Title: Ender’s Game Themes | GradeSaver
Headings: Ender's Game Themes
Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game Themes
Everybody lies
Sometimes, lies are more dependable than the truth
You can't trust anybody
Individual initiative versus central planning
Identity conflict
Individual needs versus the common good
Friends and enemies
Isolation yields individual strength

Content: Ender is not given many opportunities for friendship or trust so that he becomes fiercely independent and thus, it seems, a better commander. Individual initiative versus central planning
Ender is chosen to be the commander who leads the fleet to victory, thereby saving the world. The principle here is that a single mind can direct the war effort better than a number of individual commanders. The military leaders have decided to follow this principle as they have sought the one most promising child to become the supreme commander. But Ender does not really want to be such a savior, and he prefers to have squadron leaders who can think and act independently with just a few organizing principles to follow. In fact, Ender's decentralized approach proves superior to that of the buggers, which is centralized in that a queen commander makes all the decisions while the workers simply follow orders. Identity conflict
Ender Wiggin's personality is a combination of his brother's ruthlessness and his sister's compassion, which are constantly fighting each other for control. Likewise, Valentine and Peter share, to some degree, each other's characteristics, and all three siblings struggle to realize an integrated identity. In Ender's case, he chooses to win thoroughly against his enemies, but his compassion for them makes him hate himself for hurting them. Graff also struggles with his isolation of Ender for military purposes despite his real affection for Ender, wanting to be compassionate and practical at the same time.