The Forever War

From the beginning, Mandella’s platoon is informed of the dangers of battle in deep space (as well as the simple act of survival there). On Charon, soldiers die doing the most mundane activities, like walking in a battle-ready armored suit. What are some ways the enlisted men and women cope with their fear of death?

Sexual relations among the recruits are not only encouraged but mandated. What reasons might the military have for encouraging this behavior when it runs counter to current military codes of conduct? What is the relationship between sex and death?

Haldeman describes the Taurans as “a little more human-looking than the teddy bears, but still no prize” (64). How does their strangeness make killing them more tolerable to humans? What does this say about how human beings instinctively react to difference?

All the science fiction tropes—collapsars, battle cruisers, tachyon grenades—aside, The Forever War is primarily a story of how war affects one man. Although Mandella and Margay end up together, how has the war negatively affected them? List specific moments in the narrative that might have been different were it not for their combat experiences. 

According to the National Library of Medicine, drug use among soldiers in Vietnam grew as the war progressed—first marijuana, and then later heroin. At one point, one fifth of enlisted troops were addicted to heroin (Stanton, M.D. “Drugs, Vietnam, and the Vietnam Veteran: an overview.” The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1976). What role do drugs play in The Forever War? How is that role different from actual soldiers’ experience? Are there any similarities?

UNEF engages in an active propaganda campaign to fire up hatred of the Taurans in space as well as nationalism at home. Although Mandella recognizes the propaganda for what it is, he still succumbs to it. What observation on human nature might Haldeman be making? What are some examples of this kind of propaganda in the real world?

The best science fiction uses futuristic and fanciful elements to comment on the human condition. Time—its relativity, its passage—is a crucial theme in The Forever War. How does Haldeman use the idea of “time dilation” to comment on human adaptability and shifting social norms?

In the final battle inside the stasis dome, the combatants are forced to fight with swords, spears, and bows and arrows. Why does Haldeman, in a future of advanced technology, force his two sides to fight face-to-face with such primitive weapons?