Ender Wiggen’s Journey as the Valiant Hero and as a Christ Figure In Orson Scott Card’s novel, “Ender’s Game”, you have a story about a young man who is called out to fulfill the needs of many. Ender has a respective set of skills that make him stand out among the others. One of them is that he has the knowledge and the compassion to understand the enemy. This wonderful skill that Ender has is the motivating force that drives him to complete his journey from the beginning to the end. On the other hand, you have Ender having the ability to be Christ, or otherwise, a Christ Figure. The leading key ideas are that “Ender, like Christ, […] acts as a mediator between mankind and the higher beings”. He is also “playing a sacrificial role to save …show more content…
Earth”, in addition to “working with twelve disciples, [like Christ]”. (Kilborn D2L). Ender as Christ Figure surprises me because I never thought or saw him even being one in the first place.
Ender has proven himself that he is capable in all odds of being credited as the Christ Figure. He has gone through so much in his journey, from being accepted to a whole new society to being the person that everyone looks up to, Ender has given everything that he has to give to win the battle at the end of the day. To define what it means to be a Christ Figure in Literature, “A Christ Figure, also known as a Christ-Image is a literary technique that the author uses to draw allusions between their characters and the biblical Jesus Christ. The Christ Figure is a spiritual or prophetic character who parallels Jesus, or other spiritual or prophetic figures.” (Wikimedia …show more content…
Foundation). By using this information of what the author uses to draw allusions between their characters and the biblical Jesus Christ, we can deduce the fact that Jesus Christ was the one who saved us all (he cleansed us of our sins) and that Jesus Christ was the one whom everybody looked up to. Ender follows the same roots of Jesus Christ where you have everybody looking up to Ender because of what he has done to earn that position and title. At the end, Ender has defeated the buggers at a great cost by completely destroying them in a battle with unlikely odds on Ender's part. Even though Ender has won the biggest battle that he yet had to fight, he knew he was used. Even his teachers knew this as well, however, Ender did get an explanation to why the Command School needed him so badly. It was because of his knowledge and the compassion he had to understand the enemy. For example, Ender was smart enough to figure out how the buggers were able to fight at their prime. Moreover, with the capabilities that Ender has, people view him as a Christ Figure through his power that no humans are capable of. On the other hand, Ender was told that everything that he saw in his eyes was not a game.
They wanted Ender to see that it was a game because this would insure that the humans would be victorious over the buggers. Because of this, Ender has suffered a great ordeal of losses in everything such as life, love, family, and friendship. At this point of my explanation, we can clearly see that Ender does suffice enough to be a Christ Figure because he began his journey with a full heart and now he is ending his journey with nothing left but a new world to live in with Valentine, while trying to find a safe place for the Queen Bugger to live. This is his last and most important mission of all. It looks like as if Ender is beginning a whole new journey. Truth be told, Ender is done, but he has that final step to go before he can call out to home and finally live the rest of days free of
everything. Although Ender resembles Christ in many ways, he is also a valiant hero. With the power he was born with (being a 3rd), he has a bigger set of specialized skills. According to Orson Scott Card, Ender is characterized as a hero who learns not from the humans, but the buggers, “So it was from the buggers, not the humans, that Ender learned strategy. He felt ashamed and afraid of learning from them, since they were the most terrible enemy, ugly and murderous and loathsome. But they were also very good at what they did. To a point.” (Card 82). The valiance that we see in Ender comes from his ability to overachieve and to learn anything that a human simply cannot do. For example, when Ender was able to hack the Battle School, he not only gained the respect of the people from the Battle School, but he gained a role of leadership that plays out well into the story. In other words, what we see in Ender as a hero is that we see him being that typical hotshot where he needs to prove himself in the beginning to be accepted into this formidable society where 30th Century technology exists. The part where Ender needed to prove himself as the hero was the beginning steps of his journey. As Ender began to study and learn more about his purpose, he began to follow the lines of the Monomyth in a fashionable manner. Once our hero Ender reached the point where he was at the stage of transformation and atonement, he knew that something in great proportions was going to occur. The reality that gets to the readers the most is that Ender never knew that he was actually fighting in a real fight. The truth in the very end was what broke the spirit of Ender the hero. Everything was lost for him, his valiance, his strength, his heart, and everything else that meant so much to him. To conclude, there is much to learn from this wonderful story. Ender Wiggin’s is a character that should be a role model for inspiring readers from all ages. Not only did Ender become a figure of Christ but he also was remembered as the valiant hero that everybody looked up to. What amazes me the most is how these two key ideas relate in ways that are complex yet remarkable. In the end, Ender fulfilled what was needed of him. He conquered the perils of the hero’s journey and because of that, he is a hero of much worth and dignity.
The Enders Game written by Orson Scott Card provides understanding of the characters and their relationships with others through indirect characterization and diction. Orson Scott Card uses literacy devices and specific word choice to let the reader draw conclusions about the characters and the relationships between Peter and Ender, the symbolism of the bugger mask/bugger-astronaut game, and the foreshadowing of Peter and Valentines death. The author reveals the relationship between Peter and Ender through Peter’s perception of Ender and the astronaut-bugger game. “Ender did not see Peter as […]
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.
...not allow him to leave. Lastly, Ender was lied to and forced through battle simulations which ended up killing an entire race without his knowledge.
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
Thomas C. Foster in his work How to Read Literature Like a Professor argues that even though characters may display evil characteristics, their religious values overpower and express “themselves in connection with the [character’s] role within society” (Foster 125). Literary characters may display some of the same characteristics as Christ while accomplishing actions with “redemption, hope, or miracle” (132). Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby symbolically resembles a Christ figure—sacrificing himself to save Daisy from the law, outstretching his arms towards hope, and coming to West Egg to retrieve Daisy’s unworthy world.
Nearly everyone is familiar with the character of Christ. While understandings of Christ as a figure of faith may vary, he is universally recognized as a historical figure. The world knows that Christ was called “Son of God,” he called people to love, and he died a painful death on the cross. He has become such an important figure that images of him show up frequently in literature. Thomas Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, outlines a wide range of characteristics common in Christ-like figures. In his list of descriptors, Foster suggests characters might be Christ figures if they have wounds reminiscent of the crucifixion, suffer in agony, or are self-sacrificing—and this is only the beginning of his list (126). Readers repeatedly identify Christ figures in literature, both because of the well-known characteristics Foster describes in his chapter on Christ figures and because readers find them through their own understandings. In Yu Hua’s
One trait that Ender and Valentine share are their overwhelming sense of compassion, in other words, their sympathy and concern for the suffering and misfortune of others. Enders strong sense of compassion is clear when he shows his remorse to Graff, the head of Battle School who manipulates Ender on many occasions, after coming to the realization that he committed Xenocide without his knowledge. He is angry and crying while accusing Graff of tricking him, to which Graff replies explaining exactly why they needed to trick him; his compassion: “It had to be a trick or you couldn’t have done it…. We had to have a commander with so much empathy that he would think like the buggers, understand them and anticipate them…. But somebody with that much compassion could never be the killer we needed.” (Card 298). Graff clearly states why Ender’s compassion was needed in order to save the wo...
...is enemy, he became the most ruthless and yet most compassionate commander the world has ever seen in all the wars the human race has withstood. Above all, however, isolation is the tool that made all the attributes transparent and viable to Ender and to the I.F. Beyond the war, Ender became more than just a tool to be used; he became a savior. A savior of not only one, but two different races bent on destroying each other. Ender became the very definition of Hope.
...dn’t want to kill anybody! I’m not a killer! You didn’t want me, you bastards, you wanted Peter, but you made me do it, you tricked me into it!’ He was crying. He was out of control.” So, you should believe that Ender did the things he did out of love for his commanders and the fact that he trusted them in and through everything. He is not guilty.
In Ender’s Game, the International Fleet manipulates Ender as well as many other kids into perpetuating the society as it is in order to prevent change. This is first evident in Card’s use of a simile as Ender sums up his life at Battle School when he states, “I’ve spent my life as someone’s pawn” (Card 241). Card demonstrates that the International Fleet treats Ender as a ‘pawn’ in order to fulfill their needs at his expense. In reality, a pawn is an object that is manoeuvred and controlled to serve the needs of the controller not the pawn. In this example, Card alludes to the idea that Ender is being controlled to show how an authority that abuses power can compromise an individual as well as a society. In particular, the International Fleet’s trick on Ender of killing the alien species shows their abuse of power as Ender says, "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 bastards, you wanted Peter, but you made me do it, you tricked me into it!"(Card 229). This illustrates how Ender has lost his autonomy as the International Fleet manoeuvred his mind in order to exploit him for their own purposes. Ender is evidently troubled as he lost his ability to make decisions based on his own values and instead perpetuates a
Ender at the beginning of the story is a shy, bit of a pushover kid. He has grown up for six years with his older siblings Valentine and Peter, both have helped course and mold Enders’ personality and emotions. Peter, as was mentioned earlier, is the oldest of the Wiggin Family. The most self-serving and emotionally unavailable of the three young children. His violent actions and words towards Ender have shaped him so that he is quite, considerate, and knows how to handle himself in tough situations. This leads Ender to take situations to the next level. A good example is when Stilson confronts Ender when he is at a disadvantage, what with his monitor being taken out. Stilson plans on beating Ender up, because thats what bullies tend to do at times, but instead Ender catches him off guard and knocks him to the floor. That should be it, done, over with, but Ender sees ahead,“...End all the fights that would come” by kicking the boy repeatedly and this results in Stilson’s death; Ender didn’t know this at the time. Valentine has done the opposite of Ender, she taught him compassion and love. This makes Ender a well rounded person, who has both the characters of Peter and Valentine. He soon makes his way up the barracks at Battle School, making a big impact on to how the school’s technology and efforts in their teaching. Near the middle of the book, he is sent to Command School to learn even more about war. At this
Ender faces trials all throughout his journey, he is given choices that will not only affect himself, but possibly all of humanity. Ender has many goals to achieve throughout the story, but first he must overcome the trials given to him. He must first overcome his brother, Peter, the Giants Drink, and finally the adults who run the Battle School (Card 80). After Ender completes all his trials and reaches the final goal, he has shown how he is able to behave like a hero even when his journey becomes difficult or even impossible. Ender overcomes many trials on his way to becoming a hero,
Initially, in the beginning, Ender was a pushover. Before, Ender entered battle school he was harassed by his childhood bully Stilson. But then the monitor implanted in Ender was removed and the next time Stilson decided to harass Ender, it did not go well. Stilson was met with an enraged Ender who literally stomped the bully out of Stilson. At that point Ender has changed
The theme of Ender’s game is to show that pushing someone to the end of their wits can have a good turnout. In the first chapter Ender gets his monitor removed, and then he has to defend himself and fight Stilson. Ender’s whole story is a symbol.
Ender has always despised and feared Peter for his short and hot temper. He has always feared becoming his brother one day, so much that if he does anything violent he shrivels at the thought of changing for the worse. During “The Giant”, a game the Ender seemed to devote an odd amount of time to, he looks at the animated children who have begun to laugh at him and thinks to himself how much “[he] wanted to hit them, to throw them into the brook” (Pg. 71). He has began to no longer contain his anger in a calm way, he now only seems to solve his problems with violence, something that I think our humanity has come to, too. Most people have changed from the kind, smiling human beings that previously made up humanity into tough skined souls in order to survive in this world of harm. Fifty years ago, parents didn’t have to worry about their children getting kidnapped during a late night bike ride. Now, adults must go through advanced background checks just to volunteer in their community. In order to survive in this world, you must change, change into a person that knows how humanity really functions.