Starship Troopers
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5 Chapter 6  Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9  Chapter 10  Chapter 11 Chapter 12  Chapter 13  Chapter 14 
Themes
All Themes Militarism Citizenship Moral Decline and Discipline Communism vs. Moral Individualism
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Johnnie Rico Sergeant Zim (The Sergeant) Johnnie’s Father (Mr. Rico) Mr. Dubois Colonel Nielssen Captain Blackstone Sergeant Jelal (Jelly) Ace Ted Hendrick Major Reid Captain Frankel Carl Al Jenkins Carmen Ibañez Fleet Sergeant Ho Breckenridge Carruthers Supply Sergeant N. L. Dillinger Lieutenant Rasczak Cadet Hassan (“the Assassin”) Cadet Byrd (“Birdie”) Lieutenant Spieksma Kitten Smith Johnnie’s Mother Mr. Weiss Pat Leivy Brumby Shujumi
Terms
All Terms Franchise Communism
Symbols
All Symbols Terran Federation Suits Bugs
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Starship Troopers

by

Robert A. Heinlein
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Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Starship Troopers makes teaching easy.

Breckenridge Character Analysis

Private Recruit Breckenridge steps forward first to answer Sergeant Zim’s challenge of hand-to-hand combat on the first day of basic training. He’s large, tall, broad, and a former football player; he has a thick southern accent and a beautiful singing voice. Zim quickly defeats him, breaking his arm in the process, but Breckenridge doesn’t harbor ill-will towards the Sergeant, instead boasting that he’ll eventually beat the instructor. He dies in the Canadian Rockies while on a wilderness survival drill; after the other recruits find his body, he’s posthumously awarded the rank of Private First Class—the first in the class to be given rank—and buried with full honors.

Breckenridge Quotes in Starship Troopers

The Starship Troopers quotes below are all either spoken by Breckenridge or refer to Breckenridge. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Militarism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 8 Quotes

Dillinger belonged to us, he was still on our rolls. Even though we didn’t want him, even though we should never have had him, even though we would have been happy to disclaim him, he was a member of our regiment. We couldn’t brush him off and let a sheriff a thousand miles away handle it. If it has to be done, a man—a real man—shoots his dog himself; he doesn’t hire a proxy who may bungle it.

The regimental records said that Dillinger was ours, so taking care of him was our duty.

Related Characters: Johnnie Rico (speaker), Sergeant Zim (The Sergeant), Ace, Ted Hendrick, Captain Frankel, Breckenridge, N. L. Dillinger , Dizzy Flores
Page Number: 140
Explanation and Analysis:
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Breckenridge Quotes in Starship Troopers

The Starship Troopers quotes below are all either spoken by Breckenridge or refer to Breckenridge. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Militarism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 8 Quotes

Dillinger belonged to us, he was still on our rolls. Even though we didn’t want him, even though we should never have had him, even though we would have been happy to disclaim him, he was a member of our regiment. We couldn’t brush him off and let a sheriff a thousand miles away handle it. If it has to be done, a man—a real man—shoots his dog himself; he doesn’t hire a proxy who may bungle it.

The regimental records said that Dillinger was ours, so taking care of him was our duty.

Related Characters: Johnnie Rico (speaker), Sergeant Zim (The Sergeant), Ace, Ted Hendrick, Captain Frankel, Breckenridge, N. L. Dillinger , Dizzy Flores
Page Number: 140
Explanation and Analysis:
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