On 2/6/2018 11:28 PM, Catherine Berry wrote:
> I actually first read it a few years ago. It's quite a remarkable
> novel, simply from a cultural-anthropology point of view. It
> crystallizes what "progressive white man" thinking looked like circa
> 1955, which does us a great historical service. And it's also a
> riveting story, because it's Heinlein. But there's an "Oh my god, he
> didn't really go *there*, did he?" moment about every three pages
> through the entire novel.

LOL!  Yep...he did.  Over and over.

I think that the post-war culture depicted in the book could serve as a
foundation for a world that threw off control by an offworld entity as
the Long Night started.  Over the years, the culture developed and
certain, um...traditions... became normalized, every day things that
were simply accepted by the population.

Racial groups/races not matching the dominant race tarted for
cannibalism?  Check.
Males of racial groups/races not matching the dominant race targeted for
castration and thumb amputation?  Check.
Females (and some males) of racial groups/races not matching the
dominant race retained as sex slaves?  Check.

In Traveller, it could be that the originally oppressed race was a human
minor race or perhaps a non-human race that followed the human
physiological layout (two arms, two legs, head, etc.), which would add,
I think, a horror element that would surpass the disgust element.

--
Kurt Feltenberger
xxxxxx@thepaw.org/xxxxxx@yahoo.com
“Before today, I was scared to live, after today, I'm scared I'm not living enough." - Me