On Mon, 25 Nov 2002, Erik Berman wrote: > >On Monday, November 25, 2002, at 09:13 AM, Matthew Hunter wrote: [ I think the poster that wrote this part was Casey Rousseau ] >>>> Yes. In case anyone is not aware, Narnia is fairly explicitly >>>> Christian allegory. For that matter, so is Ender's Game, but >>>> Ender seems to slip under most people's radar. Card and >>>> Lewis are two writers who make no bones about their religious >>>> beliefs. To me it enriches their fiction, but YMMV. >>> Fascinating. Narnia ticked me off, but Ender's Game which I read >>> *much* later slipped completely past me. In fact I really can't see >>> any allegory there even now. >> >> Ender's Game seems clean to me too. The later books are a little >> more arguable, and certain of Card's work is very explicitly >> religious. > > I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure that Card mentioned in his >foreword that he wrote Ender's Game without intending to add any extra >or hidden meaning to it, but instead it just happens to be one of those >books that people will take away some meaning. > I suppose it could be seen as religious allegory too, though I can't >see it myself, I'd like to hear how you though Ender's game a >Christian allegory. Well, I'm not the original poster, but some of the points in Ender's Game that could be seen as vaguely Christian came to mind as soon as I read that allegation of allegory. Spoiler space: - Ender is perceived as the potential savior, the only one capable of defeating the great evil that besets humanity. - In the ending, Ender decides to "sacrifice" himself by losing the game by breaking the rules. Instead of losing, he wins completely. - Ender's relationship with his sister might be seen as an echo of Jesus' relationship to his mother and/or Mary Magdalene. - Ender's brother is named "Peter", and this brother capitalizes on Ender's sacrifice for his own benefit. This might be a dig at the Roman Catholic Church. Or maybe not. It's a lot vaguer than Narnia, and I believe Card when he says that it wasn't deliberate.