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Chapter 8
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
In a flashback, Johnnie recalls the recruits’ move to Camp Sergeant Spooky Smith in the Canadian Rockies for their next phase of training. The Third Regiment has shrunk from 1,000 recruits to fewer than 400. Smaller ranks mean more personal attention from the instructors. Now Johnnie feels that Zim and Captain Frankel are trying to turn them into soldiers instead of chasing them away from service. Johnnie can’t decide who is the better soldier of the two: Zim is precise and stylish, but Frankel is daring and enthusiastic.
Of the self-selected class of volunteers, less than half have made it this far in training, so if military service truly proves one’s capacity to be a good citizen, then there are astonishingly few people who should be citizens Johnnie draws closer to Zim and Frankel as instructors and as role models for how to be a soldier-citizen. They’re equally competent even though they do things differently, offering a reminder that the strength of the M.I. lies not in cranking out mindlessly identical soldiers but in producing disciplined individuals, a contrast that will become important later in the Bug War.
Active
Themes
Operating the suits in the mountains is more challenging than on the flat prairies, and several recruits die. Johnnie doesn’t understand why they need to learn mountaineering without the suits, but he has learned to shut up and do as he is told by this point.
Johnnie may question why he needs to learn mountaineering skills if he’s going to be in a suit most of the time, but by now he’s internalized enough military discipline to avoid asking questions. And, in his earlier flashback, he revealed that he was indeed given a test of his survival skills at Camp Spooky Smith in which he had to rely on his own wits rather than any technology.
Active
Themes
At Camp Currie, the recruits had “liberty” to leave the base on Sundays, but there was nothing for miles around. At Camp Spooky Smith, they can go into Vancouver. The first time Johnnie sets foot in town, he realizes that he doesn’t fit into complex and untidy civilian life anymore. Vancouver is a lovely city that welcomes soldiers. There is a social center where local hostesses dance with them at weekly events. But Johnnie prefers to gawk at the buildings and pedestrians—especially girls. He’s always liked girls, but hasn’t understood their full delightfulness until Vancouver.
On liberty, Johnnie, Pat Leivy, and Kitten Smith go to Seattle, where Pat had grown up. The girls are just as plentiful in Seattle as Vancouver, but the Army is less present and appreciated there.
Active
Themes
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The trio ends up at a dockside bar for dinner. Johnnie isn’t drinking; Kitten has one beer with his meal, but his temperament isn’t belligerent. Most of the other customers are merchant marine sailors. Merchant marines are particularly opposed to the M.I., in part because their guild tried to get their trade classified as Federal Service unsuccessfully. A foursome of merchant sailors and civilians begins to make remarks aimed at the soldier recruits, who choose not to respond and get up to leave when they realize the whole bar is listening in.
Active
Themes
The four men follow Johnnie, Pat, and Kitten outside and charge at them. Johnnie knocks one out, Kitten “handle[s]” two of them, and Pat throws the last into a lamppost. When the police arrive, they ask if the soldiers want to press charges—attacking a soldier is a serious offence. In part because Zim had told them to keep out of trouble, they decline, claiming that the unconscious men had “stumbled.” Johnnie defended himself on reflex, and his training allowed him to disable armed men quickly and without killing them. This showed him how much he’s changed.
Active
Themes
At Camp Spooky, the recruits begin to practice drops. These get harder over time: into mountains, ice fields, the Australian outback, and finally the moon. The company continues to shrink as men die or are injured. Some refuse to enter the capsules, and they are discharged. Those who are afraid of dropping are treated kindly. Johnnie never refuses, but he always gets the shakes and is “scared silly” before a drop. But you have to drop to be a cap trooper.
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Themes
There’s a story about a cap trooper who stumbled upon the tomb of Napoleon while sightseeing in Paris. He asked a guard who Napoleon was, and the scandalized guard answered that Napoleon was “the greatest soldier who ever lived.” The cap trooper asked where Napoleon’s drops had been. This story is certainly fictitious because the sign outside the tomb tells you about Napoleon. But all cap troopers feel the same way.
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Themes
Eventually, Johnnie graduates. Other events from training included fighting a forest fire, going on a real alert that he thought was a drill, and the cook tent blowing away. The weather is important to an infantryman, but only while it’s happening, and it’s boring to recall after the fact. The regiment had started with 2009 recruits but only 187 graduate. Fourteen had died, including the disgraced Dillinger; the rest resigned, transferred, or were discharged. Johnnie is now a “Trained Solider” instead of a “Recruit Soldier.” His graduation day is the biggest day of his life.
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Themes
