“Ender’s Game” is a 1985 science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card, following the young prodigy Ender Wiggins. The story takes place in a futuristic Earth and outer space, where mankind, following two alien invasions, trains gifted children as military commanders. The story takes place at Battle School – a zero-gravity training station where students are taught how to be leaders.
To be honest, when I first started the book, it seemed like the perfect fit for a middle school boy. The beginning chapters seemed engineered towards that audience – a young kid, outer space, combat. At first glance, it felt like a classic adventure story; it didn’t seem like anything deeper than that.
But as I dove deeper into the book, the tone shifted. As the storyline developed, I started to recognize the various hidden themes in the book. Empathy, manipulation, isolation, identity. The simplicity wasn’t actually simple – it was a facade. Beneath the surface-level tension, there were layers of psychological strain and injustice.
This led me to question the morality of the book. The entire story starts when Ender goes to Battle School, where he learns to fight and be a leader to defend himself and his team. But Ender was 6 years old. The book gives very clear and vivid descriptions of what Ender had to endure during his time at Battle School. He was pushed to his physical, mental and emotional limits. On top of that, he was isolated from the person he loved most in the world – his sister Valentine.
Is it morally okay to write a book based on the trauma of a young kid? To write about how 9-year-old Ender knew that someone wanted him dead? To write about how the adults in Ender’s life put him in danger for the “greater good?”
“Ender’s Game” was one of the most interesting, yet in my opinion, immoral book I have ever read. On the surface, you see the story of Ender Wiggins, learning to be a commander. But as you dive deeper, you can see the twisted story of a young kid who learned how to fight before he learned how to be a person.
