The big theme that really resonated with me is the idea of failure to communicate. In science fiction the interaction with “the other” is obviously taken to a new level, with the interaction with a completely different alien species. But like all good science fiction, usually one can tie that to the contemporary world. Cultural interaction is about interaction with an “other” they may look like “buggers” but some cultures can seem alien to us too. The twist at the end was alluded to (Ender asks, well what if it’s just a mistake, and the reply he gets is survive first ask questions later), and I am glad the author did it that way; because it shows that the “other” is not monstrous, just misunderstood. The phrase that comes to mind is “to err is human” in the end we find that the aliens are not some malicious monsters bent on galactic domination, but just a society so different from ours that they realized their mistake too late. This theme of understanding and communication can also be seen in other fiction works, in Ursula Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness (I did a wiki on this in case you want to know more about it). There is also an interaction between two alien races, and even though they have the physical means to communicate (something the buggers did not), the two main characters still miscommunicate at first, in large due to bias and not bothering to truly understand. That’s another issue with communication, often one regards his culture (or race) as superior or they believe their way is the right way. Something new or different or unknown is feared, it’s too dangerous to just embrace something like that and people tend to become very cautious and build walls to protect themselves, or fear (which can lead to anger or hatred) consumes them. True communication and understanding is a delicate balance. One can’t simply disregard their own background and nature and embrace the other, but one can’t also completely reject the other. I look forward to seeing what other authors do with the theme of “the other.”
Another issue in the book that I found interesting was the tactics used with the kids, the sheer manipulation for the ultimate goal. And I agree with Jen’s point, one kind of needs to accept the fact that at some parts of the book the characters are about 6 years old, just get used to the fact that they are super children and move on with the story. But how the kids acted is not too farfetched, because games are still what is used to teach them. That’s why they had to keep it as games: if it didn’t have that title it would be completely different. It’s not like the children believe at the time of the games they have an impact on the world, they believe they are just being trained for things later in the future, and in the first school it was indeed just training games. In a way lots of children’s games even in real life are meant to “train” the child for life. It’s just that in the book the children were trained for a different type of life and more intensely. But the human mind is designed to try and solve problems, and games train the mind to think that way. Every game has a goal and the player needs to figure out how to reach it. In the case of Ender and the kids, their goal was to win against the other team. By putting things into such simple terms for them they made it easy for the kids. In the case of games; when their team won, the other team was still ok in the end, not dead. It would be different and would have had a whole different weight if they were taught using battles to the death. That would have produced completely different people. I also found the fact that the adults kept the truth from Ender the only way it would have worked with him. By making him think he is still playing games, the rules of a game still applied, real life holds more consequence, and they let him make real life decisions without having to worry about those consequences (since he didn’t know they existed). In the end his actions still lie heavy on his shoulders, but the situation in which the decisions were made matters.
All in all I found that this book really made me think about a lot of things, and it indeed raises a lot of issues and interesting ideas.
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3 comments:
I think your comments about the games have a lot of merit and they certainly do help kids learn. However, the ethical implications of treating everything like a game are equally interesting and having Ender think the simulations were just games instead of real events has even more implications ethics-wise. The book would make an interesting case study.
To add on to your comments vis-a-vis the concept of the buggers as 'others', we only see the aliens referred to as 'buggers', we are never introduced to whatever scientific or more proper name the creatures have. All we have (and all that is used) is a vilifying nick-name. This therefore seems the most other you can get, a creature that has no identity besides its otherness.
In response to what Rinske said, I would like to say that I entirely agree. And in our world more than once the same tactics were used. During the class discussion about Manifest Destiny our group looked up and found a series of examples of negative propaganda used against the "other" or the enemy during wars especially WW II. For example depicting the enemy as ferocious gorillas or later referring to the communists as pigs.
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