Ender's Game Loss Of Innocence Theme

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is a book about children, but the kids in the book don’t act anywhere near their age. I was introduced to this book in eighth grade and immediately loved it. It is a 1985 military science fiction set far in the future. The book is about the preparation for a third invasion of the “buggers”, a insect-like alien. The need for fighters is greater now than ever and children are chosen to be the ones going into battle. Children are carefully selected and the chosen ones are sent off to battle school. In doing so many things are taken from the special few, such as loss of innocence and the ability to be a carefree child in general. Ender’s Game explores themes of loss of innocence just as To Kill a Mockingbird did.

After much internal debate Ender decides to go to battle school and leave home. He knows he won’t see his family until he is at least 12 but most likely he will have to wait until he is 16. When Ender is inside the ship on the way to battle school, the adults start their manipulation game. Graff calls out Ender as the only one who will save mankind, making the other kids hate Ender and become envious. Ender already lost the chance at having a normal childhood when he was born a third, but he was also considered to be the chosen one to save mankind from the very beginning. The manipulation of Ender is shown through the book and the children at the school either take part in his abuse or ignore the adults who cause it. Through this abusive training tactic Ender becomes the skilled fighter and leader the government wants. Ender gets moved through the program fast. He gets to the command school at age 9, a school no one can go to until they are sixteen. The adults tell him he will be doing simulations to practice the attacks on the buggers, but after the last simulation he finds out he killed the entire bugger species. The novel shows Ender to be morally innocent throughout his story, but he takes on the guilt of xenocide of the buggers. He is shocked at what he did, even when he didn’t know what he’s doing. Ender loses his innocence at this moment. He knew he was being manipulated by the adults throughout his career at the battle schools, but he had no idea he was being manipulated into exterminating a whole race. When he realizes what he did he goes into another depression slump and does not come out of his room for days. He doesn’t understand why he was manipulated into what he