“I know, you've been here a year, you think these people are normal. Well, they're not. WE'RE not. I look in the library, I call up books on my desk. Old ones, because they won't let us have anything new, but I've got a pretty good idea what children are, and we're not children. Children can lose sometimes, and nobody cares. Children aren't in armies, they aren't COMMANDERS, they don't rule over forty other kids, it's more than anybody can take and not get crazy.”
Quote Analysis
In this quote from Orson Scott Card's novel "Ender's Game," the character Ender is expressing his feelings of isolation and pressure as a young child put into a position of power and leadership. Ender recognizes the abnormality of his situation, highlighting the fact that children are not meant to be commanders or rulers over others. This quote speaks to the theme of innocence lost and the burden of responsibility placed on young shoulders. Ender's struggle with his identity as a child in a warlike environment underscores the psychological toll of warfare and power dynamics on individuals.
Modern Relevance
In this quote from Orson Scott Card's novel "Ender's Game," the protagonist Ender expresses his frustration about being thrust into a world of responsibility and pressure at a young age. This theme of child soldiers and the weight of adult burdens on young shoulders is still relevant in today's world, where children in various parts of the globe are forced into conflict situations and denied the innocence of their youth.
Literary Analysis
In this quote from Orson Scott Card's book, the narrator expresses a sense of alienation and frustration with the oppressive environment they are living in. The use of italics in the quote emphasizes the speaker's disbelief at their situation and reinforces the idea that they are not children, despite being treated as such. The quote also highlights the theme of power dynamics and the struggle for autonomy in a restricted society.
Reflection Questions
After reading the quote by Orson Scott Card, take a moment to reflect on the following questions:
- What do you think the speaker means by the statement "we're not children"? How do they define being a child in this context?
- How does the idea of being in an army or being a commander at a young age affect a person's perception of themselves and others?
- Do you agree or disagree with the speaker's perspective on the children in the story not being normal? Why or why not?
- In what ways do the children in the story demonstrate qualities of leadership and maturity beyond their years?
- How does the lack of typical childhood experiences impact the children's mental and emotional well-being in the story?
Similar quotes
“To me, nothing can be more important than giving children books, It's better to be giving books to children than drug treatment to them when they're 15 years old. Did it ever occur to anyone that if you put nice libraries in public schools you wouldn't have to put them in prisons?”
“Let's not forget, a lot of people have children for selfish reasons, Jessica said. In order to have someone to play with, or to take care of them when they're old. Or because they're bored and don't have anything to do...She wanted to adore her children in a way that she had never been adored.”
“Making fiction for children, making books for children, isn't something you do for money. It's something you do because what children read and learn and see and take in changes them and forms them, and they make the future. They make the world we're going to wind up in, the world that will be here when we're gone. Which sounds preachy (and is more than you need for a quotebyte) but it's true. I want to tell kids important things, and I want them to love stories and love reading and love finding things out. I want them to be brave and wise. So I write for them.”
“I would rather sit next to a transgender person and discuss why every single one I've met smells like a bar in the daytime than listen to people tell my why I want to have children and that I just don't know it yet. I do know, because I'm me and my feelings are the ones in my head. I don't want to have kids, and it's not a device to get attention or have conversations about it. I simply find children incredibly immature and, more often than not, dumb.”
“We marry children who have grown up and still rejoice in being children, especially if we're creative. Imaginative people fidget with ideas, including the idea of a relationship. If they're wordsmiths like us, they fidget a lot in words.”