Orson Scott Card's Ender’s Game: Questions about Killing for Self-Defense
What justifies killing another human being in self-defense? Is self-defense a reasonable excuse for killing anyone at all? These are just a few of the many questions about killing that are raised in the novel, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. This book really makes people stop and think about their morals and values. Some people say that it is still murder and others say it is acceptable to kill in self-defense to protect themselves. There is a separation between why or why not it may be acceptable to murder someone to protect him or herself is a very small gray area. Self-defense and murder fluctuates back and forth depending on all of the given circumstances. Every person because of beliefs, morals, and also religion draws the fine line drastically different in society. The region in which a person lives can change their view on what is right or wrong dealing with self-defense. Someone in a small town that very rarely deals with a murder around them is going to have a extremely different perspective on the topic than someone who lives in an area where falling to sleep with the sound of gunshots near them is normal.
In the book, Ender’s Game, the main character, Ender, only kills others in self-defense to protect himself and the rest of humanity. Ender has been protecting himself ever since he wore the monitor. He had to protect himself in school by beating up the leader of a gang. Not only did schoolmates hate him for having the monitor but so did his brother, Peter. Peter had a monitor that he wore also but he did not have it for as long as Ender did and he will always hold a grudge against Ender for this even once the monitor was removed. The only person that tried to protect Ender was Valentine. But, even she could not protect Ender from Peter. The only thing the protected Ender was when Colonel Graff took him to Battle School.
“I didn't want to kill them all. I didn't want to kill anybody! I'm not a killer! You didn't want me, you