Ender’s Game question

Seems that you missed the entire point of the book (actually you got it, but just didn't agree with it).

While playing the game, Ender felt more and more empathy for the queen as he started to learn how she thought. When he finally understood her, he was able to annihilated the race. He would have rather used that empathy and knowledge to negotiate. But that was not how the game worked. That's why he reacts the way he does.

I loved this book up until the point of rebuilding the bugger race, I feel like it, and whatever books came after should have been chopped and exiled. It was just completely nonsensical to me.

Well no, because he was tricked into it and he only chose to go because that's the only reason his parents brought him into existence. Since he feels unwanted at home, this was the best option. Then he was tricked into committing genocide on an entire species simply because us humans have a tendency to not try understanding others. So when he found out what he had done, when he realized this, he set himself out to fix the problem.

In wars, it's typically considered poor form to annihilate an entire race through genocide (in this case, extraterrestrial species, so that would be xenocide). Ender wanted to defeat them, not massacre them down to the last formic. Xenocide weighed heavily on him, he wanted humans and formics to be able to live peacefully, not to have humans as the victors with no formics around any more. The later books in the series go more into depth on his feelings on the subject, if you're up to reading books that have less of a sci-fi/action feel and more of a social commentary feel. I thought the followup books were quite good, if a bit preachy.

I'd agree with the preachy comment. I thought Ender's reaction is disproportionate to the situation. I can understand the mental exhuastion, sense of betryal and confusion. The grief over the extinction of an alien race that threatened humanity's existence, not so much.

Yes, the so-called "Xenocide" is justified. The struggle for humanity's survival in the face of bug aggression is not a war, it's a public health campaign. Eliminating the bugs is the moral equivalent of eliminating the small pox virus. It removes a grave threat to all human life.

Never forget that the bugs murdered the first humans they met. Bug apologists will say: "Oh but they're a hive mind, the Formics don't understand that humans are individuals-- they were just trying to communicate!"

I call BS. Even if they thought that all humans were part of a hive mind like theirs, you don't say hello by chopping off the other guy's fingers. That's not communication, that's assault.

Ender needs to get a clue, perhaps some one on one with Starship Troopers' Juan "Johnny" Rico would help him put things in perspective.

Accidents happen...

You do realise that buggers wouldn't attack again after they learned that human race was intelligent right (After Mazer killed first queen)?
So it wasn't justified.
There was no need for xenocide because the buggers stopped all aggression.

The question of justification is really at the core of the sequel, Speaker for the Dead. I think the most interesting approach presented in the series is "Demosthenes' Hierarchy of Foreignness": Utlanning, Framling, Raman, Varelse, and Djur.

As human I might be biased but if it was me I would probably not bring back the buggers. The queens Ender feels so much empathy for psychically enslave the rest of their races who are sentient. Also they have proven themselves to be a grave threat to humanity, they can out-breed us, outfight us and have better technology.
Just because Ender is friendly with them now does not mean this state of affairs will continue forever.
Basically if it boils down to annihilation for them or us then I choose them.

I think the whole point of the bugger war is that it is a metaphor for people misunderstanding different cultures and that Orson Scott Card is attempting to show the tragedy that arose out of misunderstanding and lack of communication between two different but ultimately sentient and intelligent beings.

Because both species look different to each other they fail to accept each other as sentient beings and as such dehumanize (de-buggerize ?) each other. I feel that this is really a message about the importance of looking at foreign cultures with an open mind and to treat the others with a little more respect.

I don't think that the extermination of the buggers was right but that they are justified considering their perspective. It's sad though because it shows how that even though one side was able to be understanding the lack of communication was still the main problem.

I may be a little confused, but when I originally read the novella, yes Ender is horrified that he has wiped out the bugs, but he doesn't try to bring them back, he's left at the end wondering how he'll live with himself knowing he has destroyed an entire sentient race, and is only a kid. What else is he capable of down the road? I'm guessing the author changed the story to enable the series that followed, but when I saw the movie, I didn't recall that whole incident with the surviving queen. He kills them thinking it's a game, and regrets it. End of story.