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wingedbeastThis continues my pattern of dealing with issues long past their relevancy. But, here I go.
Ender's Game has its problems. Much of its philosophy seems built around the unnecessary gendering of traits. It also suffers too much of a belief in a "the special" so much so that, just by being so smart, Ender's two elder siblings manage to become the leaders of the world through online commenting... really. And, Ender is a Mary Sue.
But, I can forgive all of that, particularly Ender getting such easy combat/advancement victories, because the story isn't about Ender learning to become a General and defeating the aliens any more than 1984 is about what happens to one man in a future dystopia.
Ender's Game is about the ways adults manipulate, use, and even abuse children for their own benefit. The first lines are about Ender recognizing that adults lie to children to make things easier on themselves and this quickly moves into adults leaving Ender to his own devices after most authority figures having identified him as an acceptable target, for having been a "third".
Throughout the book, Ender and his entire peergroup are manipulated by the authority figures in his life, the vary people who young children have no choice but to trust with their lives, their education, and their mental health. This manipulation makes him the target of bullying, deliberately fails to protect him from same, and forces him to do things that are neither to his desire nor to his benefit. This is why I forgive him for being a Mary Sue in strategy and tactics, because there's nothing he can do to stop being the victim of all those manipulations.
And, that's what gets me. Orson Scott Card has shown, in Ender's Game, that he has exactly the understanding that he needs. He knows what it's like to be the victim of bullying, the victim of manipulations of a trusted power structure, the one who is the officially identified acceptable target. And, when it comes to gay rights... he just doesn't apply that understanding.
Ender Wiggins's virtues, throughout the book, are his lateral thinking and his empathy. He understands why teachers lie to him or let things happen. He even understands why bullies target him. Sometimes he uses that understanding against them, because he has little other choice in the matter. But, if anybody would be able to comprehend the position of homosexuality in today's America or how conservative Christianity treats homosexuality, it would be Ender and *should* be Card.
But, Card doesn't apply what he so obviously already knows. The only thing that separates him and at least passive support for gay rights is that little choice.
I have to imagine that, if Ender Wiggins ever met Orson Scott Card, he'd be disappointed, but probably not surprised.
Ender's Game has its problems. Much of its philosophy seems built around the unnecessary gendering of traits. It also suffers too much of a belief in a "the special" so much so that, just by being so smart, Ender's two elder siblings manage to become the leaders of the world through online commenting... really. And, Ender is a Mary Sue.
But, I can forgive all of that, particularly Ender getting such easy combat/advancement victories, because the story isn't about Ender learning to become a General and defeating the aliens any more than 1984 is about what happens to one man in a future dystopia.
Ender's Game is about the ways adults manipulate, use, and even abuse children for their own benefit. The first lines are about Ender recognizing that adults lie to children to make things easier on themselves and this quickly moves into adults leaving Ender to his own devices after most authority figures having identified him as an acceptable target, for having been a "third".
Throughout the book, Ender and his entire peergroup are manipulated by the authority figures in his life, the vary people who young children have no choice but to trust with their lives, their education, and their mental health. This manipulation makes him the target of bullying, deliberately fails to protect him from same, and forces him to do things that are neither to his desire nor to his benefit. This is why I forgive him for being a Mary Sue in strategy and tactics, because there's nothing he can do to stop being the victim of all those manipulations.
And, that's what gets me. Orson Scott Card has shown, in Ender's Game, that he has exactly the understanding that he needs. He knows what it's like to be the victim of bullying, the victim of manipulations of a trusted power structure, the one who is the officially identified acceptable target. And, when it comes to gay rights... he just doesn't apply that understanding.
Ender Wiggins's virtues, throughout the book, are his lateral thinking and his empathy. He understands why teachers lie to him or let things happen. He even understands why bullies target him. Sometimes he uses that understanding against them, because he has little other choice in the matter. But, if anybody would be able to comprehend the position of homosexuality in today's America or how conservative Christianity treats homosexuality, it would be Ender and *should* be Card.
But, Card doesn't apply what he so obviously already knows. The only thing that separates him and at least passive support for gay rights is that little choice.
I have to imagine that, if Ender Wiggins ever met Orson Scott Card, he'd be disappointed, but probably not surprised.
