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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N. L. Dillinger Character Analysis

N. L. Dillinger volunteered for Federal Service but deserts after just two days of basic training. He then kidnaps a young girl, Barbara Anne Enthwaite, demanding a ransom and mistreating her until he finally murders her. When he’s caught by a local tribunal, they discover he’s a deserter and return him to Camp Currie. Regimental Command gives Dillinger a bad conduct discharge and carries out the punishment for his crimes—hanging. He serves as an extreme example of moral decay; in punishing him, the military both asserts its ability and right to enforce law and order and demonstrates its moral imperative to “take care of its own,” even when they don’t deserve it.

N. L. Dillinger Quotes in Starship Troopers

The Starship Troopers quotes below are all either spoken by N. L. Dillinger or refer to N. L. Dillinger . 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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N. L. Dillinger Quotes in Starship Troopers

The Starship Troopers quotes below are all either spoken by N. L. Dillinger or refer to N. L. Dillinger . 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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