I did not really like Starship Troopers. It was a quick read and I thought the descriptions of the technology used and of the action were interesting, but ultimately the novel just felt like a piece of propaganda to me. The military is very glamorized and Heinlein’s own political views are beat into the reader throughout the story. Both of these aspects of the story brought down the novel for me, as Starship Troopers seems like a call to action for people to either support or join the military and perform the noblest action of all, which is to put one’s life at stake for one’s country.

One of the things that made Starship Troopers feel like propaganda is how much the Mobile Infantry is praised. It is depicted as an extremely effective and efficient branch of the military that does a lot of the dirty work for the homeland, a group that gets the job done and takes action when needed. One of the most prominent aspects of the Mobile Infantry is its sense of brotherhood. Various outfits of the Mobile Infantry, such as Rasczak’s Roughnecks, are described as being as close as family. Everything seems to run smoothly, as all the soldiers work and fight together in harmony. The Mobile Infantry accomplishes all of this by never leaving any person behind on missions. Whenever possible, all soldiers make it their life’s duty to retrieve wounded soldiers who have fallen behind. All of this combines to paint a very majestic picture of the Mobile Infantry, and really of the military in general. This is what I meant when I stated previously that Heinlein glamorizes the military. Admittedly, Heinlein does not characterize the Mobile Infantry as perfect. Portions of the book are devoted to describing the arduous training required to join the Mobile Infantry, including injuries and deaths resulting from the training. However, this in a way acts to further glamorize the military. The final message regarding the Mobile Infantry seems to be that every person has paid his or her dues to get in, and once a person is in, he or she is family and from that point on acts as the epitome of a citizen by putting his or her life at stake to protect the homeland. It just seems too perfect to me. Somebody mentioned in class that Starship Troopers is required reading for most of the military academies in the United States, and I can see the reasoning behind it. Soldiers are put on a pedestal in this novel and idolized. Late in the story, even Rico’s father, who was completely opposed to the military, joins the Mobile Infantry because he feels that it will make his life more fulfilling. This surprise event just made Starship Troopers feel even more like a piece of propaganda, since in the end, even the most vehement opponent of the military has a change of heart and joins because it is the right thing to do.

Starship Troopers just seems to be an excuse for Heinlein to spread his political views; the story exists to solely to link together the various classroom discussion sections, which is the other major aspect of the story that brought it down for me. I understand that novels are constantly used as vehicles for authors to express their philosophical and political musings - I do not object to this if the commentary is implemented well. The problem I have with Starship Troopers is that Heinlein comes off as very self-righteous to me. As I progressed through the novel, Heinlein’s commentary became more and more obnoxious. He uses Dubois to express his views and he presents them as fact. Dubois is seen as this omniscient, infallible character who is always right, and it is this character who presents much of Heinlein’s views. Any time the story switched to a Dubois lecture, I felt like the situation changed to where Heinlein is directly lecturing the reader about what is right and what is wrong.