Starship Troopers

Johnnie narrates the story. His Puerto Rican family is rich, but he goes against tradition and joins the Mobile Infantry, dropping from orbit with his squad onto many planets and countless battles. He attends OCS, the better to serve his comrades. Johnnie’s voice is casual, chatty, and no-nonsense; he is friendly, extremely competent, hardworking, and modest enough to know when he has done something wrong. His first-person viewpoint helps young readers feel their way into the story, making them eyewitnesses as the events unfold. 

Johnnie’s high school History and Moral Philosophy instructor, Mr. Dubois is a retired colonel from MI. He is cranky and demanding, and most students dislike him. Effectively the voice of the author’s moral arguments, Dubois teaches that nothing in life is free but must be earned, and that duty to one’s fellow humans is the highest moral purpose. Dubois keeps a paternal eye on Johnnie’s career in MI, as do several other officers, including Sergeant Zim. 

Taught, tough, and seriously hard on his recruits, Sergeant Zim is widely hated but grudgingly admired, and those who make it through his basic training remember him with respect. Zim takes responsibility for failures among his recruits, and, in combat, he risks himself unfailingly. The “platoon sergeant” of Chapter 13 who, against all odds, kidnaps a Bug brain caste member for interrogation is revealed at the end to be Zim, who wins a promotion to commissioned officer. 

The Bugs are an alien species at war with humanity. Insect-like in appearance, they live in hives and behave like ants or termites. Most are workers or warriors, but a few are members of a “brain caste” that makes plans and controls the others. The Bugs, with their communal life and heedless waste of soldiers, symbolize Heinlein’s view of 1950s Russian Communists.

The elite group of the Bug civilization, the brain caste controls the masses of workers and warriors, designs war strategies, and oversees construction and deployment of military resources. The Federation wants to capture a few brains and interrogate them, but they’re hidden deep in the Bugs’ hives and hard to kidnap. 

Commander of the MI company nicknamed “Blackie’s Blackguards,” Captain Blackstone oversees Johnnie’s training in the field as an officer candidate. His great competence and leadership skills inspire Johnnie, who must complete Blackie’s challenging assignments if he is to progress to the rank of lieutenant. 

At each step along his career path, and often without his knowledge, Johnnie is watched over by officers who help guide him. Sergeant Jelal, Johnnie’s platoon sergeant during the young soldier’s first deployment, keeps an eye on Johnnie and helps him win appointment to OCS. 

Johnnie’s father Emilio, wealthy head of a major corporation, is angry at Johnnie for joining the Federal service instead of going to Harvard and working in the family business. Much of his anger is because Johnnie has done what Emilio always wanted to do. The death of his wife, Johnnie’s mother, at the hands of the Bugs finally convinces Emilio to join the MI. Older than 40, Corporal Rico’s maturity makes him a respected leader among the younger soldiers. Emilio’s attitude toward his son evolves from anger to pride; that his ultimate reaction to Johnnie’s career choice is to join him makes for a kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy for many readers who might have experienced similar fallings-out with their own parents. 

Carmen signs up for Federal service on the same day as Johnnie and his friend Carl; she wants to be a spaceship pilot. Petite, brilliant, and in perfect health with pinpoint reflexes, she becomes an officer and a pilot-in-training in the war against the Bugs. Carmen represents the high demand for female pilots in the Terran military. 

Initially allied with the Bugs but later switching to the Federation, the Skinnies are humanoid, very tall, and militarily the weakest of the three combatant civilizations. The book opens with a cap trooper attack on the Skinnies’ home planet, an event that helps scare the Skinnies into joining Earth. The Skinnies civilization is effectively a plot device rather than a major player in the story. 

During a training exercise, recruit Hendrick slugs training Sergeant Zim and gets court-martialed; he is found guilty of violating Article 9080, which forbids striking a superior officer. Hendrick receives 10 lashes and a bad-conduct discharge. Hendrick’s case calls attention to the fact of corporal punishment in the Terran Federation military.