Practical Philosophy, Wednesday

[endsthegame]

"Since we're quickly beginning to approach the end of the summer, I thought it might be worth it to examine the opposite end of the questions I asked you at the start," Ender said. "Specifically, how much have you changed since you got here? How do you see your future, on the island or off? Has the island been an interruption in your life, to be skipped past and left there once you graduate? Or has it forged lasting changes that will stick with you in the times ahead?"

He smiled briefly.

"I realize this isn't a particularly philosophical series of questions," he said. "But it's something worth reflecting on, not just with me, but between yourselves. I have a feeling your viewpoints will be as diverse as you are."

He sat back.

"But to pull it larger: do you think there's a shared experience here on this island? Something similar we all take away from it? Or none at all?"

Comments

Re: Talk.

[genesishero]

"I think my time on the island hasn't been so much a reflection as... as a fresh start, maybe," Evan offered. "You know, an interlude from everything crazy and difficult to swallow back in my own reality, where I can find my feet again. I don't think I would have been able to do it there. I mean, I'm pretty far away from a lot of the things that have made me question so much, and I'm still a little lost. At least here, I've had friends who kind of get it, and people to talk to who look past what the lines on my face mean and listen to me."

He shrugged his shoulders a little.

"I don't know what my future holds, but wherever it takes me, I think this helped me do something better with it."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Do you think you'll be able to keep your feet when you leave?" Ender asked. "They'll be challenged much more than they might be here."

Re: Talk.

[genesishero]

"I'm going to try," Evan replied, shrugging again. "I know a little more about my own limitations and shortcomings, I know what happens when I lose my temper, and I have a better idea about how to keep myself under control of... myself... than I ever did."

It kind of helped, knowing who and what he was. He'd had no idea, before, and had been blindsided by things like anger and hurt after a whole childhood spent with no reason to feel either.

"And I won't be completely alone, either," he added. "It might seem silly, but I'll have Ozzy and Old Lace to help keep me grounded, too. They'll make it easier, even if there's nobody else there."