55 pages • 1-hour read
Old Man's War
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Part 1, Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of cursing and death.
Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary
On his 75th birthday, John Perry goes to the cemetery to visit his wife, Katherine’s, grave for the final time. He then goes to the recruiter’s office, where he enlists in the army.
The recruiter walks John through several different paragraphs, which he has to sign and acknowledge his understanding of. He will be joining the Colonial Defense Force (CDF), the army of the Colonial Union (CU). In doing so, he renounces his US citizenship and is legally declared dead on Earth. He will enlist for two years, with the possibility of an eight-year extension if the CDF deems it necessary. One paragraph explains that he will be subjected to whatever medical treatment the CDF deems necessary, which is his true reason for joining. Everyone on Earth has heard rumors that the CU has found a way to stop or reverse aging. No one can know for sure, however, as Earth has no real communication with the CU, and the soldiers never return.
After John has signed all the documents, the recruiter explains that John will leave Earth within the next 72 hours. She gives him a plane ticket for Nairobi, where he will board a “beanstalk” to the Colonial Station.
Before leaving, John asks the recruiter if she has ever met anyone from the CDF. She tells him she has not, as the CU embassy relays all the information to workers on Earth. None of them actually work for the CDF—not even the CEO. To her knowledge, no one from the CU ever comes to Earth.
Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary
As John ascends the beanstalk—essentially an escalator to the Colonial Station—he is annoyed and frustrated at Leon, a man he met in Chicago. Leon is loud and opinionated and has followed John around since they met. John makes an excuse to get away and walks around the beanstalk, which he notes is a large, donut-shaped room. The center has a 20-foot hole with a large cable running through it. As they ascend, he can see Earth disappearing below them through the hardened glass.
John thinks about how easy it was to leave Earth. He told his friends and family his decision a year ago, which gave him plenty of time to say goodbye. He had signed a commitment form with Katherine 10 years before and told their son, Charlie, about it. Charlie was initially angry at them for wanting to fight in the war; however, after Katherine died, he and John reconciled. As Charlie is now married with a wife and child, John was happy to leave and let Charlie live his life.
John sees Leon animatedly talking to a woman. Feeling bad, he goes to save her. He hears Leon talking about the war and how “unfair” it is that Americans can’t be colonists; instead, they only get to see the universe if they join the army. He repeatedly makes racist remarks about the Indian, Kazakhstani, and Norwegian colonists. When he misquotes the Bible, John corrects him, and the woman recites another Bible verse. They go back and forth with quotes from the Sermon on the Mount until Leon gets angry and leaves.
The woman introduces herself as Jesse Gonzales. While she was bothered by Leon’s anger and racism, recognizing that the CU pulls colonists from overpopulated nations, she agrees that it is unfair that only people from certain countries can become part of the CU. She joined the army for the opportunity to see the universe before she dies.
When John and Jesse go to get food, a man named Harry Wilson joins them. They start talking about the beanstalk. As a former physics teacher, Harry explains the basic principle, while also making it clear that Earth does not have the math or physics knowledge to truly understand it.
Jesse then asks why the CU doesn’t share the technology with Earth. Harry suggests that it is a way for the CU to remain in control and maintain its power over planets like Earth. He explains that the beanstalks are complicated and expensive—so much so that physicists on Earth have given up on replicating them. However, the CU put one up on Earth and uses it, likely as a show of force and intelligence. The beanstalks serve as a constant reminder that the CU is stronger, smarter, and more technologically advanced than anything on planet Earth.
As a final warning, Harry reminds them that the beanstalk is just the first step in their journey. If they have already seen something this advanced, it is likely that their experience will only get increasingly “stranger.”
Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary
After arriving at the Colonial Station, John and the others are rushed to a shuttle by two CU soldiers. They pass by a mess hall, where John spots a Gehaar—one of the first alien species that humans encountered in space.
John is put on a shuttle to the Henry Hudson, a massive ship he and the other recruits board for transport. Harry estimates that it’s about 800 feet long, noting the massive amount of power it would require to create artificial gravity. He again speculates about the technology, money, and power of the CU. Once on the Henry Hudson, John joins around 1,000 other recruits. They wait in the mess hall until a man comes to speak to them. He introduces himself as Sam Campbell, an adjunct from the CU tasked with giving them their orientation for the CDF.
Campbell explains that the recruits have about two days until they arrive at their “skip” point to jump into another galaxy (“skipping” is a form of faster-than-light travel). During that time, the recruits will be physically and mentally evaluated. He directs them to check their PDAs, which will give them schedules, stateroom assignments, and any other information they may need. Lastly, he tells them that their last chance to see Earth is coming soon, so he directs them to the theater, which will broadcast the view from the ship.
To John’s dismay, he is assigned to a room with Leon. However, Leon is short with him after their altercation on the beanstalk. John leaves him and joins Jesse and Harry, and the three of them watch Earth disappear in the theater.
The next morning, John wakes up early and gets dressed in his new soldier’s uniform. He attempts to wake up Leon, but Leon dismisses him. John then goes to breakfast, where he meets a former doctor who introduces himself as Thomas Jane, as well as a woman named Susan Reardon. Harry soon joins them with his roommate, Alan Rosenthal, who is a theoretical physicist. The group speculates about how the CU will make them young. Thomas argues that it’s possible that they won’t be young but rather in peak physical and mental condition. He points out that no one has ever met a CDF soldier, so no one really knows.
After breakfast, John returns to his room. He tries to wake up Leon but then discovers that he isn’t breathing. He calls for medical support and tries to perform CPR. When the medics arrive, they tell John that Leon died of a heart attack.
Part 1, Chapters 1-3 Analysis
The prevailing mood throughout the first few chapters of the novel is one of mystery and uncertainty as the protagonist, John, leaves Earth to embark on a new stage of his life. The opening lines, which find John at his wife’s grave for the final time, serve as both a literal and figurative goodbye; John physically leaves the planet while emotionally leaving his old life behind him. Because of the first-person point of view, the reader only knows what John knows (which is very little) about the Colonial Defense Force (CDF). John has never met a CU employee or a CDF soldier, and the humans still on Earth know little about space, creating a feeling of precarious optimism.
Central to the novel’s mystery is the CU, a powerful entity with seemingly endless money and knowledge. This is a common trope in science fiction literature: A largely unknown group, company, or governing body facilitates space exploration based on motives that remain ambiguous. When John asks the recruiter if it “bothers” her never to have met her employer, she points out, “[Y]ou’re going to join an organization you’ve never met. Doesn’t that bother you?” (17). This acknowledgement creates both suspense and anticipation surrounding John’s journey while heightening the ambiguity surrounding the CU. While it offers John a new life, it is unclear whether the CU will serve a positive or antagonistic role throughout the text.
With each of the characters that John meets, the reader learns of their motivations for joining the war. Ironically, none of them—including John—truly believe in the war, instead joining for the chance to see space, become younger, and extend their lives. This disconnect introduces the theme of The Ethics of War. While John and the others know that colonialism is central to the CDF’s mission, the CU keeps its methods and the true role of the soldiers a secret. Instead, it uses the allure of seeing the universe and becoming younger to convince people to join. This form of propaganda calls into question the morality of the intergalactic war; the CU is recruiting soldiers and sending them to their deaths while intentionally shrouding the war in mystery.
Amid this uncertainty, John’s practicality emerges as central to his characterization. When he visits his wife, the narrative tone is one of pragmatism. As John leaves, he notes, “I turned around and left and didn’t bother looking around. This was the last time I would ever visit […] but I didn’t want to expend too much effort in trying to remember it. As I said, this is the place where she’s never been anything but dead” (6). A farewell like this could easily lend itself to sentimentality, but John resists this, framing his wife’s grave as a place he has no reason to be attached to. This pragmatism extends to his broader reasons for joining the CDF: He reasons that he is near death and has little left on Earth, leaving him with no valid reason not to pursue the opportunity of a new life with the CDF. In this way, John is presented as the perfect soldier: He is willing to look past the ominous nature of the Colonial Union and follow orders because it is the practical thing for him to do at this point in his life.
The character of Harry provides a counterpoint to John’s narration that invites the reader to question the ethics of the war the CDF is waging. As he eats with John and Jesse, Harry explains the physics of the beanstalk while repeatedly emphasizing that it requires technology and knowledge well beyond what the humans on Earth possess. He posits that the beanstalk serves as a reminder of this very fact, framing the CU as concerned primarily with power rather than progress and thus introducing the theme of The Duality of Technological Advancement. His dialogue balances John’s narration, looking beyond practicality and pragmatism to call into question the motives and nature of both the CU and the intergalactic war.
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