Simply Kayla

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I was pleasantly surprised at how different this was than the movie. The movie gave brainless action (and let’s not forget the gross bugs) -I was confused how it could have been based off of a Heinlein book.

Movie aside, this military science fiction story felt personal and relatable. Johnny Rico is just a kid, and he wants to follow his best friend anywhere – even if that means joining the infantry. I know I was close to joining when I was in JROTC. I never pulled that plug, but if I had a friend going – I definitely would have been tempted. We make decisions without fully understanding the repercussions – and definitely when we are younger.

The book is pro-militaristic, which I honestly thought I would be upset about. I hate violence and our continued support of it. But I get it – it’s not like everyone in the world (in the universe) is going to suddenly drop their weapons and starting dishing out hugs. I appreciated the way Heinlein approached it though.

A theme I didn’t expect to come out of this book (again, all I could think of were those massive bugs) was lost morals and corporeal punishment. It takes place in an age where they have decreased juvenile crime by implementing better practices of discipline (like public flogging). I was amused by the shocked responses from students when their teacher explained that people would murder others in public parks back in the day and the children would not get flogged.

I do want to see the movie again to see if any of these themes were adopted – I’ll try not to get distracted by the bugs this time.

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