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timepiececlock((this is a mini-essay that contains no significant spoilers and should be safe to read without damaging your enjoyment of the book/show))
I've finally realized what the anime I've been downloading, Naruto, reminds me of: the book Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card.
It is not as deep as EG, doesn't leave you with that disturbed, unsettled feeling that EG does, and watching it certainly isn't a perception-changing experience that reading EG was for me at 14. However, certain things about both stories are strikingly similar, particularly in the darker tones and in the juxtaposition of children with violence, and the overall realization that these are not normal children. The kids in Naruto are less fucked up than the kids in Ender's Game, but they're still not normal.
The basic premises of the two stories are these:
Ender's Game: ((future earth, about 150 years or so, AU where Cold War still exists, and things are basically much like they are now, except for in the 80 years past Earth had beaten back an alien invasion)) Ender Wiggin, at 6, is a genius child that is recruited into the military to attend a school of genuis children where they will be taught to be military leaders and great commanders. Think of a school that wants to farm people like Alexander The Great and Julius Ceasar and William The Conquerer.
Naruto: ((AU Earth-like world, where technology level is the same except there are no firearms/large explosives, etc, and geography is different)) Naruto Uzumaki is a boy in a hidden village that trains ninjas, and then the ninjas are hired out to various individuals, groups, or communities in surrounding country for various jobs from rescueing the missing cat to assassination. Not every child in the village becomes a ninja, but a lot do--- it's a "company town" kind of thing. While not every child in Naruto's academy are geniuses, some of them are, and all the children are extremely physically and psychically/magically talented. When Naruto turns twelve he graduates the school and becomes a low-ranking ninja, and by that time already knows how to fight enough to kill a non-ninja person, or another ninja of his level.
In both stories, children are being trained to military ideas long before they should, in a way that's frightening when you think about it. Both are learning to kill or to plan how to kill, and both are having the discipline drilled into them while having these talents for violence and combat and conflict nursed and nourished in them. In both situations the children are rewarded for becomming "better" and winning.
Some of the philosophical approaches are very different-- for example, a big theme in Ender's Game is children vs. the adults that teach them, and the Big Lie to society about the school and what goes on and why it exists. The children in EG resent what they're being molded into. In Naruto the situation is different, and the children that become ninja are well aware of what their future will be like, and there is great respect for the teachers, and the teachers have great respect for the pupils. Unlike Ender's Battle School, which exists on an orbiting space sattelite removed from the rest of society, Naruto's school is very integrated into the village's life/society. The unsettling thing in Naruto the further you go in is that not only are they being trained to kill and to win wars and battles for their country, but the tests for becoming higher levels of ninja involve being pitted against each other-- some children as young as 11 and some adults as old as 25, in real combat tests that can be crippling or fatal.
The psychology of children and warfare is a big thing in EG, and it's what makes the book one of my top 5 favorite novels. Just talking about it makes me want to go reread it. The psychological trauma of warping children like this is not a theme in Naruto (though it easily could be, if the creator decided to make it so), rather the themes are more positive-- about being a protector that serves the village and protects the community and achieves glory & personal growth through being a warrior. The ninjas in Naruto are regarded by the village the way most people regard firefighters. Within the ninja training it's very militaristic and nobody gets far that doesn't understand exactly what it is to be a ninja (a soldier.) The question of whether or not this is healthy for children isn't considered at all in Naruto, whereas that's a major theme in Ender's Game.
And this is the paragraph where I wrap up... but I can't think of anything else to say. So bye.
cross-posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
chuunin
I've finally realized what the anime I've been downloading, Naruto, reminds me of: the book Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card.
It is not as deep as EG, doesn't leave you with that disturbed, unsettled feeling that EG does, and watching it certainly isn't a perception-changing experience that reading EG was for me at 14. However, certain things about both stories are strikingly similar, particularly in the darker tones and in the juxtaposition of children with violence, and the overall realization that these are not normal children. The kids in Naruto are less fucked up than the kids in Ender's Game, but they're still not normal.
The basic premises of the two stories are these:
Ender's Game: ((future earth, about 150 years or so, AU where Cold War still exists, and things are basically much like they are now, except for in the 80 years past Earth had beaten back an alien invasion)) Ender Wiggin, at 6, is a genius child that is recruited into the military to attend a school of genuis children where they will be taught to be military leaders and great commanders. Think of a school that wants to farm people like Alexander The Great and Julius Ceasar and William The Conquerer.
Naruto: ((AU Earth-like world, where technology level is the same except there are no firearms/large explosives, etc, and geography is different)) Naruto Uzumaki is a boy in a hidden village that trains ninjas, and then the ninjas are hired out to various individuals, groups, or communities in surrounding country for various jobs from rescueing the missing cat to assassination. Not every child in the village becomes a ninja, but a lot do--- it's a "company town" kind of thing. While not every child in Naruto's academy are geniuses, some of them are, and all the children are extremely physically and psychically/magically talented. When Naruto turns twelve he graduates the school and becomes a low-ranking ninja, and by that time already knows how to fight enough to kill a non-ninja person, or another ninja of his level.
In both stories, children are being trained to military ideas long before they should, in a way that's frightening when you think about it. Both are learning to kill or to plan how to kill, and both are having the discipline drilled into them while having these talents for violence and combat and conflict nursed and nourished in them. In both situations the children are rewarded for becomming "better" and winning.
Some of the philosophical approaches are very different-- for example, a big theme in Ender's Game is children vs. the adults that teach them, and the Big Lie to society about the school and what goes on and why it exists. The children in EG resent what they're being molded into. In Naruto the situation is different, and the children that become ninja are well aware of what their future will be like, and there is great respect for the teachers, and the teachers have great respect for the pupils. Unlike Ender's Battle School, which exists on an orbiting space sattelite removed from the rest of society, Naruto's school is very integrated into the village's life/society. The unsettling thing in Naruto the further you go in is that not only are they being trained to kill and to win wars and battles for their country, but the tests for becoming higher levels of ninja involve being pitted against each other-- some children as young as 11 and some adults as old as 25, in real combat tests that can be crippling or fatal.
The psychology of children and warfare is a big thing in EG, and it's what makes the book one of my top 5 favorite novels. Just talking about it makes me want to go reread it. The psychological trauma of warping children like this is not a theme in Naruto (though it easily could be, if the creator decided to make it so), rather the themes are more positive-- about being a protector that serves the village and protects the community and achieves glory & personal growth through being a warrior. The ninjas in Naruto are regarded by the village the way most people regard firefighters. Within the ninja training it's very militaristic and nobody gets far that doesn't understand exactly what it is to be a ninja (a soldier.) The question of whether or not this is healthy for children isn't considered at all in Naruto, whereas that's a major theme in Ender's Game.
And this is the paragraph where I wrap up... but I can't think of anything else to say. So bye.
cross-posted to
chuunin
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no subject
Date: 2004-01-28 05:33 pm (UTC)The thing that always struck me about EG was the juxaposition of the kids' resentment and their vague sense that they were part of something extraordinary. Or, another way, a vague sense of duty. Also, it's interesting to note that it's their resentment of the adults and the situation that make them work harder, esp. in Ender's case, ie: Dragon Army's final battle.
I have no knowledge of Naruto besides what you've been saying, so I'll take your word on that.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-28 05:37 pm (UTC)That struck me too... Ender resented the adults, but he also knew that maybe he was the best and that without him, maybe they would all die. So he wanted to help. And then there was Graff, manipulating that instinct in him... it was all great.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-28 05:39 pm (UTC)http://a.scarywater.net/naruto/
You need bittorent. It's fantastic though--- watch it!
Everyone should watch it.