Humanity And Inhumanity In Ender's Game By Orson Scott Card

Humanity and Inhumanity in Ender’s Game

Nelson Mandela once said, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. Mandela brings up the important concepts of humanity and inhumanity when he states this. These concepts are reviewed in depth when Orson Scott Card shows how people change under inhumane conditions in his book Ender’s game. People may become hostile, silent, paranoid, submissive, standoffish, or a wide range of other traits. Or they can be influenced (by their superiors, friends, family, etc.) to change for the better, becoming more intelligent or more powerful in other ways in order to accelerate the advancement of mankind. This happens in Card’s book, Ender’s Game, when Andrew Wiggin (“Ender”) the

protagonist, is taken away from his family and his previous life and put in the harsh conditions of Battle School in space. The Science Fiction novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is about Humanity and Inhumanity and reveals that some people have to sacrifice their humanity to benefit the rest of mankind.

Firstly, People who give up personal goals to become tools that benefit the rest of mankind are often manipulated, mistreated, or subject to inhumane conditions, which violates their sense of humanity. Graff spoke to Ender when he was entering the battle school about the nature of humanity and the sacrifices people have to make to benefit humanity. He explains to Ender, “Human beings are free except when humanity needs them. Maybe humanity needs you. To do something. Maybe humanity needs me - to find out what you’re good for. We both might do desperate things, Ender, but if humankind survives, then we were good tools” (Card 26). Graff explains how he and Ender are both tools because humanity needs them to advance. Thus, they gave up their freedom to work for the benefit of mankind. However, giving up one’s own freedom is ultimately subjecting oneself to inhumanity. Because freedom is a key component of being humane, the absence of freedom is therefore an inhumane condition. More evidence of this is found on page 194, when Mazer speaks to Ender about

the consequences of his education and the high risk of the bugger wars. He explains, “I am not a happy man, Ender. Humanity does not ask us to be happy. It merely asks us to be brilliant on its behalf. Survival first, then happiness as we can manage it. So, Ender, I hope you do not bore me during your training with complaints that you are not having fun. Take what pleasure you can in the interstices of your work, but your work is first, learning is first, winning is everything because without it there is nothing.” (Card). Mazer’s point in explaining this to Ender is that his happiness is not important - only his work matters. This is inhumane because happiness is a right that all humans are entitled to. Because Ender is used as a tool to protect mankind, his feelings and personal needs are often overlooked, which is denying his humanity. Therefore, because Ender gave up happiness, freedom, and many other basic human needs and rights, he experiences inhumane conditions and poor treatment, but he still dedicates himself fully to benefiting and protecting humanity.

When a person is superior to others, they are often exploited, allowing for the loss of their humanity, which in turn leads to isolation. Evidence for this appears when the boys in Ender’s launch are hitting him during their trip to battle school, Card narrates, “Then it became clear. Graff had deliberately caused it. It was worse than the abuse in the shows. When the sergeant picked on you, the others liked you better. But when the officer prefers you, the others hate you” (24). Card narrates how Ender is disliked by the other Launchies from the beginning of his experience at Battle School. This causes his isolation, which deprives him of friends. This is inhumane because every human deserves friends, family or someone to speak to. He is denied this basic social necessity, but this allows him to excel and focus on his schoolwork. Therefore, the inhumane conditions helped shape him into the perfect commander to beat the buggers and save humanity.

Humanity requires survival and advancement to maintain dominance, and this is often acquired through inhumane acts. When Valentine and Ender meet again and have a conversation on the raft in the lake, Ender calls himself a killer. Valentine responds,“Human beings didn’t evolve brains in order to lie around on lakes. Killing’s the first thing we learned. And a good thing we did, or we’d be dead, and the tigers would own the earth. ” (Card 170). Valentine tells Ender about the need for violence at times. She implies that killing is necessary to dominate and it’s human nature to kill. However, seeing as humans are civilized, humane people do not kill anymore unless it is unavoidable. That being said, Ender’s killing ensures that he ‘wins thoroughly’, which is inhumane because he makes sure that his enemy can never hurt him again. He becomes gradually more brutal, losing his humanity bit by bit. Later on in the conversation with Valentine on the lake, Ender says,“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them-” Valentine interrupts and responds, “You beat them.” Ender replies, “No, you don’t understand. I destroy them. I make it impossible for them to ever hurt me again” (Card 168). Ender explains how he has brutally defeated all of his enemies - he understands them, then destroys them. He adopted this inhumane mindset in Battle School, where his sense of humanity was almost completely lost, and used it as a commander to decimate the buggers. That being stated, his inhumane actions allowed mankind to triumph over the buggers. Therefore, Ender’s inhumanity eventually allows him to destroy the bugger’s planet, ending their threat and protecting humanity with an inhumane act - genocide.

The novel Ender’s Game reveals that some people have to sacrifice their humanity to benefit the rest of mankind. Not only does this theme apply to Ender’s Game, but it is applied in the article Ender, Gender, and the Fight for Humanity by Matt Wetsel. When comparing and contrasting the Wiggin children, Wetsel reiterates how Ender is a perfect mix of Valentine and Peter. He states, “The military sees (parts of Peter’s personality reflected within Ender), too, and sets out to exploit Ender’s ruthless side. Each chapter opens with a dialogue between sometimes anonymous lead military personal chatting nonchalantly about how they run the risk of ruining Ender’s life and breaking him emotionally beyond repair. While there is muted concern for his well-being, turning him into the perfect soldier is the priority” (1). Wetsel explains how the military uses Ender’s fear against him in an effort to control him. This damages his sense of humanity because as a human being, Ender should be able to have control over his own life, but he is deprived of his independence. However, he chose battle school, therefore he willingly gave up his humanity to stop the buggers and save mankind. More evidence is apparent when reviewing the treatment of Ender by his superiors. It is stated, “Ender is forced and manipulated by his superiors into situations where his only course of action for self-preservation is to hurt his aggressor so badly that they will never be a threat to him again. In many ways, their molding him into the perfect soldier is nothing terribly original – it’s merely the fulfillment of patriarchal masculine ideals within the military as he learns to hide his weaknesses and stamp out threats” (Wetsel 1). Because Ender is treated like an object by being manipulated, he loses some of his humanity through this mistreatment. Because he is less humane, he hides his true feelings, conceals his weaknesses, and destroys threats so they can never affect him again. This stoic mindset, isolation, and defensive behavior is what allows Ender to truly advance to become a commander and defeat the buggers - saving mankind once and for all. In conclusion, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card reveals that some people have to sacrifice their humanity to benefit the rest of mankind.