preview

The Doppelgänger Effect Ender’s Game Essay

Good Essays

The Doppelgänger Effect Ender’s Game

Orson Scott Card is a science-fiction/fantasy writer only in the sense that the setting that he uses fits the definition of the genre. His writings deal with many relevant social issues that most people have not noticed and/or refuse to acknowledge. His book, Ender’s Game, is a subtle study of many of these issues. This story of a boy genius shows, in slightly less than subtle terms, the horrible cruelty of children, and the immense amount of pressure that adults force upon children, whether intentional or not. You can also see the doppelgänger effect in Ender’s sibling relationships.

Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is the planets only hope in the war against the alien menace. He …show more content…

This was great for my scholastic life, but all of the friends that I had made at the lesser school began to shun me because of my “elevated” position. The only way to make myself noticeable (because I was too small to play sports) was to be so good in school that they had no choice but to know about me. Unfortunately this got the wrong kind of attention. Ender is just as detested because of his advantage. His peers are so incredibly cruel. They are all his age, anywhere from 6 – 12 years old. Many adults will not accept that children can be as cruel as they really are. No, to most adults, children are the innocents; those who have not been exposed to true harshness and meanness and therefore can know nothing about it. These adults, in my point of view, are more naïve than they believe the children to be. This makes the adults just as cruel as the children. Their refusal to admit that their angels are really little demons makes them just as cruel for not trying to stop it from happening.

The cruelty of the children is almost an obvious theme. What I began to notice as I read it over and over is the cruelty of the adults in the story. What’s worse is that they (the adults) justify it Ender is also pushed to the breaking point in order to get him through the system and, effectively, graduated so that he can assume his position of authority. The adults in the

Get Access