Ender's Game Injustice Quotes

“Were like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.” In this quote evil masquerades as mentor. Card employs symbolism to comment on the injustice in authoritarian systems. Ender innately understands and fights against injustice, he fails as often as he succeeds but overcomes eventually. Ender’s struggle relates to a central theme of the work, Injustice is omnipresent in most military based societies.
Enders search for justice is a nearly impossible one it is characterized by authority. Card uses the authority figures in Enders Game to demonstrate the injustice that makes Ender’s life difficult. At one point ender says, “It’s the teachers, they’re the enemy. They get us to fight each other, to hate each other.”

Ender knows he is being unjustly treated but he needs to know, by whom. He decides that since authority controls his life they are the ones treating him badly. As a result he doesn’t respect them, he internally rebels against them until he has an opportunity to rebel more openly. Also Card shows Ender’s unjust treatment by his brother peter. “And peter wont hate me any anymore ill come home and show that the monitor is gone, and he’ll see that I didn’t make it either. He’ll forgive me that I had my monitor a whole year longer than him.” Peter’s extreme jealousy and inclination to hurt others make him dangerous to compete with, but Ender does just that, and as a result peter treats him terribly. All Ender wants is for Peter to treat him fairly; he is searching from justice from his own family.
Also in this story Ender’s, search for justice is somewhat successful. He has moments where he outsmarts the authority that holds him down. Card wants suspense in the book so he introduces a mental war between Ender and Colonel Graff. They both have some victories. “I have to win this now, and for all time or I’ll fight every day and it will get worse and worse.” Ender is often in unequal, and unfair situations yet Ender finds a way to flip the odds into his favor, and make things even. He ends up killing both people who try to fight him. Ender’s successes are also expressed when Colonel Graff says, “There’s only one thing that will make them stop hating you and that is being so good at what you do they can’t ignore you, I told them you were the best. Now you damn well better be.” Ender finds himself in a position to be the best. He realizes that the only way to be treated fairly at his age, is to be in charge. He gets to this point, but ends up treating his pawns (the buggers) unjustly when he blows up their entire planet. By doing this, he is no longer needed and can be free from his military oppressors.
Furthermore the terrible injustice of Ender’s life helps shape quite a few central themes in this novel, I noticed quite a few became very prominent as the book progressed.

For example, “I can’t help that I’m bigger than you. If you’re such a genius, figure out how to handle me yourself.” This saying by Bonzo (one of the people Ender fights) helps shape the theme that, injustice can only be applied by an aggressor. This theme is used constantly throughout the book. Ender finds that he is sometimes the aggressor in times when he is attacking the enemy ships or friends in a simulated war game. More often though he is on the defensive. Ender didn’t decide he wanted to fight someone bigger that him but as the aggressors they don’t give him agency to choose whether or not to fight. One of his oppressors says “I’ll lie to him” “And if that doesn’t work” “I’ll tell him the truth were allowed to do that sometimes in emergencies, we can’t plan for everything you know. This quote helps shape another theme, that only through can one have justice. In a lot of cases where Ender is treated unjustly it is because he was lied to. Colonel Graff is the main culprit. In that quote Graff implies they consistently lie to Ender; the truth is a last resort. This demonstrates the central theme of injustice throughout the

book.
In conclusion Card employs symbolism to comment on the injustice in authoritarian systems. Ender innately understands and fights against injustice, he fails as often as he succeeds but overcomes eventually. Ender’s struggle relates to a central theme of the work, Injustice is omnipresent in most military based societies. Remember when live are at stake human kindness goes out the window.