[2] blog #1

Q. What is the major theme of this novel? Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?

I think there are more than one themes in the novel, Ender's Game. In fact, I think there are several. First of all, I think one of the themes is that the world consistently tries to balance itself. As in the Wiggins, hey all have intelligent brains, but Peter is too belligerous and Valentine is too caring. As a third, he is balanced of sometimes being belligerous, but also being amicable. Graff sees Ender as a "balanced" Wiggin. Also, as Ender improves and gets higher in status, Peter and Bonzo declines. Second of all, I think another theme could be "being ignorant is better." Some evidences are when Ender was ignorant of the "game," which was actually the war, he was okay, but then he turned angry when he finds out that it wasn't a game. Also, when Graff tries to do everything "necessary" to make Ender a better commander and a perfect savior of humanity, it was better for Ender to be ignorant of the fact that Graff was trying to help. Lastly, Ender's miserable life ultimately began because of his intelligence--knowing or having the potential of knowing too many things. Only if he had not had the smart brain, he would just have had an ordinary life, like he wants. Last of all, there is the most evident theme, manipulation. As most of the chapters begin with the "high" people like Graff talking about how they should control or what they should do about Ender, it is obvious of their manipulation. The beginning conversations are like foreshadows for the readers. Besides these, there are also racism and sinful nature of humans. This complex book with numerous themes intrigued me and gave me joy reading it.