Differences Between Ender's Game Movie And Book

I had read the book Ender’s Game, written by Orson Scott Card, while I was driving across country and was fascinated by the story. The writing was well done so that I would be able to reflect on the story long after I had read it. When I heard that Ender’s Game was to become a movie I told myself I had to see it, and so on that chilly November night, when it opened, I paid for what I hoped would be one of the best movies ever seen. Although Ender’s game was adapted into a movie there was a good number of areas that changed to make each differ.

One major area where the book differs from the movie is the psychological aspect. In the book the father and mother were present but aloof or indifferent. They had come from religious families

that had a large number of children which went against what was popular for the time. Ender was a nuisance for the fact that having a third child was circumventing the law, and becoming a source of pride, yet kept the family from having a normal life. When Ender went into battle school the teachers did their best to force him into harder and more difficult circumstances; thus, causing a mental break where he refused to do any more for the army. However, in the movie the parents seem to be more involved and care for all three children like normal parents would by showing more concern for the actions of Ender. Also during battle school the tasks did not seem to strain or exhaust Ender out but still needed to consult Valentine anyhow.

Another area that is different between the book and the movie is the ages of the characters.

In the book ender is six years old, and attending a public elementary school when he unknowingly kills his first opponent. and doesen’t have the final battle till he is twelve. Also all of the children at the school are under the age of puberty making gender differences less important. Comparatively in the movie Ender is already around sixteen and was in a military school when he harms but does not kill his first opponent. With the ages of the kids being above the age of puberty, and there are subtle hints to affection or even a love interest between Ender and

Petra.

The greatest difference is the roles played by Peter and Valentine.

In the book Peter is portrayed as a sociopath which was a reason for is rejection for the battle school and also one of the reasons that he tortures Ender and Valentine. On the other hand Valentine was rejected from battle school because she was too soft and is more of a mother to Ender than his biological mother. Both of these traits cause Ender mental anguish throughout the story causing him to not be like his brother and wants to be comforted by his sister. There is also the situation where Peter and Valentine manipulate the online forums to change the way the world thinks trying to prevent unwanted future events from occurring while allowing for the expansion of the human race. Traveling with Valentine they find a queen larva and “Ender writes his first work and becomes the first Speaker For The Dead” was how it was said in a book review by the newspaper Toronto Star. However in the movie there is little reference to Peter and Valentine and how this relation to him affects Ender’s attitude in battle school after the beginning scenes. The only exception is Valentine is another short scene where she is moving the story forward by convincing Ender to return back to the military. In an interview with Orson Scott Card, who also wrote the screenplay, decided to take out the part with Peter and Valentine on the forums because he assumed that watching people type on a computer wasn’t interesting enough to

put into the script.
After finishing watching the movie I felt that it was excellent how the script stayed close to the book but it still left a weird taste in my mouth. I knew how hard it is to stay true to the story when there are many things that cannot be done on screen yet, but the ending changed because of the parts that were taken out.