The fact that Starship Troopers is on the reading list for four of the five military academies is certainly not surprising. The book is the story of a man who finds enlightenment through his progression in the military. Johnny discovers that one must make personal sacrifices in order to be a citizen. It is a privilege that one must be willing to die for. With that said, I find it difficult to recognize any true change in the character of Johnny. Yes, he is wiser in the military trade and can regurgitate what he has been told to be true. But Johnny remains little more than a soldier. He describes his experiences in boot camp and later in the Officer Candidate School and yet I don’t feel as though the reader truly ever knows Johnny. I realize Heinlin was not hoping for the reader to form a personal connection to Johnny but I did find the story cold and eerily void of emotions. There was no time to make meaningful connections or discoveries – there was no time for the individual.

While the book makes great effort in marking an anti-communist stand, I did find many aspects of the society to have a fascist ring. There was not an obvious superior race or religion among the humans – countries joined together to defend their planet. But humans did claim greatness over the Bugs and Skinnies. The inhabitants of planet Earth believed themselves to be a more deserving species than any other planet’s species. I do not support the proposal that the novel is racist but the sentiment that humans are the superior species is clear.

The book’s fascist underpinning displays itself within the classroom discussions, especially within the views of Mr. Dubois. Calling Marx a “pompous fraud,” Dubois says, “The Marxian definition of value is ridiculous. All the work one cares to add will not turn a mud pie into an apple tart; it remains a mud pie, value zero” (92). One must not follow the rules of Marxism, what Heinlein would most likely refer to as idealistic. In order for a society to advance, one must depend on the military and with that violence. People in the military cannot consider their individual needs; they have to fight only for the progression of their platoon. This is obviously a standard ethic of military services but it is also fascist on a grander scale. A fascist society must function as a united front. A human’s needs must equate to the needs of his or her country. The fact that only veterans can participate in elections speaks to my belief that Heinlein’s utopian society would be one ruled by military and fascism.