As individuals age, they gain knowledge but also lose certain things. In Orson Scott’s novel “Enders Game,” children represent hope. As people grow older, they exchange innocence for intelligence and naivety for caution. Adults view the sense of wonder in a child’s eyes skeptically and fail to recognize their capacity for love, ability to appreciate life, and freedom to make choices without overthinking the consequences. Society sees this transformation as necessary, but what exactly are we sacrificing in the process?
Children have a natural love, while adults often have baseless hatred. Ender is different; he can feel both love and understanding for his enemies. This allows him to defeat them physically and mentally, but it also causes him pain and empathy. Although Ender never wants to harm others, he sometimes has no choice. By the end of the story, he realizes that the damage done to the buggers cannot be undone. With Valentine’s assistance, Ender sets out on a journey to make amends for his actions. He believes that comprehending someone fully necessitates loving them as they love themselves – a gift not possessed by most individuals.
Children have a natural instinct to love others, even when it seems illogical. Ender argues that he cannot comprehend someone and not feel love towards them, even if they are his enemy. While adults may find loving one’s enemy peculiar or cynical, young Ender sees it as irrational not to love. As we grow older, we tend to stop seeking the best in people and instead focus on their flaws, often leading to hatred. Conversely, children see the best in people and can still love them despite their flaws.
Appreciation for life diminishes as we age. Adults find themselves in situations where killing seems like a reasonable solution to their problems. During a short vacation on earth, Ender had a conversation with Cornel Graff about the buggers. Ender argued that the bugger wars were misunderstandings due to the inability for buggers and humans to communicate. The buggers hadn’t attacked humans for over 50 years and might have believed the war was over.
Attacking the bugger planet would only result in another war. Ender couldn’t understand why taking such a risk was necessary. Couldn’t they trust that the buggers had simply made a mistake and couldn’t communicate? Cornel Graff dismissed Ender’s viewpoint as ridiculous and reminded him that killing is the first thing they learned: “If we hadn’t done it, we would be dead and the tigers would rule the world,” (241).According to Cornel Graff, it was crucial for the safety of humanity to eliminate the buggers. He believed that there could only be one dominant race, which he identified as humans.
Despite the buggers’ past terrible crimes, Ender valued their lives unlike many adults who lose their appreciation for life as they grow older. As children, we are captivated by bugs and butterflies and enjoy playing with them, but as we mature, we develop fear towards them and may even kill them. Although adults may perceive this as inconsequential, children view it as the needless death of an innocent creature. Children make decisions without fully considering the outcomes and possess a remarkable ability to trust others. Conversely, adults struggle with trusting others. The loss of trust is one of the significant characteristics that children relinquish upon adulthood. Unlike children who rely on others for assistance, adults tend to distance themselves from others and prefer handling everything independently. Throughout most of the book, adults deliberately isolate Ender despite being aware of his brilliance and potential as a future commander; however, they could not bring themselves to entrust their fate to a child. “This is also best for Ender’s benefit. We’re enabling him to reach his full potential” (174).
Thus, the adults intervened and exerted all their power to manipulate Ender and his emotions in order to improve his skills as a soldier. Many of the children in the Enders Game had already realized that this manipulation was ruining their lives. Despite still being children physically, emotionally they were soldiers. “But shouldn’t they still act like children? They aren’t normal” (66) The adults began to acknowledge towards the end of the book that they were breaking the kids, although they truly believed they were acting in their best interest. The author effectively portrays the impact on Ender when he falls through the slide in the dream world game. This incident symbolizes the childhood that Ender never experienced and was no longer permitted to have. The adults justified their actions by believing it was for Ender’s own good; nevertheless, Ender suffered several breakdowns as a result.
Conversely, the children on Ender’s team exhibited unwavering trust in him and offered their support. A phrase used by Bean, “The enemy gate is down” (293), served to motivate Ender and emphasize that he did not need to adhere strictly to the rules, but instead, redefine them. This reminder propelled Ender towards a bold move that ultimately secured victory for humanity in the war. While adults perceived Ender potentially losing the war as a problem requiring a solution, his team placed firm faith in his ability to make sound decisions independently. In Enders Game, children hold not only the role of being symbols of hope but also serve as saviors for Earth. The reason behind their accomplishments lies in their innocence. As individuals grow older, their personalities undergo significant changes, including the loss of innocence and acquisition of knowledge. This transformation is inevitable, known as “growing up,” often regarded positively by many. However, is it worth sacrificing the capacity to love, appreciate life, make choices free from constant consideration of consequences, and most importantly, trust others?
