Enders age

[Josh sci fi class 09]

Ender's Game was a fast fun read. I was intrigued by the age of the characters. Training started so young and the rules seemed extremely strict and to lay the end of the world at his feet would have pushed most little kids over the brink. I couldn't imagine treating a six year old the way Ender was treated. It is true that his harsh treatment made him self reliant, but the poor kid probably needed years of therapy to get over it all. He had very few friends, but the ones he had were true to him. His family was something right out of a horror movie. His parents may have cared for him but didn't seem to be too upset that he was chosen to leave. His brother, Peter, reminded me of someone who would end up being a serial killer. He had some of the same characteristics, constant bullying, torturing of small animals, and low self esteem. The only semi normal one was his sister, Valentine. At least she tried to help him and see him when he had left.

[Pseudonym]

If you have only read Ender's Game, and not the parallels or sequels, I strongly suggest that you do. The stories of many of the Battle School kids gets expanded on to a degree that leaves you almost baffled by their amazing and believable growth as human beings. As for Peter's serial killer like qualities, he does grow out of them, and actually becomes a very interesting character. Theresa and John Paul (Ender's parents) also show that yes they did let Ender go out into space, they surely understood what they were doing, and that they missed him deeply for the rest of their lives. Valentine however, is forever a beacon of light in Ender's life, not a parental figure, but a friend, a sister.

[wigginboy]

Ender's age and the age range of the battle school students in general is a very intriguing issue for many readers. It can be quite disturbing to read of children being sent to train for war especially in light of child soldier training in Middle Eastern countries. For others, especially the children and youth that read this series, the young age of the students and the extraordinary things they do can be an inspiration. I have often thought about the global situations happening daily and wonder whether it is within our grasp as a society to do such a thing on a large scale as described in the books. If confronted with another world war, would we resort to recruiting children to train as soldiers, or would we leave such business to adults? It almost makes sense in a prolonged conflict to train a youth auxiliary to supplement exhausted forces, but how young would be too young? While I cannot see a world government training six year olds, I could see a recruitment program starting at adolescence. Similar programs are already in place in many countries, with reserve forces recruiting at age sixteen or younger. As well, some countries train youth for leadership and some basic military skills as young as twelve. In Canada, we have the Cadet Program, which recruits beginning at age twelve with the opportunity to continue till age nineteen.This program includes all three main elements of the military - air, land and sea, and provides youth with the opportunity to participate in drill, leadership and survival training as applicable to their element as well as other training. This is funded by the Canadian Forces and while cadets are not actively recruited by the military, many former cadets do end up enlisting or becoming commissioned. This program has been around for over a hundred years and its original aim was to provide an auxiliary to the reserve and regular forces. The idea of training youth for war is definitely within our grasp and OSC has done a brilliant job of taking that idea to the next level by applying it to a global conflict.