Discussion Questions for “Creating the Innocent Killer”
Do you agree or disagree with the author’s main points, that Card’s philosophy that only intentions matter (not consequences) is wrong, and that Ender is not completely blameless and totally innocent of the deaths he helped to cause?
What do you think of the author’s analysis of the pattern that Card sets up and uses throughout the book to elicit sympathy for Ender? (3)
Do you agree or disagree with this author that Card compels readers, unfairly, to only consider the suffering of Ender and to identify and empathize with one of the perpetrators of a genocide, and not with the victims of it, the buggers?
Do you agree or disagree with this author’s contention that Card presents Ender as a
Christ-like figure, and that this is an inaccurate and inappropriate comparison?
To obfuscate means to deliberately conceal meaning by purposefully making communication confusing and/or ambiguous in order to make it more difficult to understand. John Kessel, the author of this scholarly article, argues that Card’s paragraphs defending his work from the criticism of Elaine Radford are “full of obfuscation” and then Kessel elaborates on why he thinks that. What do you think of
Kessel’s analysis of Card’s response to Elaine Radford’s initial critique of Ender’s
Game ? (7-9)
Is Ender completely to blame for the xenocide/genocide of the buggers?
Is Ender completely blameless and innocent of the xenocide/genocide of the buggers?
Does Ender share some of the blame for the destruction of the buggers, along with the
I.F., Colonel Graff, and Mazer Rackham?
Who are the people responsible for the death of Stilson, and who are the individuals who are most responsible?
Who are the people responsible for the death of Bonzo, and who are the individuals who are most responsible?
Who are the people responsible for the deaths of all those children (including some of
Ender’s friends from Battle School) piloting those ships in the battles of the Third
Invasion, and who are the individuals who are most responsible?
Kessel argues that Ender knew what all the “simulated” practice training sessions were for—eventually killing buggers—and therefore he is more morally responsible than Card has made him out to be for the xenocide/genocide of the buggers. Yet what point does
Kessel not specifically address about the way Ender perceived his “final exam,” and his motive for doing what he chose to do during it, which could undermine Kessel’s point?

What parallels exist between the journey Jake Sully goes through in Avatar and what
Ender goes through in
Ender’s Game
, and in what ways are they drastically different?
Do you think that Kessel is right or wrong that Card’s constructing so many scenarios where Ender is unaware that he has killed is unrealistic even in a sci-fi novel that asks readers for a great deal of suspension of disbelief?
Do you agree or disagree that Card’s morality is an immature one that needs to grow up?