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Chapter 1
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Starship Troopers, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Militarism
Citizenship
Moral Decline and Discipline
Communism vs. Moral Individualism
Summary
Analysis
Johnnie reminisces about how he became a cap trooper. He never intended to join the military or the infantry. But, approaching high school graduation and his 18th birthday, he told his father he was considering it. Many kids consider service, even though most go to college or start civilian jobs instead. Johnnie thinks he would have remained a civilian if his best friend Carl hadn’t planned to volunteer. They were inseparable in high school. Johnnie particularly enjoyed helping science whiz Carl build his electrical engineering projects. Carl’s family was less wealthy than Johnnie’s, but the boys shared everything, including the helicopter Johnnie got for his 14th birthday.
Johnnie begins an extended flashback in which he recalls his training and military service up to the beginning of the mission he’s just described. The Terran Federation’s army is entirely voluntary, which is part of the book’s futuristic vision. In the mid-20th century, when the book was written, the United States still had a compulsory draft system; it wouldn’t transition to an all-volunteer force until the 1970s. Johnnie’s history with his friend Carl foreshadows his military success because it shows that his temperament is suited for taking orders and working cooperatively with others. And the way the two boys share everything, despite their differences in intelligence and socioeconomic status, previews the meritocratic aspects of the military—the idea that people are rewarded according to their skills and character—in which both Johnnie and Carl will make successful soldier recruits.
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Themes
In his ongoing flashback, Johnnie is surprised to learn that Carl plans to serve a term in the Federal Service before college. But he is also impressed by Carl’s attitude that joining is “natural and right and obvious.” To impress his friend, he declares he will volunteer, too. Carl expresses doubt that Johnnie’s Father will let him. Although Johnnie legally has the sole right to make the decision, Carl believes Mr. Rico will find a way to discourage his son.
Carl is the first in a long series of examples of the right kind of soldier—ones who volunteers to protect and serve society rather than for personal glory or gain. In other words, his choice to volunteer demonstrates his civic virtue, or the qualities that make a person a good potential citizen. Johnnie has yet to discover his own civic virtue—which is why Carl thinks his Father will be able to prevent him from volunteering even if he can’t physically stop him.
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His Father’s response, on hearing about Johnnie’s plan, is to ask if his son has gone crazy. He ignores Johnnie’s muttered reply while declaring that the desire to serve is just another predictable stage of childhood. As a toddler, Johnnie broke his Mother’s Ming vase because he didn’t understand its value. When he was older, he secretly smoked his Father’s cigars, which his parents ignored, because boys must learn that “men’s vices are not for them” experientially. Next, Johnnie started noticing girls. In his final stage of development, a boy decides to join up, get married, or both. Johnnie’s Father experienced these desires himself, but luckily avoided ruining his life by pursuing either.
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Themes
Johnnie protests that he only plans a term of service, but his Father interrupts. He reminds Johnny that the family has avoided politics for generations. He can’t imagine that Johnnie would consider service except under the influence of his teacher, Mr. Dubois. Noting that a taxpayer has some rights, Mr. Rico expresses his opinion that schools shouldn’t be used for covert military recruitment. Johnnie interrupts to say that Mr. Dubois, with his superior attitude, seemed to discourage service. But his Father doesn’t believe it. He planned on Johnnie studying business at Harvard, going to the Sorbonne, then coming home to join the family business, where he would work his way up from stock clerk to boss.
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Themes
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Johnnie remains silent, while his Father claims to understand his desire. He would have supported it, if there were a war. But because he believes that war is a thing of the past, both on Terra and between humans and other species, he feels that Federal Service is a holdover from the past and a way for parasitic people to live on taxpayer support and then act superior for the rest of their lives. Johnnie defends Carl, who certainly isn’t parasitic, but his Father retorts that he’s misguided. He then presents Johnnie with his graduation present: a solo vacation to Mars. Johnnie, who loves to travel, is surprised and pleased. He feels that his future should proceed according to his father’s plan, even as he understands that the trip may be a bribe.
Meanwhile, Carl continues to assert his right to volunteer, despite his own family’s reservations. Johnnie thinks about this during the last day of History and Moral Philosophy Class. Everyone is required to take H&MP, but no one can fail, so the students sometimes debate the teacher. On this day, Mr. Dubois—a veteran with a missing left arm—argues with a girl about her mother’s claim that violence doesn’t solve anything. Pointing to historical examples, he claims that violence is the most powerful force in history and that forgetting it means risking one’s life and freedom.
Bemoaning his students’ lack of independent thought, Mr. Dubois asks Johnnie the difference between a civilian and a soldier. Johnnie quotes the textbook definition: a soldier takes personal responsibility for defending the body politic, unlike a civilian. But because his answer is rote, Mr. Dubois doesn’t think Johnnie or any of the students truly believes in civic virtue themselves, and he dismisses the class in disgust.
Johnnie is too embarrassed to admit to Carl that he’s changed his mind. So he accompanies his friend to the recruiting office on Carl’s 18th birthday. The boys run into their classmate and friend Carmencita Ibañez. It is her birthday, too, and she’s come to volunteer because she wants to be a spaceship pilot. Although Johnnie always considered her ornamental, she’s also smart and fast. Listening to his two friends, Johnnie finds himself announcing his intention to volunteer as well; unable to leave well enough alone, he says that he wants to be a pilot like Carmen. Carl hopes to use his electrical engineering skills in Starside R&D.
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Themes
Entering the recruiting station, Johnnie, Carl, and Carmen find a Fleet Sergeant (whose name is later revealed to be Sergeant Ho) behind the desk, wearing a dress uniform draped with ribbons and awards that Johnnie can’t yet decipher. He is missing his right arm and both legs. He welcomes Carmen warmly, admitting her for intake without hesitation. But his attitude towards Johnnie and Carl is much harsher. He tells them directly that he’s been put out front to dissuade people from volunteering. Many want to serve their term just to “earn a franchise” and claim veteran status. They don’t care about combat. Because it’s everyone’s right to serve but not everyone has what it takes to be a soldier, it’s hard to find jobs for everyone.
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Even a common soldier must have very specialized skills. The Federal Service can’t afford stupid soldiers, so they’ve come up with terrible jobs to convince people to leave before their term is complete or teach them the full value of their citizenship. Sergeant Ho’s job is to discourage boys like Carl and Johnnie from joining. Pointing to his missing legs, he reminds them that even those who end up as proper soldiers are likely to be seriously injured or killed. He asks why they don’t just go home or to college instead, because a service term isn’t a “kiddie camp,” even during peacetime.
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Carl and Johnnie reiterate that they have come to join up. Sergeant Ho reminds them that they can’t pick their service. Although recruits can state their preferences, they might not get what they want: first there must be a need for one’s choice, then a recruit must demonstrate both aptitude and preparation, and one’s actual orders may be for something else. Carl believes that he can qualify for electronics. The sergeant’s warning makes Johnnie hesitate, but he knows that if he doesn’t go for it, he’ll spend the rest of his life wondering if he is anything more than the boss’s son, so he decides to “chance it” on service.
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Sergeant Ho takes the boys’ IDs and sends them for physical exams. The civilian doctor tells Johnnie that military service is for “ants;” the privilege of franchise is nominal, and most people don’t use it properly anyway. He counsels him to back out while he still can. Nevertheless, Johnnie goes back to Sergeant Ho with Carl. The Sergeant gathers witnesses who scrutinize the documents and confirm the boys’ mental competence. Sergeant Ho then administers their service oath. Johnnie pledges of his own free will to serve a minimum of two years defending the Terran Federation and its Constitution against internal and external enemies, to obey the orders of his superiors, and to carry out the duties and obligations of a full citizen upon the honorable completion of his term.
Although Johnnie has analyzed the Oath in History and Moral Philosophy, it feels different to commit himself to its heavy and unstoppable clauses. Afterwards, he doesn’t yet feel like a soldier, but he doesn’t feel like a civilian either. Once the paperwork is completed, Sergeant Ho releases Carl and Johnnie to 48 hours of leave. This is an opportunity to change their minds without disgrace. If they don’t report back, the only consequence would be that they couldn’t change their minds and try to join up later. Johnnie’s parents are upset, refusing to talk to him or say goodbye. Only their houseboys and the cook see him off.
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Johnnie’s aptitude tests quickly confirm he won’t be a pilot, so he lists his other preferences and undergoes more testing. He puts in for a Navy post because he wants to travel. Barring that, he lists Military Intelligence; psychological, chemical, or biological warfare; combat ecology; or logistics. At the very end of the list, he puts K-9 corps and Infantry, because these at least are combat outfits. When he meets with the placement officer, Mr. Weiss, Johnnie is pleased to see his high school transcript. He is proud of his high school career because he hasn’t gunned for grades or slacked off and has been a “big man around the school” with his various clubs and activities.
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Mr. Weiss questions Johnnie about his history with dogs and explains that the Federal Service’s trained neodogs, or “Calebs,” are artificially enhanced and symbiotically attached to their human handlers. Since Johnnie’s attachment to his own childhood dog was so casual, Mr. Weiss concludes that he isn’t a good match for the K-9 corps. Only then does Johnnie realize that he’s failed to get any of his other preferences and the only thing left on his list is Infantry. Mr. Weiss regrets that Johnnie didn’t take more useful classes but notes that he has earned the endorsement of Mr. Dubois—whom Mr. Weiss knows. Accepting his recommendation, Mr. Weiss asks Johnnie how he’d like to be an infantryman.
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On his way out of the Federal Building, Johnnie encounters a familiar face—Sergeant Ho. Off duty, he wears prosthetic limbs and civilian clothes and no longer has to “put on my horror show.” He is delighted to hear that Johnnie has been assigned to the infantry, his old outfit. He tells Johnnie that everyone else in the Army is just a functionary as he warmly shakes Johnnie’s hand with his life-like prosthetic. Back at his temporary quarters, Johnnie’s roommate pities him for his assignment because the infantry is for “poor, stupid clowns.” But Johnnie defends their honor and offers to fight his roommate over it.
