A quick background on the story

Humanity has been attacked by an alien race which we refer to as the buggers or the Formics

The losses were devestating

However we're able to fight off the first wave of the aliens

The world is now run by one central hegemony. In order to prepare, the government takes the best and brightest students into space at a place which they call the battle school to train the commanders of the next fleet.

The battle school is where children are taught through a series of war games how to strategize and the best and brightest are promoted.

The Main Characters

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin

Buggers/Formics

Hyrum Graff

Mazer Rackham

The Central Conflict

The Battle School chldren are manipulated, into commanding the humans fleet to fight the buggers and kill them off

“Ender, for the past few months you have been the battle commander of our fleets. This was the Third Invasion. There were no games, the battles were real, and the only enemy you fought was the buggers. You won every battle, and today you finally fought them at their home world, where the queen was, all the queens from all their colonies, they all were there and you destroyed them completely. They’ll never attack us again. You did it. You.” - Mazer Rackham

Some Quotes

"Why not? To them, losing a few crew members would be like clipping your nails. Nothing to get upset about. They probably thought they were routinely shutting down our communications by turning off the workers running the tug." - Mazer Rackham

"I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves." - Orson Scott Card

“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them.... I destroy them.” - Ender Wiggin

“So the whole war is because we can't talk to each other.” - Ender Wiggin

"Nature can’t evolve a species that hasn’t a will to survive. Individuals might be bred to sacrifice themselves, but the race as a whole can never decide to cease to exist. So if we can, we’ll kill every last one of the buggers, and if they can they’ll kill every last one of us." - Graff

“Since when...do you have to tell the enemy when be has won? I surprised you once, Ender Wiggin. Why didn’t you destroy me immediately afterward? Just because I looked peaceful? You turned your back on me. Stupid." - Mazer Rackham

Questions this raises

Is it morally justifiable for humanity to kill off another species because we don't understand them or can't communicate with them?

What kinds of buggers do we kill off today? Either through willful ignorance or purposeful destruction.

• Race
• Religion
• Ethnicity
• Gender

Do the ends justify the means? Is it okay to use child soldiers if we win the battle?