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Ender's Game and WW1, with Bonus OSC
Nov. 12th, 2013 10:05 amWe are drawing near to the 100th anniversary of World War 1. By any sensible analysis, the war was stupid and unnecessary. After all, why should Americans, Britons, Italians and Frenchmen die in hordes because some Serbian shot the second banana of the Austrian Empire? For that matter, would Russia really have supported Serbia if they had known Serbia had committed an act of war? That support is the stated reason for Germany entering the war, and is the only reason millions of Germans died.
In short, the war was a mistake. It also set the stage for World War 2, and created the "isms" (Fascism, Communism, and Islamic Fundamentalism) that we've been dealing with ever since. The bloodletting of WW1 (5% of the total male population of the UK died on the front line, and another 10% were damaged, wounded in body or mind) spelled the end of European empire.
Well, the war in Ender's Game is a science fictional WW1. The Formics think that humanity isn't sentient, which is why they attack, and the genocide committed by Ender was prompted by a failure of the humans to understand that the Formics were done fighting. It was, in short, a mistake.
I don't know if OSC realized the parallels between his book and WW1. I get the impression that the book started as "gee Battle School is cool!" and ran from there. You would think somebody who understood that WW1 started because of a mistake and flourished because of tribalism wouldn't be so hot under the collar about Islamic fundamentalism, but apparently not.
In short, the war was a mistake. It also set the stage for World War 2, and created the "isms" (Fascism, Communism, and Islamic Fundamentalism) that we've been dealing with ever since. The bloodletting of WW1 (5% of the total male population of the UK died on the front line, and another 10% were damaged, wounded in body or mind) spelled the end of European empire.
Well, the war in Ender's Game is a science fictional WW1. The Formics think that humanity isn't sentient, which is why they attack, and the genocide committed by Ender was prompted by a failure of the humans to understand that the Formics were done fighting. It was, in short, a mistake.
I don't know if OSC realized the parallels between his book and WW1. I get the impression that the book started as "gee Battle School is cool!" and ran from there. You would think somebody who understood that WW1 started because of a mistake and flourished because of tribalism wouldn't be so hot under the collar about Islamic fundamentalism, but apparently not.
