The excerpt from Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers relates to my theme of war in that its main idea is describing the purpose of war. While the first part of the excerpt is laying ground for the topic the last paragraph is all about the philosophy of war. War is so terrible and so hard for those that have been in it to describe that men turn to philosophy. Men must justify there horrible actions or fall into a state of insanity. Most of this excerpt is about why soldiers must risk their necks’ when, as the 11th paragraphs states, “One professor type can do so much more just by pushing a button.” However, this is actually just laying the groundwork for the last paragraph which is where the philosophy of war is being discussed. The last paragraph is where the true meaning is. This is the culmination of all the previous talk. Here is where Heinlein’s own personal philosophy of war is argued. In this paragraph Heinlein says, “The purpose of war is not violence, pure and simple; war is controlled violence, for a purpose.” He also talks about how, “It’s never a soldier’s business to decide when or where or how-or why-he fights.” This all sums up to the overall meaning of the excerpt which is referred to later in the book with quotes like this; “It’s not you who should decide why or how you fight, you fight because you’re MI and that’s what you’re here to do. I must say that I agree wholeheartedly with this excerpt because I completely respect the author. I would probably never contradict any of his views on war due to the fact that I have never experienced it. I am sure that I have had so little time to contemplate the topic that my views could be very easily shifted away from truth, whatever that is, every time I read something new. I should not have the right to contradict someone such as Heinlein with the little experience I have.