There comes a time when a person must ask themselves if they want to remain complacent and follow a path chosen by their family or the social norm, or if they want to follow a path many choose but fail as a result of a lack of willpower. Reading the first one hundred pages of "Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein made me think of such questions of destiny and the sheer will of the human mind and body. The book begins with our main protagonist, Juan "Johnny" Rico, making a combat drop into an enemy city as part of the Mobile Infantry. The main purpose of his mission that day is to show the military might of Terran Federation. Johnny drops from the atmosphere in a "capsule" which brings him ever so roughly to the ground. Johnny wastes no time in demolition on anything that looked important with his wide array of arsenal which includes a flamethrower, H.E. bombs, and even atomic warheads that make a smaller explosion than the larger ones. This show of military might had me thinking that it was far too excessive, especially considering that the natives of the planet were not putting much of a fight(if they were to put up a fight, their attacks would've been stopped by the powered armor the mobile infantrymen wore). Could this be a call back to the military actions undertaken by the strong nations on small defenseless nations? Well, the Mobile Infantry were described as being a quick and an efficient fighting force, with commands being muttered and followed every minute. This sounds very much like the way Nazi Germany was able to utilize Blitzkrieg tactics to overrun a whole country in a matter of hours. The Mobile Infantry were no different in their mission, they went in fast and hard, completing their mission on schedule while showing just how much power was held by the Third Reich, I mean, the Terran Federation. But I digress, Johnny finds that once he expended most of his munitions it was time to go. He, however, refused to leave a wounded comrade behind even though it would cost him time to get on the retrieval ship. He saves the man and gets aboard. The man would die, unfortunately, on their way back to the ship.
Now, you must be asking me, what is up with your intro about destiny and whatnot. I'll get to it, don't worry. You just need some context first.On his way up back to the ship, Johnny thinks back to the days before signing up to the military. We're transported to his high school senior days, were Johnny and his friend Carl are almost turning 18, the legal age were any person can sign up for military service without anyone stopping them. A person who completes a term of service(2 years) is able to become a complete citizen and able to enjoy the privilege of holding office. Both are thinking about joining but Johnny's dad is very set on Johnny going to Harvard and going into his business. Johnny thinks it over and assures himself he won't sign up,but he finds himself near the recruiting center with Carl. Now the question of destiny pops back in for a visit. Should Johnny go along with his father's wishes even though it might not be what he wants to do or should he pledge himself to the military even though he has to go through the grueling task of going through boot camp and dangerous military projects.This is the first theme that I was able to register out of this book, destiny. We all have to make difficult decisions right at the spot and any second you could change your life's path permanently. And poor ol' Johnny here makes the decision to sign up.
