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Ender's Game: Questions for Discussion
Compiled by Tor Books
- Is childhood a right? Does a person robbed of a "normal" childhood have any
possibility of stability as an adult? Does Ender have any chance of living "happily
ever after"?
- The Buggers communicate telepathically using no identifiable external means of
communication. Was it inevitable that war would have to occur when two sentient
species met but were unable to communicate?
- Card has stated that "children are a perpetual, self-renewing underclass, helpless to
escape from the decisions of adults until they become adults themselves." Does
Ender's Game prove or disprove this opinion?
- The government in Ender's world plays a huge role in reproductive decisions,
imposing financial penalties and social stigma on families who have more than two
children but exerting pressure on specific families who show great generic potential to
have a "third" like Ender. Is government ever justified in involving itself in family
planning decisions? Why or why not?
- Is genocide, or in the case of Ender's Game where an entire alien race is annihilated,
xenocide, ever justified? Was the xenocide of the buggers inevitable?
- Ender's Game has often been cited as a good book to read by readers who are not fans
of science fiction. Why does it appeal to both fans of science fiction and those who do
not usually read science fiction?
- Peter appears to be the personification of evil, but as Locke, acts as a good person.
How does Card treat the concept of good versus evil in Ender's Game?
- In their thoughts, speech, and actions Card describes children in terms not usually
attributed to children. In the introduction to Ender's Game he states that he never felt
like a child. "I felt like a person all along -- the same person that I am today. I never
felt that my emotions and desires were somehow less real than an adult's emotions
and desires." Do contemporary teens feel this same way? Do only gifted children feel
this way or is it a universal feeling?
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