摘 要

奥森·斯科特·卡德的《安德的游戏》是一部科学幻想小说。该小说讲述的是主人公安德·维京这个被选中的天才少年以特殊的身份，被送到学校以及部队接受重点培养，与同龄的孩童们一起在无知中成长，并且最终灭绝了整个外星虫族。本文主要从安德以及同龄孩子们的经历、对他们带来的影响以及成长所付出的代价三个方面来剖析他们的成长历程，从而更好地理解小说的思想。

关键词：《安德的游戏》；奥森·斯科特·卡德；无知中成长

Contents

1. Introduction.........................................................................................................1

2. Demonstration.....................................................................................................2

2.1. Experience of growth.......................................................................................2

2.1.1. The growth of Ender......................................................................................3

2.1.2. The growth of the other children of same age...............................................4

2.2. Influence on growth..........................................................................................5

2.2.1. Influence from family and society.................................................................6

2.2.2. Influence in the troops...................................................................................7

2.3. Price for growth................................................................................................8

2.3.1. The price of the children same age................................................................9

2.3.2. The price of Ender........................................................................................10

3. Conclusion..........................................................................................................11

Notes.......................................................................................................................12

Works Cited............................................................................................................13

Bibliography...........................................................................................................14

Ignorance of Adolescent Growth

——A Study on the Children in Ender’s Game

1. Introduction

Orson Scott Card (August 24, 1951- ) is an American novelist, critic, public speaker, essayist and columnist. He writes in several genres but is known best for science fiction. His novel Ender’s Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986) both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the only author who has won the both top US science fiction prizes in consecutive years. A feature film adaptation of Ender’s Game, which Card co-produced, was released in late October 2013 in Europe and on November 1, 2013 in North America. Card, a professor of English at Southern Virginia University, has written two books on the subject of creative writing, hosts writing bootcamps and workshops, and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future Contest. A great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, Card is a practicing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). In addition to producing a large body of fictional works, he has also offered political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writings. “The expression reached the perfect level!” said by Gene Wolfea, a famous American science fiction writer in an interview about Orson. After the book was introduced into China, the novel also got recommendations from A Lai, a Chinese poet and Novelist of Rayalrong Tibetan descendent, and Yang Peng, a famous writer of children’s literature and children’s science fiction.

The book, originated as the short story Ender’s Game, was published in the August 1977 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Elaborating on the characters and plot lines of the novel, Card later wrote additional books to form the Ender’s Game series. Card released an updated version of Ender’s Game in 1991, changing some political facts to reflect the times more accurately, e.g., to include the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

Ender’s Game is a 1985 military novel of science fiction. Set in the Earth’s future, the novel presents the imperiled mankind after two conflicts with the “buggers”, an insectoid alien species. In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, children, including the novel’s protagonist, Ender Wiggin, are trained at a very young age through playing increasingly difficult games including some in zero gravity, where Ender’s tactical genius is revealed. Through the changes of Ender and other same age children in the book, we can see the charm of growth. There is much attention from the academic community paid to Ender’s Game. In Zhang Guoying’s “Ender’s Game——The Space Age for Gifted Children Soul Redemption”, there is such evaluation of Ender’s Game that this is a science fiction novel, is also a motivational novel, motivation for hundreds of millions of readers around the world who have been stimulated by the courage of the book, a thought-provoking book of moral education.(74) However, there is little research about this novel, especially on the growth of the children in this novel. This is what this essay attempts to study.

The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part is a detailed textual analysis, showing how Ender and other same age children grow. The emphasis is on the point that Ender and other children grow in ignorance. The second part analyzes the influence on Ender and other same age children, exploring the important and different effects from family, society and the troops. The third part demonstrates the price that Ender and other same age children have paid for their growth. By analyzing the growth and changes in these children, the author tries to show these children’s psychological process.

2. Demonstration