3 ms·

I like his books quite a lot, his characters always show a huge amount of acceptance and compassion. Pretty much just the inverse amount that he appears to show

by xauronx 13y ago

I like his books quite a lot, his characters always show a huge amount of acceptance and compassion. Pretty much just the inverse amount that he appears to show in reality. I've never been a fanatic about any author/artist, I separate the creation from the creator and that's how I intend to continue living. Just as I wouldn't lose my shit if I saw Card, or Morgan Freeman, or Britney Spears in a coffee shop. I'd give a polite nod and move along.

Rickasaurus 13y ago
I feel that way too. In fact, it makes me kind of unhappy that I'll have to miss Ender's Game in the theater, I just can't give that man my money when he might use it for something I disagree with so much.
Artistry121 13y ago
I'm stealing this from minikites comment above. His characters and the book's message might send the wrong message about acceptance - acceptance of his behavior, not that of "inherently evil" people. Orson Scott Card Has Always Been an Asshat (2005): http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/5/28/22428/7034 http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/5/28/22428/7034 ender and hitler: sympathy for the superman (20 years later) (2007): http://peachfront.diaryland.com/enderhitlte.html http://peachfront.diaryland.com/enderhitlte.html Creating the Innocent Killer: Ender's Game, Intention, and Morality (2004): http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/Killer_000.htm http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/Killer_000.htm
- xauronx 13y ago
  In Ender's game, it's all about accepting the differences between humans and the buggers. They think and behave in completely different ways, and you must love them and understand them. Later with the Piggies, there are those who wanted to quarantine and destroy the planet, but the "heroes" risked life and limb to save them. Even in the Homecoming Saga, which was a very biblical work from the start, there's quite a bit of effort to soothe the differences between the bats/rats and get them to live in peace with their differences. Honestly, I've read a ton of his works and time after time his characters are great people and their goals are often agreeable and reasonable.
  - Artistry121 13y ago
    I did believe that and had read the book 6 times believing that. The point of fact is that Ender was not a great person - or even a good person. While I enjoyed the aspects of interconnectedness between the two groups - and the "redemption" of Ender by connecting with his enemy (the Queen) after reading these articles I am convinced my original love of the book was unwarranted. It's the story of an abused kid, and his adult mentors, who grows up to accept abuse and cover up that abuse behind the cover of "good intentions" or "neccessity". Look at Ender's treatment of Bean - becoming the enemy he hated because he feels its neccessary. The book was radically good at convincing me Ender was reasonable and moral - but that doesn't mean he was. If you haven't read those essays minikite linked too I suggest you do. Particularly Ender's simple dismissal of the student's disgust at Ender's murder of the Formic is telling. "You should see it from Ender's perspective, not the perspective of the destroyed race," is silly victim-blaming. It's odd how I missed it up until today.
    - xauronx 13y ago
      Ender hated that side of himself, the destructive side. No one ever said that the "adults" aka the military in that book were good people. It's not directly stated, but to me it had an implied tone of wrongness, that they thought they were acting as they must to strike first. In later books the Hive Queen confirms that they were never going to come back and that makes an obvious statement that the xenocide was unnecessary. As for Ender's treatment of Bean, I think that's pretty much identical to how coaches and military leaders behave. Ender even privately scolds himself for the way he mirrored Graffs treatment of him in Bean's treatment. After that I believe he makes an effort to treat his subordinates as friends, but it's too late (because they still act coldly toward him). I think Ender hated and regretted what he was forced into unwittingly doing, hence his writing of the Hive Queen & Hegemon as well as the years of hearing himself referred to as "Ender the Xenocide" without ever defending his actions once. I think that maybe you're too excited to be upset by this. Card is a twat, but I hold that his books are a closet outlet for his rational mind.

by xauronx 13y ago

Rickasaurus 13y ago

I feel that way too. In fact, it makes me kind of unhappy that I'll have to miss Ender's Game in the theater, I just can't give that man my money when he might use it for something I disagree with so much.

Artistry121 13y ago

I'm stealing this from minikites comment above. His characters and the book's message might send the wrong message about acceptance - acceptance of his behavior, not that of "inherently evil" people. Orson Scott Card Has Always Been an Asshat (2005): http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/5/28/22428/7034 http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/5/28/22428/7034 ender and hitler: sympathy for the superman (20 years later) (2007): http://peachfront.diaryland.com/enderhitlte.html http://peachfront.diaryland.com/enderhitlte.html Creating the Innocent Killer: Ender's Game, Intention, and Morality (2004): http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/Killer_000.htm http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/Killer_000.htm

xauronx 13y ago
In Ender's game, it's all about accepting the differences between humans and the buggers. They think and behave in completely different ways, and you must love them and understand them. Later with the Piggies, there are those who wanted to quarantine and destroy the planet, but the "heroes" risked life and limb to save them. Even in the Homecoming Saga, which was a very biblical work from the start, there's quite a bit of effort to soothe the differences between the bats/rats and get them to live in peace with their differences. Honestly, I've read a ton of his works and time after time his characters are great people and their goals are often agreeable and reasonable.
- Artistry121 13y ago
  I did believe that and had read the book 6 times believing that. The point of fact is that Ender was not a great person - or even a good person. While I enjoyed the aspects of interconnectedness between the two groups - and the "redemption" of Ender by connecting with his enemy (the Queen) after reading these articles I am convinced my original love of the book was unwarranted. It's the story of an abused kid, and his adult mentors, who grows up to accept abuse and cover up that abuse behind the cover of "good intentions" or "neccessity". Look at Ender's treatment of Bean - becoming the enemy he hated because he feels its neccessary. The book was radically good at convincing me Ender was reasonable and moral - but that doesn't mean he was. If you haven't read those essays minikite linked too I suggest you do. Particularly Ender's simple dismissal of the student's disgust at Ender's murder of the Formic is telling. "You should see it from Ender's perspective, not the perspective of the destroyed race," is silly victim-blaming. It's odd how I missed it up until today.
  - xauronx 13y ago
    Ender hated that side of himself, the destructive side. No one ever said that the "adults" aka the military in that book were good people. It's not directly stated, but to me it had an implied tone of wrongness, that they thought they were acting as they must to strike first. In later books the Hive Queen confirms that they were never going to come back and that makes an obvious statement that the xenocide was unnecessary. As for Ender's treatment of Bean, I think that's pretty much identical to how coaches and military leaders behave. Ender even privately scolds himself for the way he mirrored Graffs treatment of him in Bean's treatment. After that I believe he makes an effort to treat his subordinates as friends, but it's too late (because they still act coldly toward him). I think Ender hated and regretted what he was forced into unwittingly doing, hence his writing of the Hive Queen & Hegemon as well as the years of hearing himself referred to as "Ender the Xenocide" without ever defending his actions once. I think that maybe you're too excited to be upset by this. Card is a twat, but I hold that his books are a closet outlet for his rational mind.