Angelica Nutterfield 4/24/15 ELA Ender’s Game Final Essay Themes Ender’s Game Themes Ender’s Game gives the reader the idea in which manipulation is okay, is this true? Would you like it if someone was to rip away everything you know and fed you lies that you believe, and then using you to commit genocide? Probably not, so one must prepare themselves for when the time comes. Mankind can be very manipulative. The first manipulative character that is introduced is Peter, Ender’s older brother. We do not see really how manipulative he is, the conversations between the siblings are the only clues and insight into how Peter’s mind works. Peter has made people believe that he is a great role model, a young genius, and obedient. In reality, Peter …show more content…
has no compassion, threatening and is extremely intelligent, he constantly jokes with the idea of murdering his siblings and most likely he would if he could. He is not the only manipulative Wiggen child, although he is the most candor and open about it. His sadistic and ruthless sense of the world has made him mean, but he knows how others feel around him, and he uses that to pick out their weaknesses and exploits them to benefit his needs and no ones elses, unless of course that is the best course of action for him. We see in the book that Valentine and Peter end up using the internet to control the ideas and minds of other people. In the end Peter becomes the world leader by doing this, he manipulated Valentine and the world. Turning the focus onto Colonel Graff, a interesting character in the book. At first one would mistrust this man, but as the book continues we get an insight into his “love” for Ender. He seemed to have put all of his eggs into Ender’s basket because he is the last one, their last glimmer of hope. Knowing what he and the other adults would have to put Ender through, and he had to grit his teeth and go along with it. He believes that his manipulation is somewhat okay because in order for the plans to go through they have to give him tough love. Near the end of the book Graff’s character leaves and this hurts not only him, but Ender. Graff had become a friend and trusted companion of the Wiggen boy, and he basically drifts away. This leads into the conflict of Mazer and Colonel Graff, they seem to exchange harsh, prodding words to one another, over Ender’s well-being and mental state. That is the last we hear of him until further along. The last character is both a manipulative person and victim.
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
point everything Ender knows is a lie, Mazer Rackham -his teacher- tells him that the war games Ender is playing are against him and Ender. In reality, Ender is killing aliens here and there, and at some points sacrificing his own fleets with real people in them. The wars are real and millions of lives are lost because of them, they end up attacking the Bugger’s home planet, killing the entire species. When it is all over, Mazer walks in and the adults are celebrating the victory, Ender and his commanders are left wondering. Thats when the news is put on blast, and all the dirty little secrets are revealed. Would Ender have done what he had done, if he known the effects and repercussions that it would cause? So, what do you think? Is all this manipulation worth it, can it be justified? Peter is manipulative by nature, he was born with the self-preservation mode on overdrive. Colonel Graff uses Ender, but feels wrong while doing it, but he believes that it is the only way. They have no more time, no more resources and no more patience to wait and do it nicer. Then there is Ender, a young boy, stripped away from his world, loved ones, and humanity. He is no angel, but he wasn’t created to be one, he was built to be a weapon.
Introduction: Ender is one of the main characters in this book, Ender is intelligent on and off the battlefield he is the youngest in the salamander army but he is more skillful than anyone else in the army. The book Ender’s game is written by Dr son Scott Card, This book was the Hugo and Nebula winner.
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 […] Alexander the Great […] Peter only to detect anger or boredom, the dangerous moods that almost always led to pain.”(Card) From the passage I can come to the conclusion that Ender has good perception on other people’s behavior and that he feels negatively about Peter. "Let him be the astronaut for once"(Card) Ender always plays the bugger, the weak underdog whilst
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.
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...
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
This Chapter begins with two mysterious characters having a conversation describing Ender and his two siblings. They decide that the Ender is the one they need to save the world from the buggers they say they have doubts about him just as they did about his brother and sister. The story begins with Ender a six year old boy having his monitor removed that device allows the authorities to see what he is thinking and his emotions his brother peter hates him because ender had the moni...
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.
Most of the children know about the web of deceit and the manipulation, including Ender who works around it because of his own beliefs of his own purpose. Although he is needed in the mission to save the world, from Ender's point of view he needs to do this for Valentine. Or is he just tricking himself into thinking this? Ender realizes there is deceit by the IF and teachers. They deceived Ender into thinking that Valentine's letter was sincerely written by her. Ender realizes that he is being deceived and manipulated, his thoughts were, "It isn't the real thing because they made her write it. She's written before and they didn't let any of those letters through. Those might have been real, but this was asked fo...
Throughout the novel, Peter has symbolized evil and manipulation. Valentine on the other hand stood for love and happiness, hope, future, and everything good. Taking this into account, this quote is obviously trying to highlight something much more, beyond the novel; it’s trying to illustrate the universal struggle between good and bad. Peter Wiggin has been harassing Ender his entire life, on both an emotional and physical caliber. It’s no doubt he’s become one of the more influential aspects of Ender’s life. But it’s Valentine who is always there to save him, and
Ender’s Game: Valentine’s Character Development. Compassionate, empathetic, and witty. It was obvious from the moment Valentine Wiggin first appeared in Ender’s Game that she possessed these traits. These three traits, as well as her ability to be protective, are showcased very early on in the story. By the end of the book, Valentine has become a powerful, mature, and fearless young woman.
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
Throughout the novel, Ender gradually begins to realize that he is not so different from his brother Peter. Ender grew up being punished and beaten up just for being a third who was smarter than Peter. This explains why Ender wants nothing to do with him when he leaves home. The mind game periodically reminds Ender that he is not completely different from him through certain levels. On the first obstacle that proved difficult, he brutally
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...
During the book ender plays many battle games, intelligence games, and mind games. It basically turns enders life into a game, or saying life is “Ender's game”. Next, there is the part where Ender destroys the Bugger (alien) army he believes it is just a game. The leaders of the schools tell Ender that it is just a simulation, just a game, but really it ends up he is leading the real armies to beat the buggers. Once again there is a game, Ender's game. Throughout the book it is constantly telling you low key that life is Ender’s game, that he can do whatever. Lastly, one of the mind games ender plays ends up being real in real life. In this game ender kills a giant, and explore this magical land. In this land Ender kills a giant and explores the playground area next to a forest where there is this castle. Representing Ender's game, The buggers somehow built this magical land on one of their planets with the giant and castle and
In present society, humans constantly use others for their own intentions. In the novel, Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card characters use people's naivety to their own advantage. The adults in this novel use the children's innocence for their own nefarious purposes and consequently, manipulating the children leads to having powerful individuals as the story progresses.