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Hm. I've only read the book, but I'll take a shot beetnemesis Send a noteboard - 04/11/2013 04:06:35 PM

So your main complaints seem to be that Ender is a Mary Sue (doesn't really have any bad qualities), and that Ender as a protagonist is specifically set up so that he is blameless for anything he does.


To the first point... well, it's hard to argue against that one. In the first book, Ender is, more or less, untouchable. He's the best at everything, respected by adults, beloved by all except for jerky kids who just get their asses kicked in a shower (sidenote: did they include the shower fight in the movie?)

I suppose I'd argue that, despite all that, there's still a progression of Ender's awesomeness (again, I've only read the book). At the beginning, he's a very smart kid. He gradually masters being a Launchy- and then that's rendered irrelevant by being made a soldier. He's a terrible soldier at first, and gradually masters that. Then he has to gradually master being a platoon leader. Then he has to gradually master being a commander. Then he's super depressed and lives by a lake for a while. Then he has to master being controlling an army.

So yeah, he's not automatically awesome at anything- in fact, he tends to fail at first at most things he does.

But I agree that Ender has some Sue-ish qualities, yes.

As for being blameless... well, it's a core question of the book. Hell, it's a core concept of the book. The entire reason the military is recruiting prepubescent supergeniuses is so they could have a general who wouldn't have to grapple with all the pesky questions of morality that come along with responsibility.

You can be annoyed by that, but it's not a cop-out. The entire book has the theme of "If you don't mean to do something, is it your fault?" Hell, the BUGGERS have the same problem! I don't know if it's covered in the movie, but when the Buggers attacked humanity those two times, they had no idea that each human was a living, breathing, entity.

They just assumed we were like them (i.e. queens controlling a hive mind), and that killing a few million humans was no worse than cutting some blades of grass.

When they figured out what they had done, they were horrified, and fearful, and sorry. But they still almost exterminated humanity. Was it their fault?

And of course there's the question- addressed repeatedly in the book, and there's even a war tribunal in the epilogue- of whether the adults of the school were ultimately responsible for Ender's actions.



So, yeah. I can see the whole "Is Ender blameless?" thing bugging you, but it's definitely not a cop out- it's one of the central themes of the book.

(Also, I haven't read the sequel books, but as I understand it this question is pounded on repeatedly throughout the series)

I amuse myself.
This message last edited by beetnemesis on 04/11/2013 at 04:11:11 PM
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So how is Ender’s Game a good story? (Book / Movie Spoilers) - 04/11/2013 03:38:59 PM 1169 Views
Well, I think your point #3 is pretty off - 04/11/2013 03:51:01 PM 757 Views
I disagree - 04/11/2013 04:08:44 PM 679 Views
What you just said is utterly preposterous - 04/11/2013 07:06:50 PM 778 Views
Oh wow, yeah, he hasn't even read the book - 04/11/2013 08:54:18 PM 691 Views
Some of my friends read the books - 05/11/2013 03:45:43 AM 633 Views
Not really? It's about the same, but with more non-violent bits. - 05/11/2013 03:26:46 PM 727 Views
I don't think it was baseless - 05/11/2013 03:58:02 AM 730 Views
What a load of tosh - 04/11/2013 04:05:06 PM 796 Views
Hm. I've only read the book, but I'll take a shot - 04/11/2013 04:06:35 PM 780 Views
Re: Hm. I've only read the book, but I'll take a shot - 04/11/2013 08:16:55 PM 665 Views
Card purposefully wrote Ender to be blameless, he didn't have intent to commit violence yet he still - 05/11/2013 04:18:27 AM 719 Views
You're still missing the point. - 05/11/2013 07:54:31 PM 740 Views
Yeah like I said- the book makes things a lot better *NM* - 05/11/2013 09:41:05 PM 332 Views
I read the book, didn't see the movie - 04/11/2013 07:02:03 PM 712 Views
The funny thing is, Ender's Game ISN'T a YA novel - 04/11/2013 08:20:46 PM 746 Views
The best YA novels are ones that have deeper levels - 04/11/2013 08:56:38 PM 736 Views
I was shocked when I found out it was shelved in YA. *NM* - 29/11/2013 06:34:01 PM 386 Views
It is a good story - 08/11/2013 01:12:04 PM 805 Views
Reads like you have more of a problme with OSC that the story - 09/11/2013 08:40:57 AM 684 Views

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