What is Ender's game?

Discuss all things pertaining to the EnderVerse milieu.
darth_ender
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What is Ender's game?

Postby darth_ender » Tue May 29, 2012 2:41 pm

Feeling philosophical? I am.

So the book is called Ender's Game. Obviously the story is about a game associated with Ender. But what is Ender's game? I think most of us assume it's the battle room game, as that gets the most attention, is the most interesting, and seems to really develop his character and strategic/tactical skills. But in the short story that preceded the novel, the battle room gets about as much attention as the combat simulator. However, as we know, the simulator bears far more significance in the long run, and while it is called a game at the time, it is the fact that it is not genuinely a game that really gives it its meaning. Ender's deception through the "game" has a bigger impact on his character for the remainder of his inclusion in the Enderverse. Is the combat simulator the real Ender's game? Or what about the Fantasy Game? That game does a great deal to reveal Ender's psyche to the Battle School staff, and really reveal the internal workings of his mind, including his own internal struggles with his brother and sister. In a sense, no game really gets at the heart of who Ender is or is afraid of becoming more than the Fantasy Game? Is that the real Ender's game?

What did OSC have in mind? Any thoughts?

Gravity Defier
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Re: What is Ender's game?

Postby Gravity Defier » Wed May 30, 2012 2:06 pm

I think the ambiguity of the title was done purposefully and intelligently. The book isn't about any one game and certainly not about any of the literal games, such as the battles in the Battle Room, or the Mind Game. I think it is, just as often as not, about the mental games (a.k.a. manipulation) the adults play on Ender (isolating him and making him feel like he has to get himself through everything alone) or the political games the kids play outside of the battle room. "You can't practice with so-and-so because they're not in our army," with the undertone being "because I am threatened by you". These may not all directly come from Ender but they all involve him and they are all things he has to survive.
Se paciente y duro; algún día este dolor te será útil.

darth_ender
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Re: What is Ender's game?

Postby darth_ender » Wed May 30, 2012 4:15 pm

This is actually my theory as well, though I deliberately omitted it to see if anyone else came to the same conclusion. I figured Card intended some ambiguity. But I didn't even think it through as thoroughly as you, such as the child politics and the adults manipulating Ender in a broad sense. Indeed, I feel OSC meant it to be ambiguous, and I actually find such ambiguity in a book title quite brilliant.

As you know, I enjoy Star Wars. Timothy Zahn reignited interest in the series with his Thrawn Trilogy. Each book in that trilogy is actually quite brilliantly named, with at least two potential meanings. It's a clever tool, IMO.


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