] and other types of [[corporal punishment]] as a means of addressing juvenile crimes. It has been suggested that Heinlein endorsed this view, although the fact that Dubois also compares raising children to training a puppy has been used to argue that Heinlein was making use of [[irony]].{{sfn|Booker|Thomas|2009|pp=215–216}} The story is strongly in favor of corporal punishment and capital punishment, as a means of correcting [[juvenile delinquent]]s, part of a trend in science fiction which examines technology and outer space in an innovative manner, but is reactionary with respect to human relationships.<ref name=EOLAIS>{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last1=Kent|editor-first1=Allen|editor-last2=Lancour|editor-first2=Harold|editor-last3=Daily|editor-first3=Jay E.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 29|publisher=[[Marcel Dekker]]|title=Stories|last=Daily|first=Jay E.|year=1980|isbn=9780824720292|page=151|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8WOFlMCzqEIC|access-date=February 16, 2016|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313134031/https://books.google.com/books?id=8WOFlMCzqEIC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=JH/> As with other books by Heinlein, traditional schools are denigrated, while learning "on the spot" is extolled: Rico is able to master the things required of him in military training without undue difficulty.<ref name="Magill"/>

Dubois also ridicules the idea of [[inalienable rights]], such as "[[Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness]]", arguing that people have only the rights that they are willing to fight and die for to protect.{{sfn|Heinlein|1987|pp=145–150}}{{sfn|Slusser|1986|p=68}}{{sfn|Booker|Thomas|2009|p=216}} The novel appeals to scientific authority to justify this position; Dubois repeatedly states that his argument is mathematically demonstrable, statements which have led scholars to label the novel "[[hard science fiction]]", despite its social and political themes.{{sfn|Slusser|1986|pp=67–69}} The "moral decline" caused by this situation is depicted as having caused a global war between an alliance of the US, Britain, and Russia against the "Chinese Hegemony" in the year 1987. Despite the alliance between the US and Russia, this war has been described as demonstrating Heinlein's anti-communist beliefs, which saw "swarming hordes" of Chinese as a bigger threat. The novel draws some comparisons between the Chinese and the Arachnids, and suggests that the lessons of one war could be applied to the other.{{sfn|Booker|Thomas|2009|p=216}}