Submitted by Trix2000 on 29 January 2008 - 9:33pm.
Probably the most interesting thing about Starship Troopers was not the science fiction "parts" to it, though they do have a large part to play as is. Instead, I found the political and social "descriptions" that the novel gave for the Federation, namely in its military but also having civilian ties. The first thing I could say about it is that their way is...different....though I think thats just the short answer here. Enfranchisement requiring enlisting in the military, punishment being only for people who were believed could continue on, natural rights being earned...and not only that, the people involved (namely John's teacher, Mr. Dubois) are utterly convinced that the structure of society in the past day and age (ours? it doesn't specify, but suggests so) was broken and flawed. Even more interesting is how much a reader such as myself can be convinced as well for a moment...there was this feeling as though these problems are indeed the case....though a second thought later would be that maybe Heinlein had little faith for modern society.
It's just odd when a book can be totally fictional, as evidenced by the first scene of an armored John unleashing futuristic destruction all by himself, and yet the ties to today are not so unreal....and personally, I think Heinlein meant to express his prediction to society, else he might not have included such references.
My only question would be how such a society/military might come about successfully, as it seems to require a HUGE change in worldview (at least for me) to accept the aspects of such a society. One thing that is NOT mentioned is how long in the future this story could take place, so I wonder when Heinlein believed such a change would occur.
Probably the most interesting thing about Starship Troopers was not the science fiction "parts" to it, though they do have a large part to play as is. Instead, I found the political and social "descriptions" that the novel gave for the Federation, namely in its military but also having civilian ties. The first thing I could say about it is that their way is...different....though I think thats just the short answer here. Enfranchisement requiring enlisting in the military, punishment being only for people who were believed could continue on, natural rights being earned...and not only that, the people involved (namely John's teacher, Mr. Dubois) are utterly convinced that the structure of society in the past day and age (ours? it doesn't specify, but suggests so) was broken and flawed. Even more interesting is how much a reader such as myself can be convinced as well for a moment...there was this feeling as though these problems are indeed the case....though a second thought later would be that maybe Heinlein had little faith for modern society.
It's just odd when a book can be totally fictional, as evidenced by the first scene of an armored John unleashing futuristic destruction all by himself, and yet the ties to today are not so unreal....and personally, I think Heinlein meant to express his prediction to society, else he might not have included such references.
My only question would be how such a society/military might come about successfully, as it seems to require a HUGE change in worldview (at least for me) to accept the aspects of such a society. One thing that is NOT mentioned is how long in the future this story could take place, so I wonder when Heinlein believed such a change would occur.