Starship Troopers 8

Study Guide Questions for Chapter Eight

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Justice, Duty, Rights, Happiness

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. In what way, according to Johnnie, was an administrative flogging “the mildest sort of a compliment?”

2. Why, according to Johnnie, did the M.I. not typically pursue the death penalty for deserters?

3. What had Dillinger done which made it necessary for the M.I. to take custody of and execute him?

4. What did the soldiers at Camp Currie do for thirty days after Dillinger was hanged?

5. As Johnnie is reasoning about Dillinger’s situation and his sanity, what dilemma does he wrestle with concerning the man’s inevitable fate after his crime?

6. What did Mr. Dubois say was the state of things in the “XXth century?”

7. What analogy did Mr. Dubois use to demonstrate why things went so poorly during the XXth century?

8. What did Mr. Dubois say was “a widespread belief” during the XXth century which contributed to their problems?

9. What did Mr. Dubois state as a definite downside of confining (imprisoning) criminals together?

10. What was wrong with the XXth century’s “theory of morals” according to Mr. Dubois?

11. What did Mr. Dubois call “the single eternal imperative controlling everything we do?”

12. What did Mr. Dubois claim about the concept of “natural” and “unalienable” rights?

13. Rather than rights, what did Mr. Dubois think that a nation should focus upon?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Thinking further about the dilemma that Johnnie wrestled with concerning Dillinger’s hanging, do you think there was any other option for what to do with Dillinger than that which the M.I. took? Was Johnnie’s reasoning here sound, or was he missing another way to look at the situation? Explain what you think and why.

2. Do you think the way Mr. Dubois interprets the term “unusual” in “cruel and unusual punishment” the same way, or different from, the way the term is usually used in the context of legal punishment? How else might the term be understood from the way he is interpreting it? 

3. What is Mr. Dubois arguing that a society should do in order to cure itself of criminal elements? 

4. One of the girls in Mr. Dubois’ class said, “I don’t see anything wrong with our system; it’s a lot better than not being able to walk outdoors for fear of your life – why, that’s horrible!” Regardless of whether or not their system is truly better than that of former times (possibly it is), what might be a weakness in the kind of argumentation presented by this young lady?

5. What difference it Mr. Dubois trying to draw out between the concept of “moral instinct” and “cultivated conscience?”

6. What did Mr. Dubois mean by misquoting John 15:13 from “greater love hath no man than this, that he lays down his life for his friends” and turning it into “greater love hath no man than a mother cat dying to defend her kittens?” What was he getting at?

7. Of the “pursuit of happiness” Mr. Dubois said, “it is indeed unalienable but it is not a right.” What did he mean by this?

8. When speaking of the XXth century, Mr. Dubois said “their citizens…glorified their mythology of ‘rights’... and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure.” What difference is he saying there is between the concept of rights versus duties and why would a focus on the former, rather than the latter, cause a nation to fail (in his view)?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Johnnie said, when speaking of the horrible case of Dillinger, “it was not the shock that Ted Hendrick’s flogging was – I mean, you couldn’t put yourself in Dillinger’s place; you didn’t have any feeling of: ‘It could have been me.’” Define the concept of “sympathy.” Why was Johnnie not able to have any sympathy for Dillinger? Do you think we ought or ought not to show any sympathy towards someone like Dillinger? Why or why not?

2. Johnnie lamented “it seemed a shame that he hadn’t suffered much as had little Barbara Anne – he practically hadn’t suffered at all.” In cases like Dillinger’s, which warrant the death penalty, do you think it is more just to end their life as quickly and painlessly as possible or should they be made to feel the suffering their victim felt? Explain and defend your answer.

3. Evaluate Mr. Dubois’ claims that “Man has no moral instinct” and that “moral sense” is merely “an elaboration of the instinct to survive.” Consider the context and all he said in regard to these claims. Do you think he is correct or incorrect? Why?

4. Mr. Dubois claimed that supposed “unalienable rights” such as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are not real. Evaluate his claim in its context. Do you think he is correct or incorrect in saying that there is no such thing as “natural human rights?” Explain why you think as you do.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Romans 1:18-2:16. How does this passage of Scripture impact the discussion from the third Rhetoric question?

2. Read Genesis 1:26-31, Psalm 139, and Matthew 10:28-31. How do these passages of Scripture impact the discussion from the fourth Rhetoric question?