In the novel, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, the children all have the ability to think in abstract ways. The government in this book takes advantage of the children’s ability to think in these ways. The adults need the children to be in charge of society because they act on instinct. First, Card shows that because the children act on instinct it allows them to be able to kill others without being aware of that fact. Second, Card shows that the children acting on instinct allows the government to somewhat still be in control. Finally, he shows that their society is blinded by the major control that the government has over the families, mainly the children. First, I will be talking about how Card shows that because the children act …show more content…
In this book, the government makes the children do a lot of their ‘dirty’ work. When they do this it means they are making the children do unpleasant or dishonest tasks for them. Although, some of the children, specifically Ender, have no idea of the things that they are actually doing because they think they are just playing a game. In this book, the government manipulates the children of their society into fighting in a war against the buggers. The government does everything that they possibly can to ensure that some of the children, specifically Ender, do not find out that they are fighting in an actual war not just playing a game. This allows Ender and some of the children to have the ability of not carrying the guilt that any adult would. The government manipulates the children into fighting the war for them because they are no longer able to do it themselves, as Mazer, an admiral in the IF, as well as Ender mentor, claims here. Mazer states, ‘“I was too old and cautious. Any decent person who knows what warfare is can never go into battle with a whole heart. But you didn’t know. We made sure you didn’t know.”’ (Card 298). By saying this to Ender, Mazer is showing not only Ender but the readers that the government was indeed using the children for their own personal gain, which they believed what was best for the whole world. Mazer …show more content…
In some points of this book, the children are naive and do not completely know what is going on around them. This allows the government to be able to manipulate them very easily. But, as the book goes on the readers realise the children are more aware and in fact smarter than the adults in many ways, in both the war and just in general. The government is still able to have some control over the children because they can manipulate them into doing what they want without them knowing. This causes Ender to experience a lot of manipulation from the very beginning of this book. Ender, as well as the other children in this book, continue to suffer from manipulation throughout the whole book. In the beginning of chapter 11 we assume that Graff and Anderson are talking, but we do not know who is saying what. We can infer that Anderson says to Graff, ‘“This is best for Ender, too. We’re bringing him to his full potential.”’ (Card 173). Anderson and Graff always talk about what is ‘best for Ender’, but they are really only thinking about themselves because all they do is push Ender to his breaking point. So is it really what is ‘best for Ender’ or is it what is best for the government? The government manipulates Ender into becoming a soldier and then a commander so that he can eventually win the war, but is that what Ender really wants? Could he be better at doing something
Ender is selected to go to Battle School in space because of the actions he has displayed against a bully after a device known as a monitor, which allows the leaders of the I.F. to watch and hear everything Ender perceives. Although Ender’s conception was predetermined (in this time period, families are only allowed to have two children unless stated by the government which is why Ender is often called a “Third”), he had to display the correct characteristics to be selected. Ender’s siblings, Peter and Valentine also wore the monitor, but neither wore it as long nor was selected because Peter was too cruel and Valentine was too mild. Once Ender arrives, he makes a couple new friends from the other selected children, including a boy named Alai. When Ender is alone, he plays a mind game and progresses farther than anyone has before so out of the blue, Ender becomes promoted to a group called Salamander Army, where he befriends the only girl, Petra Arkanian, at Battle School. As Ender continues to display his brilliance, he is continuously being promot...
Leading up to that he faces enemies and obstacles in the form of bigger kids and the games that he wins thoroughly, to the point where he cannot be beat. He always is one set ahead of whatever is thrown at him. Until Ender finds the Bugger Queen pupa.” Reached into the cavity and took out the cocoon.” (Card 321) Here in this scene Ender is going against what we have come to see as part of who he is. He has the intent to allow the Buggers to rebuild and try to live along side of humans. Normally he destroys something so thoroughly that it can never hurt him or the people he is fighting for again. This is perhaps one of the very best examples of the theme that one’s past does not define them or their
Ender’s game is a science fiction novel written by Orson Scott card it was published in 1985. This book is in the future when in the story earth has been invaded by an alien race and is almost destroyed by the invasion but wins the battle and to prevent earth from being destroyed if they return they create the International fleet which recruits kids an teaches them to be commanders. The chapter that I am going to analyze is chapter one which is called Third. This chapter shows how Ender is being manipulated since the start and how he has to deal with being different by being a third.
Therefore, Ender shows the reader that he takes responsibility as an adult for just waking up early and on time for his battles. Therefor, Ender taking that responsibility must be hard since he's just a kid and has to be responsible for
After years of being monitored by government officials, Ender Wiggins, the main character of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, finds himself completely alone. The loneliness set's in as he finds himself in a new school, away from the watchful eyes of the government and bared to the world. He is a Third. This feeling of being a third makes Ender feel even more isolated, "It was not his fault he was a Third. It was the government's idea, they were the ones who authorized it - how else could a Third like Ender have got into school?" (Card 5). There was no one there to keep the bullies away now. Although he never really liked the monitor, he now found himself alone and missing the advent ages of having it on and knowing that someone, somewhere was always with him and watching him. At battle school, Ender knows that he will be isolated from the other students. Colonel Graff tells the other students of Ender and how superior his talents and intelligence is compared to the rest of the group. The other students don't like Ender and don't trust him. Throughout battle school, Ender is kept from his family and isolated from other children.
... and sister, Peter and Valentine, often reverse these roles and through their intelligence and own manipulative manners, seem to gain control over the adults. Ender, on the other hand, does not wish to exercise influence over anyone and is brutally manipulated by the adults, yet even they are aware of his superior intelligence. There really isn't much difference between the children and the adults in this novel. They are the same, if not more advanced in intelligence. Even with the deceit and manipulation, the commanders know that the children must be taken seriously. They are the ones who are capable of not only killing, manipulating and hating, but also of creating and helping.
One reason that shows that this book is anti-war is how Ender’s life changed in a bad way. For example, when Ender found out that he was not playing a game, but he was really commanding armies to fighting the bugger, he cried “I didn’t want to kill them all. I didn’t want to kill anybody! I’m not a killer! You didn’t want me, you bastard, you wanted Peter, but you made me do it, you tricked me into it!” (Card, 297). This quote explains that after killing the buggers Ender is somehow showing that he is not himself anymore. The war has forced him to kill the buggers or anyone without knowing. Even though he found out in the end, but he still can not control the shockness and guiltiness of killing anyone since he never wanted to kill anyone but he did, and he had to, in order to go back to his
Through the entire story, we watch as Ender is manipulated and wronged by authority figures. He does not receive the love, affection and care that parents are supposed to deliver to their children. He is constantly being physically and mentally abused by his older brother and school bullies, yet no adult ever comes to his rescue. This pattern isn’t just apparent during his life on Earth because it continues and follows him as he moves on to battle school. A specific example of this can be seen as him and his launch group are making the journey to the school for the first time. During this trip Graft makes a show of telling all the other launchees how impressive Ender is, which results in him being repeatedly struck in the head. Not only does this authority figure fail to intervene and help Ender, but as the abuse continues Ender has a sudden realization. “Then it had become clear. Graft had deliberately caused it”(Card, 32). This example shows how someone who
In the beginning of the book, Ender is ashamed when his decisions harm others. After receiving ‘special treatment’ on his way to Battle School, Ender is being harassed
After much internal debate Ender decides to go to battle school and leave home. He knows he won’t see his family until he is at least 12 but most likely he will have to wait until he is 16. When Ender is inside the ship on the way to battle school, the adults start their manipulation game. Graff calls out Ender as the only one who will save mankind, making the other kids hate Ender and become envious. Ender already lost the chance at having a normal childhood when he was born a third, but he was also considered to be the chosen one to save mankind from the very beginning. The manipulation of Ender is shown through the book and the children at the school either take part in his abuse or ignore the adults who cause it. Through this abusive training tactic Ender becomes the skilled fighter and leader the government wants. Ender gets moved through the program fast. He gets to the command school at age 9, a school no one can go to until they are sixteen. The adults tell him he will be doing simulations to practice the attacks on the buggers, but after the last simulation he finds out he killed the entire bugger species. The novel shows Ender to be morally innocent throughout his story, but he takes on the guilt of xenocide of the buggers. He is shocked at what he did, even when he didn’t know what he’s doing. Ender loses his innocence at this moment. He knew he was being manipulated by the adults throughout his career at the battle schools, but he had no idea he was being manipulated into exterminating a whole race. When he realizes what he did he goes into another depression slump and does not come out of his room for days. He doesn’t understand why he was manipulated into what he
Throughout the book, Enders Game it is arduous to establish what it authentically denotes to have human rights. The regime relies on children to preserve the world from the buggers. They are treated like they are adults and are purloined of their youth. Ender realizes that the adults are manipulating the children and his cognizance of what is right and what is not is what preserves the world from the manipulation from the adults. Because of Ender kenning what is right and was is not and withal is authentic this is what he does that culminates up preserving the Earth from extirpation. In Orson Scott Card’s novel, the Ender’s Game shows how in authentic life that children can be utilized in Warfare, which they are called “child soldiers”, and
Throughout the novel, the adults use the children's innocence in order to manipulate them. To begin, the adults cover their true identities, as controlling personnel, by portraying themselves as good people to the children. While Colonel Graff and Anderson are conversing they say, "' I like the kid. I think we're going to screw him up.' 'Of course we are. It's our job. We're the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, but we eat the little bastards alive'". (Card 10) The adults explicitly state that they use the children's innocence to control them, they display one thing but have an outcome of another. By choosing methods of manipulation that appeal to children, the adults influence the children’s actions as they do things they naturally wouldn’t perform. Furthermore, the adults control every component of the soldier's lives. While reflecting Ender says, "I've spent my life as someone's pawn"(312). The adults choose Ender’s ultimate fate and every other small factor. They have an upper hand in their relationship, hence Ender refers to them as the chess player determining each of his moves. Furthermore, the adults use Ender’s obliviousness to manipulate him to reach their life goal. After the battle with the Buggers, Mazer explains, “You had to be a weapon, Ender. Like a gun, like the little doctor, functioning perfectly but not knowing what you were aimed at. We a...
In Orson Scott Card’s novel, Enders Game, at the age of six, Ender is chosen by Colonel Graff and the International Fleet to help save mankind from the buggers. However, through his journey, he experiences manipulation and deception from significant figures that surround his life. This deceit from Colonel Graff, Valentine, and Mazor Rackham is focused on defeating the buggers in the Third Invasion.
One key component that is produced through Ender’s struggles at his young age is self-reliance. Ender is born unto a family where he is seen as an outcast; he’s a “third.” In a world where population control is major concern, a third-born child is looked upon in disgust. He is isolated even before he is brought into the world. John Kessel reveals his insights into Card’s interpretation of Ender’s exploitation when he says,” Orson Scott Card presents a harrowing tale of abuse. Ender’s parents and older brother (. . .) either ignore the abuse of Ender or participate in it” (Kessel 1). No one contributes more to this abuse than his older brother, Peter. Along with his birth, jealousy and hatred are especially common towards Ender. This disapproving outlook is particularly apparent from Peter. Peter let’s Ender know hi...
The lines that define good and evil are not written in black and white; these lines tend to blur into many shades of grey allowing good and evil to intermingle with each another in a single human being. Man is not inherently good or evil but they are born innocent without any values or sense of morality until people impart their philosophies of life to them. In the words of John Locke: