Ender's Game Free Will Essay

Fate determines our lives. All species on Earth are set on a path towards an end goal from their first breaths. In the novel, Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card attempts to convey the reality of how every person’s fate is predetermined from the beginning. This idea is showcased through the experiences of a young character, referred to as Ender Wiggins, who is the third child of the family with one sister, Valentine, and one brother, Peter. He is used by the adults to become a soldier at a remote facility called Battle School to save the human race from the buggers. Ender is faced with many social challenges since most older students often pick on him as they envy his talents and skills. Ender gets rapidly moved up the ranks by the officials to

become an I.F. commander and is given no other option. They attempt to do everything in their power to make Ender victorious against the buggers and their goal is achieved at the cost of Ender’s free will.

This novel reveals the non-existence of free will by showing how as a result of the adults, children are separated from their childhood desires, their true personality is oppressed and their path of life is significantly altered.

Through this novel, Orson Scott Card evinces the reality of how children are no longer in control of how they choose to live their childhoods. This is proven when Ender argues with Colonel Graff, “Colonel Graff, I just want to go back and swim in the lake...We’ll keep you under armed guard at all times. The military knows how to handle these things” (293). It is clear that the ones in charge do not care about how children want to spend their time and their only priority is doing the action that benefits them the most. Even when Ender’s duty is done, he would still not be free to do what he desires and his every move would be noted by armed guards. Ender has been so greatly isolated from the ordinary society that he cannot think of anything else to do on his spare time. This is seen when the author writes, “Then he went into the simulator room for practice. Even though he was free, he could not think of anything else to do” (332). Since he has never been an ordinary child and has never been allowed to explore on his own to figure

out what he really likes to do, he can now only follow schedules that are set for him and do things that the others believe would be beneficial to him. Ender is also unable to live in an ordinary society as a result of what the adults make him do in his childhood. This is evident when Graff and Anderson are speaking, “Bring Ender back to Earth. Ender is far too dangerous. He’s only eleven. Twelve, now. All the more dangerous because he could so easily be controlled” (351). He clearly loses the golden chance of living his bright childhood and instead he is manipulated and sacrificed for humanity without him even realizing. Ender is also never allowed to have a friend his age, someone he can play and have fun with. When he speaks with Alai, his words portray this, “They don’t want to teach me everything. I wanted to learn what it was like to have a friend” (102). Without his consent, the officials consistently choose the actions he commits and it comes at price of him never feeling what a real child experiences at this age. Overall, Ender is a victim of the determinism that takes place as a result of the adults and proves how easily one’s childhood can be stolen from them.
Ender’s Game also shows that children cannot acquire their own ideas and beliefs and how they choose to express them since their image has already been predetermined by the ones around them. This is evident when the narrator states, “He didn’t like Peter’s kind, the strong against the weak, and he didn’t like his own kind either, the smart against the stupid” (51). Ender at the beginning is naturally a person who exhibits empathy and has the belief that equality is a necessity. He always distances himself from Peter since he does not like how he treats people and he is willing to do whatever it takes to never be like him. Although, as a result of the adults making him become a soldier, Ender’s image is significantly altered. This is conveyed in Valentine’s letter to Ender, “BECAUSE YOU’RE BEING A SOLDIER YOU ARE NOW A CRUEL AND HARD PERSON WHO LIKES TO HURT PEOPLE, LIKE THE MARINES IN THE VIDEO” (187). Ender at heart is not a soldier, he always attempts to help others and only use his force merely for self-defense. His personality is irreversibly altered for the benefit of the society. By moving him to Battle School, it forces him to enter a different community with much different priorities than the society he should have been able to live in like every other child. As a result of the different views and priorities, he has to both physically and mentally adjust. The mental adjustment that takes place is a factor in the destruction of his personality at the end. During a discussion after practice, the effects of the decisions of the commanders on Ender can be seen, “But they made him a commander and so he has to act like one. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s winning, but that scares him worst of all” (143). The I.F. quickly moves Ender up the ranks to a point where he can no longer be himself and has to act as if he knows what is happening. He is not allowed to be himself for a lengthy period of time, making it it nearly impossible, especially as a child to notice who he really is at heart. In conclusion, Ender’s beliefs and ideas are much different from what the adults ask of him but he is forced to obey them and at the end, it leaves him wondering who he is initially.
Finally, this novel conveys the fact that children become what the adults see fit and do not have the authority to choose how they want to contribute to the society in the later stages of their lives.

The I.F. Selective Service chooses Ender’s destiny without even letting him pursue his interests. When Colonel Graff comes to take Ender to Battle School, he states, “Of course we already have your consent, granted in time of writing at the time conception was confirmed, or he could not have been born. He has been ours from then” (50). This further enhances the idea of how it is known that Ender is going to become a soldier and save the planet from the buggers if he qualifies. The level of manipulation from the adults towards the children is at such a great degree that even Ender with his young age is able to recognize what they have done to him. When he is no longer eager to continue, the author expresses Ender’s emotions, “This was part of their manipulation. And the despair filled him again. Now he knew why… He had no control over his own life. They ran everything” (187). His entire days are structured by the commanders. He is never able to think of what he wants to do and pursue. When the I.F. believed that Ender should become a commander, he is never consulted on whether this would interest him. While he is fighting against the buggers, he believes that it is solely another game to challenge his strategies. After Ender is victorious against them, he voices his emotions,

“I was ordering pilots to go in and die and I didn’t even know it...You never asked me! You never told me the truth about anything” (342). He does not have the slightest idea of what is on the line and the costs of his actions on other people’s lives. In reality, he never chooses to do such thing, proving how his fate is predetermined. To conclude, the adults know exactly how Ender is going to be utilized in the society and before he can choose his own path of life, he is sent to Battle School where he turns into a soldier.
It can be easily recognized that the effects of determinism on children include them being isolated from their childhood desires, their true personality diminishing and their path of life being altered. The adults are willing to take one’s bright childhood for what they believe is right and necessary. They set up strict schedules for children, controlling their every move to an extent where the future generation can no longer realize who they once were. As a result, children can no longer express their own beliefs and ideas since their images and roles in the society have already been defined. The future generation also cannot pursue their passion and interests due to the unrestrained control the adults have over their lives. This also occurs in our society today where children are put into various activities that their parents believe would make them successful although often times, it completely differs from their interests. Determinism dominates the society and free will is solely an illusion that is yet to be realized by all.