"Most adolescents are trying to disconnect, but Ender wants to root in society, and he really can't," he said. "I see someone who is ready for adulthood but declines when he finds it."
Ender's biggest challenge is not those threatening to destroy Earth but rather himself. He is ready for adulthood and could find happiness with an intended mate, yet he rejects living a conventional life and instead opts for the role of solitary leader, a protector who reaches into man's most basic fighting instinct.
"Ender hates what he has to become," he said. "He is born to be a protector . . . but he also happens to have the natural talent for war."
Card insists that war is part of a universal human history and that Ender is merely a product of that legacy. But with combat raging in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, it's hard not to compare Ender with modern soldiers, and Card does not shy away from this point. A student of all things military, Card is a proud conservative who writes a regular column for the Ornery American, a right-leaning online magazine.
But Card's beliefs do not fit neatly inside a box, and this annoys some of his followers. He is a registered Democrat but also an avid supporter of George W. Bush's war on terrorism and a bitter public foe of same-sex marriage. He is a leading figure not only in science fiction but also in Mormon literature -- he is a descendant of Brigham Young and has written theological plays, short stories and novels.
His fans and critics disagree on where the author's sympathies lie. Some say the stories are pro-military because they glamorize the duty-at-all-costs mind-set. Others say the books are decidedly anti-military because of the deception and cruelty used to train the boy soldier.
Card says this is the wrong debate; he maintains that his books are simply pro-soldier, an attempt to sympathize with them and understand the importance of what they do.
"The real question," he said, "is how do you make good people into killing machines and bring them back into full citizenship?"
Card draws a parallel between his character and the soldiers of today, who volunteer for the military despite the unpopularity of the Iraq war. Their commitment to defend does not come without consequence, he said. Card, whose brother served in Korea in the 1960s, has spent a lot of time speaking with soldiers who loved his book. Like Ender, many of these men and women struggle with the dichotomy of being protectors and aggressors, he said.
