Ender's Game and Rereading Novels

There are many reasons why we read, why we seek out stories and ideas in written expression and take the time to experience them ourselves. Sometimes, yes, it is pure entertainment. Sometimes, it is to challenge our views, or to experience different forms of thought. However, there are sometimes books that, for whatever reason, are so inspiring, comforting, or influential that they attract us to read them again and again until the story becomes as much our memory of it as the words on the page.

For me, sitting at home with an excess amount of free time over winter break, I rediscovered the book that I feel has had the most influence on me over the course of my life: Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. In tone and in story, Ender's Game can appear to be a book primarily appreciated by youth and teenagers. As Card himself said, it is a story about children and their experiences, so it makes sense that children would identify with it and make connections with the characters. And to be true, when I first read it years ago, I didn't make many deeper connections – it was a story that I enjoyed for some indiscernible reason, and little more than that.

As I've grown older, I've come to appreciate more the power of the story that Card told, and why it has had such an impact on me. Yes, Ender's Game is a story about children, but it does not glorify or trivialize childhood or discount the humanity of children as many stories seem to. It is, in fact, an utterly sad story when all is said and done: a story of fear and war, and the lifelong pain they cause. It is this collection of emotions that has held my fascination as I have matured, and likely will continue to into my adulthood and beyond.