The Dangers Posed by Reader Bias: A Reader Response Criticism of The Science Fiction Novel Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
Few modern authors have had as profound effect on their genre, society, political debate, or literature in general as Robert Heinlein. Science fiction author Ken Macleod suggests that the world was having a dialogue with Heinlein, unfortunately, one of the unintended consequences of dialogue is misunderstanding, some of which is caused by reader bias (Macleod, James, & Mendlesohn 231). Bias is dangerous to a reader and should therefore be avoided for at least three reasons; first, it causes a work or author to be regarded in many contradicting ways; second, it creates an atmosphere in which faulty arguments are made, …show more content…
Regrettably, this polarizing effect led to a result in which reading the critics of his collected or individual works makes it seem like a comedy sketch about a tall, thin, short, fat man. When Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers in 1959 he was criticized as being a Fascist. Yet several years later one of the books he wrote was widely adopted by the “flower children”, and another book written in 1967 earned him praise for his libertarian ideology and was used extensively by libertarians to explain their philosophy (Dickerson 127). Additionally, Heinlein, and especially Starship Troopers was accused of being sexist while simultaneously being applauded for its efforts at gender equality. In fact, the crux of the argument for both sides was largely the same identical portion of the plot that was viewed differently by both sides (Parker-Speer 117). It’s also interesting to note that this book, and Heinlein himself was criticized as being racist while at the same time being openly applauded for his treatment in earlier works on race issues. Clearly, it is impossible for a book to both advocate for and against each of the things Heinlein’s supporters and detractors claimed to be true of it and of …show more content…
In addition to claiming Heinlein and his book Starship Troopers advocated fascism, Suvin claimed it was racist as well, with the “bugs” representing the Chinese and that both the terms “bugs” and “skinnies” were simply derogatory and somehow racist as well (Suvin 124). However, several things tend to call that claim into question. First, Heinlein wrote the book during heightened tensions with the Russians over nuclear tests, not the Chinese. Second, the descriptions of the “bugs” were as arachnids, which later are shown to be able to effectively eat through rock, and the “skinnies” weighed the same as a human; however, they were approximately nine feet tall (Heinlein 16). Thus, the terms were descriptive not derogatory, additionally, they were not directed towards a specific ethnic group, but were direct towards generic aliens, and “racist” is a term denoting human racial/ethnical issues, not extraterrestrial. Finally, Erisman points out in his article on Heinlein, that he made tremendous efforts to help racial relations through a series of lectures as well as his books (Erisman 223). Therefore, it seems that Heinlein advocated greater racial relations rather than straining them, additionally, without an antagonist there isn’t much of a story. Thus, it was more natural if one wishes to expound upon greater relations, better civic duty, and sense of communal responsibility that the
Few modern authors have had as profound effect on their genre, society, political debate, or literature in general as Robert Heinlein. Science fiction author Ken Macleod suggests that the world was having a dialogue with Heinlein, unfortunately, one of the unintended consequences of dialogue is misunderstanding, some of which is caused by reader bias (Macleod, James, & Mendlesohn 231). Bias is dangerous to a reader and should therefore be avoided for at least three reasons; first, it causes a work or author to be regarded in many contradicting ways; second, it creates an atmosphere in which faulty arguments are made, …show more content…
Regrettably, this polarizing effect led to a result in which reading the critics of his collected or individual works makes it seem like a comedy sketch about a tall, thin, short, fat man. When Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers in 1959 he was criticized as being a Fascist. Yet several years later one of the books he wrote was widely adopted by the “flower children”, and another book written in 1967 earned him praise for his libertarian ideology and was used extensively by libertarians to explain their philosophy (Dickerson 127). Additionally, Heinlein, and especially Starship Troopers was accused of being sexist while simultaneously being applauded for its efforts at gender equality. In fact, the crux of the argument for both sides was largely the same identical portion of the plot that was viewed differently by both sides (Parker-Speer 117). It’s also interesting to note that this book, and Heinlein himself was criticized as being racist while at the same time being openly applauded for his treatment in earlier works on race issues. Clearly, it is impossible for a book to both advocate for and against each of the things Heinlein’s supporters and detractors claimed to be true of it and of …show more content…
In addition to claiming Heinlein and his book Starship Troopers advocated fascism, Suvin claimed it was racist as well, with the “bugs” representing the Chinese and that both the terms “bugs” and “skinnies” were simply derogatory and somehow racist as well (Suvin 124). However, several things tend to call that claim into question. First, Heinlein wrote the book during heightened tensions with the Russians over nuclear tests, not the Chinese. Second, the descriptions of the “bugs” were as arachnids, which later are shown to be able to effectively eat through rock, and the “skinnies” weighed the same as a human; however, they were approximately nine feet tall (Heinlein 16). Thus, the terms were descriptive not derogatory, additionally, they were not directed towards a specific ethnic group, but were direct towards generic aliens, and “racist” is a term denoting human racial/ethnical issues, not extraterrestrial. Finally, Erisman points out in his article on Heinlein, that he made tremendous efforts to help racial relations through a series of lectures as well as his books (Erisman 223). Therefore, it seems that Heinlein advocated greater racial relations rather than straining them, additionally, without an antagonist there isn’t much of a story. Thus, it was more natural if one wishes to expound upon greater relations, better civic duty, and sense of communal responsibility that the