A DARING AND DEEP TALE OF WAR AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR - ENDER'S GAME BOOK REVIEW:
Ender’s Game is an enthralling, award-winning sci-fi novel by Orson Scott Card. The book follows main character, Ender Wiggin, as he is brought to a battle school and trained to fight against the buggers, an alien race who started a war with Earth. Ender’s Game is a simple read at surface depth, but once you dig deeper, it becomes something valuable. The themes, plot and characters flawlessly interweave themselves with life lessons making this an interesting book to be read and be taught.
The characters in Ender’s Game make this book a worthwhile read. Ender teaches about compassion and leadership. Ender has a very violent side to himself that the adults in the book like to bring out and exploit. Ender recognizes the value of why they do that yet still hates that side of himself. However, he tries his best to stay away from hurting people and while talking to his sister Valentine he says, “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him” (238). Ender focuses very hard on maintaining the compassionate side of himself and by the end of the book, it shows. Ender also proves to be a good leader; he makes conscious decisions based off his experience with bad leaders, and as a result people look up to him with respect. Through its characters, Ender shows our own struggle to suppress our hatred and our ability to learn from each other.
Another one of the strong points of Ender's Game is that it appeals to a wide variety of people. It will grab the casual reader with its fast paced, engaging plot and glimpses of humor added by the ages of the characters. The characters occasionally make remarks that may seem immature but let readers take a break from the serious undertones such as, “Me? I'm nothing. I'm a fart in the air conditioning. I'm always there, but most of the time nobody knows it”(42). It also captivates to readers by balancing strong themes with mature characters and thought provoking questions about human nature.
Along with its versatility, the questions Ender’s Game brings up make it an impactful read. Throughout the book the adults abuse and take advantage of the kids with the excuse of winning the war, which embodies the Machiavellian idea “the end justifies the means.” This saying is also relevant in today's society where many wars are fought and questions of morals are brought up. Ender’s Game teaches people to not push others hard for their own personal goals no matter what the outcome is. While you may reach what you want without any harm to yourself, you can leave others damaged, mentally, emotionally, or physically.
Ender’s Game may not be the most perfect book out there, but the easy enjoyment of it mixed with the relevant themes makes it a good book to pick up and learn a thing or two.
'MAUS' ESSAY:
“It’s an important book. People who don’t usually read such stories will be interested” (Mala from Maus I, pg. 133). I think this quote from Mala is good for describing the book. There are a lot of people who don’t like reading or lots of text about a subject that they don’t find interesting. So a comic book is perfect for people like that and through a comic book they can find some interest in the subject. Of course, like another quote from Maus II says (“There’s so much I’ll never be able to understand or visualize. I mean, reality is too complex for comics...so much has to be left out or distorted” - Art Spiegelman from Maus II), the portrayal or information may not be as accurate as a regular book.
Looking at the original question, “Do its techniques (storytelling through comics, anthropomorphism and 2nd hand storytelling) move readers closer to an understanding of the ‘truth’ of its subject matter (war, genocide, human nature), or do these techniques shelter or distance readers from the realities of the world?” I believe that it can both move readers closer to an understanding but also distance them. However, I lean more towards the moving reader's side.
I think in this case, 2nd hand storytelling works good. A lot of times, writing your own biography can sound a little bland, especially if you aren’t super skilled with words. My grandfather wrote his autobiography about his experiences during WWII and the feedback he received on it was that it was too blunt or too bland. He was an engineer so he naturally writes like that, it’s his voice but not everyone make take an interest in it because of how it’s written. So I think having 2nd hand storytelling works. In the case of Maus, Art Spiegelman asked his father questions while he was talking about, prompting more information than Vladek may of thought of himself (some examples are pages 59, 88, 109, 110, etc.).
I also think the anthropomorphism helped make the story stand out. Having the characters as animals gives it a sort of deep symbolism. I don’t think using animals distances readers from the realities of this time but instead gives them a chance to think about why animals were chosen to be used and why these specific animals (mouse, cat, pig) were picked as opposed to others and what significance they have.
Although the pictures may not be completely accurate of what happened during the time I think they are a good choice. With comics you can show harsher images of what happened (examples: pages 48 and 50 where they show Vladek killing a man and the same man dead and page 83 where they show people hanging) without it being too gruesome or triggering.
Overall, even though there are very good written books, I believe the techniques of Maus move readers closer to an understanding of the truth of its subject matter rather than shelter readers.
Looking at the original question, “Do its techniques (storytelling through comics, anthropomorphism and 2nd hand storytelling) move readers closer to an understanding of the ‘truth’ of its subject matter (war, genocide, human nature), or do these techniques shelter or distance readers from the realities of the world?” I believe that it can both move readers closer to an understanding but also distance them. However, I lean more towards the moving reader's side.
I think in this case, 2nd hand storytelling works good. A lot of times, writing your own biography can sound a little bland, especially if you aren’t super skilled with words. My grandfather wrote his autobiography about his experiences during WWII and the feedback he received on it was that it was too blunt or too bland. He was an engineer so he naturally writes like that, it’s his voice but not everyone make take an interest in it because of how it’s written. So I think having 2nd hand storytelling works. In the case of Maus, Art Spiegelman asked his father questions while he was talking about, prompting more information than Vladek may of thought of himself (some examples are pages 59, 88, 109, 110, etc.).
I also think the anthropomorphism helped make the story stand out. Having the characters as animals gives it a sort of deep symbolism. I don’t think using animals distances readers from the realities of this time but instead gives them a chance to think about why animals were chosen to be used and why these specific animals (mouse, cat, pig) were picked as opposed to others and what significance they have.
Although the pictures may not be completely accurate of what happened during the time I think they are a good choice. With comics you can show harsher images of what happened (examples: pages 48 and 50 where they show Vladek killing a man and the same man dead and page 83 where they show people hanging) without it being too gruesome or triggering.
Overall, even though there are very good written books, I believe the techniques of Maus move readers closer to an understanding of the truth of its subject matter rather than shelter readers.