what is the major theme of this novel? why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2008?

The theme for Ender's game is that ruthlessness is sometimes necessary. Now I am not talking about fighting and killing. I am talking about being tough and strict. The reason why I think this is the theme of the book is that many acts of ruthlessness occured in the book. And there was always a valid reason for it. For instance, when Ender was being ganged up upon in the beginning of the book, he had no other choice but to brutally beat up the leader. He tried to talk it out peacefully but that was a futile attempt. He knew that if he just threw a few punches that they would just come back to finish the job they started. So he had to instill fear into them and make sure they would never come back to bully him. The only way was to damage the leader badly, and Ender killed the leader without having the intention to. That was just one fight that Ender had to face, and many more of these similar situations occur again later in the book. Another example is how strict the teachers were on the kids in Battleschool. However, their strictness was necessary because that was the only way they would be able to train kids who would save the world. Imagine if the kids were just left to play around anytime they wanted, or come late to appointments. The school would just be full of hooligans who would prove to be useless in real battles against aliens. Teachers were especially strict on Ender, so that they would be able to bring out the best of him. They wanted to see how much he could handle, and whether he would be a perfect commander. Sometimes you need to be hard on people in order to help the future. Sometimes you need to destroy instead of just attacking.

This theme is important to a teenager living in the current time because it will teach them that attacking for no reason is stupid. Teenagers should learn that fighting out a argument should always be the last second resort. They should only fight when they know that they are going to brutally harmed. This theme will also help teenagers understand why teachers give homework and detentions. Why schools give suspensions and probations. Without these punishments how would the students act accordingly. Punishments and assignments are set with the intention to help out students in life and to teach them to take the iniative to do the right thing.