History Literature / ThePuppetMasters

* HappinessInSlavery: The aliens claim that they will give their hosts a kind of mental peace when they are controlled by the aliens, making them happier than humans in a state of freedom. This is actually to a fair description of the protagonist Sam's state of mind during the time he is controlled. However, once Sam is freed he not only refuses to consider infestation would be good for him or anyone else, but his hated of the slugs reaches ''genocidal'' proportions; he participates in Schedule Mercy(parachuting into occupied territory to cure the hosts of "nine-day fever" once their slugs are dead) simply to have the pleasure of watching the slugs ''die, '''die, DIE.''' '' [[spoiler:This gets him caught and nearly possessed again]].

* DirtyCommunists: A Heinlein favorite and in this case, an IncrediblyLamePun. The slugs themselves are literally filthy, as they never make their hosts bathe. The slugs invaded Russia just ''three months'' before the US, and less than a week before the US figures out a biological countermeasure to their own invasion, Asia is depopulated by a revival of the '''Black Death.''' And the entire novel takes place during the shirtsleeve months of a ''single year.''

* ThePlague: How the aliens are ultimately defeated; a otherwise fatal Venusian disease known as "Nine-day fever"(as in it takes seven to ten days to kill a human stone dead) only takes ''five'' days to kill a slug. Thus, the invasion is repulsed by releasing possessed animals into Zone Red, waiting for the slugs to die, then parachuting millions of men into the area to administer the cure.

* NotDistractedByTheSexy: The slugs, as for most of the invasion they have no understanding of sex. Mary, as a top-shelf FemmeFatale, is as aware of sexual arousal in men as most are to light, and thus uses this to detect men who've been possessed by the Alien Invaders. Those are assumed to be "hag-ridden", though as the President points out at one stage, it could also mean they're "[[UnusualEuphemism harem guards]]", e.g. eunuchs or homosexuals. This advantage eventually disappears when the slugs discover sex -- and begin engaging in grotesque, murderous orgies.

* DystopiaIsHard: It's repeatedly stated that the slugs, despite their utopian claims, make horrible masters; they over-exert their hosts, starve them, and are ignorant of basic hygiene. When Sam is freed, he spends the first week in ultra-tech intensive care due to over-exhaustion, malnutrition(he has fucking ''scurvy'') infestation with scabies ''and'' lice, and it's implied he had to have his feet regrown because he ran out the door in too-small shoes and the slug never changed them. Also see DirtyCommunists, a Heinlein staple.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Mary uses this to detect men who've been possessed by the Alien Invaders. Those NotDistractedByTheSexy are assumed to be "hag-ridden", though as the President points out at one stage, it could also mean they're "[[UnusualEuphemism harem guards]]", e.g. eunuchs or homosexuals. As a top-shelf FemmeFatale, she's as aware of sexual arousal in men as most are to light, and for most of the invasion the slugs have no understanding of sex. They figure it out eventually, removing that advantage - and engaging in grotesque, murderous orgies.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Mary uses this to detect men who've been possessed by the Alien Invaders. Those NotDistractedByTheSexy are assumed to be "hag-ridden", though as the President points out at one stage, it could also mean they're "[[UnusualEuphemism harem guards]]", e.g. eunuchs or homosexuals.

* ExpositionIntuition: Mary. As a top-shelf FemmeFatale, she's as aware of sexual arousal in men as most are to light, and for most of the invasion the slugs have no understanding of sex. They figure it out eventually, removing that advantage - and engaging in grotesque, murderous orgies.

** Works, too. One particularly vigilant vigilante noticed a woman who never moved her hand from her purse even to make change, so he shot right through her wrist. Then opened the purse and shot the slug in it.

* StarfishAliens.

* DirtyCommunists: A Heinlein favorite and in this case, an IncrediblyLamePun. The slugs themselves are literally filthy, as they never make their hosts bathe. The slugs invaded Russia just ''three months'' before the US, and less than a week before the US figures out a biological countermeasure to their own invasion, Asia is depopulated by a revival of the '''Black Death'''.

* DirtyCommunists: A Heinlein favorite and in this case, an IncrediblyLamePun. The slugs appeared in Russia around the same time as the US, and run the Soviet Union into the ''ground'. As in all of Asia is depopulated by a revival of the '''Black Death''' due to slug mismanagement.

* {{Eagleland}}: Mixed Flavor. On one hand, the US is implied to be the most technologically and socially advanced nation on Earth. On the other, [[DemocracyIsBad elected officials]] are so stupid that they almost lose the war before it starts; a near-miss is enough for the President to join the cause, but the rest of Congress only joins in ''after'' Sam, Mary and the Old Man interrupt a session and strip everyone naked to reveal that several dozen Congressmen have slugs on their backs. One such was in the process of ''impeaching the President.''

* DystopiaIsHard: It's repeatedly stated that the slugs, despite their utopian claims, make horrible masters; they over-exert their hosts, starve them, and are ignorant of basic hygiene. When Sam is freed, he spends the first week in ultra-tech intensive care due to over-exhaustion, malnutrition(he has fucking ''scurvy'') infestation with scabies ''and'' lice, and it's implied he had to have his feet regrown because he ran out the door in too-small shoes and the slug never changed them.

* {{Eagleland}}: Flavor 1.

** Mary's birth name, Allucquere, is intruiging, but she still finds it embarrassing, as it's [[spoiler:indicative of her being raised in a benign yet ostracized cult. More specifically, it's a reminder of how she's the LastOfHerKind, as the slugs killed the rest of their colony on Venus.]]

* ExpositionIntuition: Mary. Her intuition helps her to distinguish infected humans from non-infected ones. The author never explains how is she able to do it, though it is implied that this is somehow associated with sexual arousal as something of which only humans are capable.

-->'''The Old Man''': ''Listen, son -- most women are damn fools and children. But they've got more range than we've got. The brave ones
are braver, the good ones are better and the vile ones are viler, for that matter.''

* IfYouWontIWill: Sam is asked to allow one of the title monsters to take control of him as an experiment. He refuses, and discovers that his girlfriend Mary has volunteered to do it and will be going in his place. He reverses himself and agrees to take part.

* HappinessInSlavery: The aliens claim that they will give their hosts a kind of mental peace when they are controlled by the aliens, making them happier than humans in a state of freedom. This is actually to a fair description of the protagonist Sam's state of mind during the time he is controlled. However, once Sam is freed he not only refuses to consider infestation would be good for him or anyone else, but his hated of the slugs reaches ''genocidal'' proportions; he participates in Schedule Mercy(parachuting into occupied territory to cure the hosts of "nine-day fever" once their slugs are dead) simply to have the pleasure of watching the slugs ''die, ''die, '''DIE.''' '' [[spoiler:This gets him caught and nearly possessed again]].

* HappinessInSlavery: The aliens claim that they will give their hosts a kind of mental peace when they are controlled by the aliens, making them happier than humans in a state of freedom. This seems to be a fair description of the protagonist Sam's state of mind during the time he is controlled, though Sam continues to hate the slugs and this never makes Sam tempted to think that infestation would be good for him or anyone else.

* SyntheticPlague: The only way to stop the aliens from taking over the Earth.

* BenevolentAlienInvasion: The aliens claim to be bringing inner peace to humanity.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Mary uses this to detect men who've been possessed by the Alien Invaders. Those NotDistractedByTheSexy are assumed to be "hag-ridden", though as the President points out at one stage, it could also mean they're "[[UnusualEuphemism harem guards]]"--eunuchs.