Recently, I have been reminiscing about my childhood and the
books that shaped many of my interests today. Reading was a large part of my
childhood. I was always drawn to sci-fi novels, which are primarily responsible
for peaking my interests in science, technology, and the unknown. One of my
favorite books that I read as a 7th grader was Enders Game by Orson
Scott Card.
Enders Game is about a young boy genius who is recruited by
an international military. He becomes a student in a battle school designed to
train young brilliant minds into military geniuses in order to fight a war
against an alien species. As a student, or “launchie,” at the battle school,
Ender practices combat in null gravity and plays a computer game—all, which he
excels in. After rising in ranks and being recognized by his peers and his teachers,
he moves to a special unit where really military leaders watch him. He performs
various battles, which increase in difficulty. At the end, he defeats the queen
of the alien species. He felt a bit off about it during the entire battle
sequences and eventually realizes that the battles he participated in were real
battles. It then dawns on him that he was part of the genocide of an entire
species, without even realizing it.
The entire time, it was practice him. It felt like another
game. He did not battle the alien species first hand; he only commanded those
who did. He did not experience what it feels like to murder these creatures. By
the end, when he was wiping out this species, he did not even realize the
magnitude of what he was doing. His guts were the only thing that made the
battles feel wrong.
Reflecting on Enders Game made me think of modern warfare.
Warfare has evolved in such a way, that we have become desensitized to murder.
Back during the middle ages, warfare was primarily
one-on-one. In order to kill someone in the opposing army, you had to run up to
them and deliberately kill them with a sword, a bow, or the like. It was a
physical action that had a strong emotional response. You couldn’t just press a
button to do it—you had to deliberately go up to them in person with the intent
of killing, and proceed to finish the job. Because you were physically wounding
them, you witnessed first hand, the pain and suffering.
After the popularization of gunpowder in warfare it was no longer an up-close and personal affair. It created a way for solider to kill from a distance (there was archery, but it was not very accurate past 100 yards). The creation of long ranged guns revolutionized war. The Civil War is a clear example. Long ranged artillery changed the way we thought about military strategy. Rather than lining up in tight groups and charging at the enemy, it becomes very important to outmaneuver and outsmart the enemy. Long ranged guns helped to achieve this. However, these advancements in warfare came at the cost of many human lives (which is evident in the Civil War, it is known to be one of the bloodier wars in history).
After the popularization of gunpowder in warfare it was no longer an up-close and personal affair. It created a way for solider to kill from a distance (there was archery, but it was not very accurate past 100 yards). The creation of long ranged guns revolutionized war. The Civil War is a clear example. Long ranged artillery changed the way we thought about military strategy. Rather than lining up in tight groups and charging at the enemy, it becomes very important to outmaneuver and outsmart the enemy. Long ranged guns helped to achieve this. However, these advancements in warfare came at the cost of many human lives (which is evident in the Civil War, it is known to be one of the bloodier wars in history).
During WWII, the advancement of weapons and their impact on
the world was more evident than ever. Ships, tanks, submarines, and airplanes
made it more possible than ever to kill armies without ever having to see them.
They made large-scale murder very possible. On top of that chemical warfare
added a whole new dimension to the picture by making it very inexpensive to
kill by the masses.
Today, we live in a world where warfare is approaching that
of Enders Game. Snipers are more powerful and deadly accurate than ever before,
and killing can be done with the press of a button. The biggest downside for
soldiers is putting themselves in the line of fire, and endangering their
lives. Drones today allow soldiers to kill at a distance, with minimal risk to
themselves, while maximizing the impact of the weapon. An individual can kill
by the masses without truly experiencing the suffering that they are inflicting
on the opponents.
Out of sight, out of mind? Definitely. It makes it a lot
easier to kill when you don’t have to actually see it happening.
In Enders Game, Ender felt as though he was playing a video
game. The act of actually killing felt exactly like a game to him. Without
actually seeing the enemy, he was not able to feel, first hand, the emotions
that run through before murdering an opponent. He was misled into causing genocide
on an entire species.
Despite being a book seemingly geared towards children,
Enders game reveals the dark side of technological advancement—warfare. Warfare
has been improved in such a way that we no longer need to ever meet our
opponents, making the entire process of killing very cold and apathetic. This
worries me, as the trend seems to be headed in a deep downward spiral. If WWIII
eventually happens, I can’t even imagine what kinds of weapons will be revealed,
and impact it will have on the world.
http://www.warresisters.org/content/drone-warfare-killing-remote-control
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2012-04-23/snipers-warfare-technology-training/54845142/1
http://armedforcesmuseum.com/advancements-in-technology-in-world-war-ii/
I don't know If you read the other books in the series but At the end of Enders Game he is a Hero for wiping out the buggers. But in the years after He is persecuted for that same action. This all stems from from your point of being tricked to do do it. This could happen today also with Superior giving the solder misinformation that would make them do something that they wouldn't want to in the first place. I this this also has a historical significance to the Vietnam war.
ReplyDeleteI actually never read the other books in the series. When I read this as a middle schooler, I thought it had an underlying symbolism that relates directly to modern America in general--a big strong nation in the world somehow victimizing ourselves and justifying our actions (Vietnam). I read somewhere else that many people found conservative ideas and right-wing propaganda written in between the lines. Either way this book definitely reflects on our current trends in warfare. I completely agree about the misguided soldiers. Many receive orders that they aren't clear about, but must follow anyway. I imagine that it torments them for the rest of their lives when they realize the implications of their actions.
Delete