Violence In Ender's Game, By Orson Scott Card

An Analysis of the Relation between Violence and Compassion Violence is the notorious cause of conflicts around the world. This theme arises many times within the novel “Ender’s Game,” written by Orson Scott Card. Ender Wiggin is just a young boy when he is expected to save all of mankind. Through constant fear of becoming like his abusive brother, Peter, Ender unknowingly executes an entire species, known as buggers. After enduring immense self-conflict, Ender is finally able to restore his compassion, and identity. As shown through Peter, Ender’s treacherous brother, the buggers, who suffer from extinction, and Ender, the destroyer of the buggers, this novel reveals that violent actions do not dictate one’s level of compassion.
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For example, when Ender is on Eros, he discovers the bugger queen cocoon, which communicates with him. The queen tells Ender how “ [they] did not mean to murder,” and once the buggers understood “[they] never came again,”(Card 321). As shown above, the buggers kill millions of humans, who do not even know of their existence, in order to colonize Earth. However, once they are able to understand that humans are thinking and intelligent beings, their compassion for the other race stops them from ever coming back. Also, their respect for humans leads to an apology for their violent, and ignorant actions; the buggers have enough decency to forgive humans for killing their entire species. For example, as Ender’s conversation with the cocoon continues the queen says, “ ‘ We did not mean to hurt you, and we forgive you for our death,’”(Card 321). This proves that even though the buggers almost end the human race, their intentions are always pure. They are sensitive enough to understand Ender’s situation, and forgive him for the elimination of their entire species. In essence, the buggers manage to show enormous amounts of compassion by taking time to understand how humans work, and forgiving their executioner, Ender