Speaker for the Dead

“The difference between raman and varelse is not in the creature judged, but in the creature judging. When we declare an alien species to be raman, it does not mean that they have passed a threshold of moral maturity. It means that we have.”

Demosthenes’s remarks introduce The Importance of Cross-Cultural Empathy, signaling that this theme is one of the most important within the text. Card stresses that premature and uninformed judgments of others lead to misunderstandings, conflict, and violence, while acceptance of another species demonstrates morality. The importance of accepting those who are different from oneself runs throughout Speaker for the Dead and the other books in the Ender’s Series.

“Was it something unavoidable, when strangers met, that the meeting had to be marked with blood?”

Ender’s internal question reflects the earlier encounter with the formics, during which the hive queen initially killed a few humans, not knowing that each human has a unique and complete consciousness. Humans responded by manipulating Ender into destroying the formics’ planet. The question is also intended to make readers apply the concept to the real world.

“I carry the seeds of death within me and plant them wherever I linger long enough to love.”

Novinha blames herself for her parents’ deaths and for Pipo’s death. Through this emerges her primary character flaw, which is a habit of independently deciding what is best for her loved ones and acting on those decisions regardless of the pain they cause to herself and others. She often welcomes pain because she believes she deserves to be punished.