It is for this reason that Ender is recruited by the International Fleet and sent to Battle School. Over his years in school, Ender echoes his fight with Stilson in conflicts with his jealous rival Bonzo Madrid, with opponents in the “ battleroom,” and eventually with the Buggers, the alien force that he’s asked to kill. Each time, Ender’s kindness and empathy allow him to understand others …
Sep 10, 2011 · Answers 1. Add Yours. Answered by Aslan on 9/10/2011 2:51 PM. Peter has the makings of a sociopath. He constantly bullies and belittles his brother Ender. Peter is jealous when Ender is singled out to join the prestigious Battle School and he is not.
One simple change that Ender goes through over the course of the book is a simple aging process. He is six years old when the book begins and …
Feb 24, 2014 · The eponymous character in (South African director) Gavin Hood’s film adaptation (2013) of the first of Orson Scott Card’s series of six science fiction novels, Ender’s Game, is such a complex personality, and although the film’s running time does not allow the director to dwell at length on the uncomfortable consequences of such a ...
He’s young, he’s small, he’s the third child in a family, and so on. For those reasons, Ender is the target of bullies at his Earth school and the Battle School. In the beginning, Ender is a fearful child and afraid of retaliating and defending himself because he fears that he would be similar to his sadistic brother, Peter. As Ender encounters more and more bullying, he begins to understand that in order to not be a target, he needs to stand up for himself. He first does this with Stilson, and Ender ends up killing him. By chapter twelve, Ender fully understands the importance of standing up for himself and pressing any advantage over an enemy.
Learning that some latent Buggers survived in egg form, he shows compassion for their species and plans to atone for his deeds.
He refused to feel weak because he was wet and cold and unclothed. He stood strongly, facing them, his arms at his sides. He fastened his gaze on Bonzo.
Ender’s Game is primarily a coming-of-age story in which the protagonist develops as he works through a series of challenges.
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But there is another “game” in the narrative: a game that Ender plays on a tablet, which seems to blend with his dreams, and the development of which turns out to be only partly determined by his decisions and moves, and partly by what emanates from “others” in the game or dreams, arguably through his own empathy.
The title of the film/book is ambiguous: the final battle preparation assumes the form of an elaborate “game” of simulation orchestrated by Ender with the support of his officers, involving all the IF forces as well as those of the Formics (directed by Mazer Rackham). Even before this, in a huge zero-gravity space, we witness a combat “war-game” between teams of fighters wielding non-lethal “freeze-guns” (where Ender first displays his tactical genius). But there is another “game” in the narrative: a game that Ender plays on a tablet, which seems to blend with his dreams, and the development of which turns out to be only partly determined by his decisions and moves, and partly by what emanates from “others” in the game or dreams, arguably through his own empathy. As might be expected, the alien “others” are implicated in this.
Add to this that I read somewhere (I forget the source) that Ender’s Game (the first in the series of what is regarded as “military science fiction” novels by Orson Scott Card) is compulsory reading for cadets in military training somewhere in the US, and it becomes even more interesting as far as the motive behind such prescribed reading goes ( on the assumption that it is true). This makes one think of the saying among US sports teams, that “Winning is not everything; it is the ONLY thing!” Clearly, the time for what used to be known as healthy sportsmanship is over, and gamesmanship reigns supreme in this context.
It is probably unnecessary to give an elaborate account of the film-plot; science fiction aficionados who read this blog would have seen it anyway. (I shall leave the novel mostly aside for the moment; Hood’s film script deviates from the novel’s plot in some respects and glosses over it in others; understandably, because covering the novel “faithfully” in a film would require one at least three or four times the length of this one.)
Orson Scott Card has compensated for what may be perceived as a dangerously flawed character by developing the quality of empathy on his protagonist’s part, as one of the motive forces in some of the sequels to Ender’s Game. I am thinking specifically of Speaker for the Dead, which could be described as a narrative of redemption. Even in the novel, Ender’s Game, this motif already stirs conspicuously nearer the end (much more so than in the film), and were it not for this fact, it might have been less convincing as a display of insight into human psychological complexity.
All throughout his time in Battle School, protagonist Ender Wiggin is confronted by dozens of puzzles and tests designed to mold him into a ruthless and efficient military leader. Often these tests have grossly unfair odds or seem to have no win condition, and it is only by defying the internal logic of these “games” that Ender manages to prevail.
Ender’s mind makes him foreign to them, something alien and unknowable—al most unhuman in its power.
Ender himself is just six years old when the novel begins, and often must resort to violence to resolve his problems, against both a mysterious alien enemy and his fellow humans. And while his actions are almost always justified—when Ender fights, he’s always either provoked, defending himself, or ordered to attack—the novel never glamorizes the violent acts its young protagonist commits.
They prey on his youth. Ender may be intelligent, but he’s still only ten years old by the end of the book. There’s a lot he doesn’t know about the world, and he’s spent almost half his life in the controlled environment of Battle School.
For instance: in a zero-gravity combat simulator, Ender quickly realizes that the lack of gravity renders traditional directional thinking useless. This leads him to conclude that “the enemy’s gate is down ,” rather than forward, as it had been presented; merely by reorienting his thinking, Ender is able to master the game and dominate his opponents over and over again.
Of course, this seclusion is by design: Battle School’s organizers want to isolate Ender to improve his focus and suppress his empathy, but even this raises its own questions. Do intelligent people need to be lonely? Do they choose seclusion themselves, or do we as a society force it upon them? Why do we choose to revere the best and brightest among us instead of trying to relate to them?
One game in this simulation, called The Giant’s Drink, is particularly vexing to our hero. In the game, a giant cyclops presents the player with two strange drinks, and demands that he or she choose one to consume. One is poisoned, the giant claims, while the other will take the player to Fairyland.
If Ender did change from the beginning of the book to the end I would say it is that he lacked inspiration at the end. In the beginning things were not so great be he had dreams of them being better. All he had to do was show everyone how good and talented he was and life would be better. But now at the end he has proven to be the best. There is no going back and going forward there was nothing to inspire him. He had wiped out an entire species and had their deaths haunt him. He would carry that guilt with him forever and if it weren't for Valentine showing that she loves him after all he had done, he might not believe in love or goodness anymore.
Ender thinks of himself a lot of times as a monster and becoming like Peter. When the Giant in the game offers him two drinks that are both going to kill him, he digs through the Giants eye and finds a whole new world. Is this a sign of a genius who figured out how to beat the impossible or a monster who would do anything to win? Now with that in mind, when confronting bullies he is ruthless. They may be bigger and older but he didn't allow them to treat him poorly. The first kid at his school on earth he beat up badly, more than he needed. He needed the kid to be too scared. The boy on the shuttle to the space station he grabbed his arm and pulled with all his might and broke his arm. And when in school he took self defense classes to make up for his lack of size and when staring face to face with Bonzo in the showers, he used his brain by turning the showers on hot to create steam and sweat so he would be slippery. He talked Bonzo into fighting one on one and when they did he ended Bonzo. He didn't look for the fights but when they came to him, he ended them painfully and swiftly. But the difference between Bonzo and the Giant in the video game is he took beating (killing) Bonzo to heart. It hurt him deeply. The Giant only made him question himself. I believe this is why the adults decided to not tell Ender at the end that he was fighting the real Buggers. They let him believe it was a video game. Otherwise his empathy could become too much for even the greatest mind to overcome.
It’s not entirely clear what Orson Scott Card would put in their place, but it’s notable that his novel ends with Ender going off to found both a new world and a new religion —one that’s based on a sensitive understanding of other people.
Ender wanted to undo his taunting of the boy, wanted to tell the others that the little one needed their help and friendship more than anyone else. But of course Ender couldn’t do that. Not on the first day. On the first day even his mistakes had to look like part of a brilliant plan.
Sure enough, less than 24 hours after the Buggers are defeated, war breaks out on Earth. If there is a problem with the governments in Orson Scott Card’s novel, it’s their lack of understanding of people (or Buggers) who are unlike them.
In his new world, Ender hopes to pioneer a new kind of authority that rejects the fear, violence, and strict control of Earth’s rulers.
Much the same is true of Ender ’s education under the IF at Battle School. Ender’s freedom to communicate with his family or to make friends is taken away from him, always with the stated purpose of making Ender a superior soldier and defeating the Buggers, thereby saving the human race from destruction.
Bean sat down on the floor and stared at Ender’s feet. “Because they need somebody to beat the Buggers. That’s the only thing they care about.”. “It’s important that you know that, Bean. Because most boys in this school think the game is important for itself—but it isn’t.
There seem to be three major powers in the world: America, controlled by the powerful Strategos; Russia, controlled by the equally powerful Polemarch; and the IF, supposedly controlled by both the Polemarch and Strategos, but in actuality controlled largely by administrators like Colonel Hyrum Graff.
How does Ender differ from the other nineteen boys in his launch group? Ender is different from the other nineteen boys because while the other boys are laughing and making jokes, Ender is all quite and silent.
2. Graff says Ender must volunteer to go to Battle School, and he personally tells Ender many reasons which might convince Ender not to go. What aspects of Battle School does Graff warn Ender about? Graff warns Ender about the hard studies that will be at battle school and also about the room where him and other kids will be playing war games and training.
How does he feel about Ender? Be thorough in your answer, as this will change over the course of the chapter. Peter feels jealous of Ender because Ender has gotten farther into the program than he has and Ender is evidence that Peter wasnt good enough, but also, I think that he feels sorry for him because they think that Ender was kicked from the program and Peter knows how it felt to fail.
What advice does Mick give Ender? How does Ender feel about Mick? The advice Mick gives Ender is to become leader, no matter what it takes, even if people are hating on him, and earn some respect. Ender really doesn't like Mick, he doesnt like him and thinks that his advice is worthless.
Discuss the problems Ender faces as a "third." The problems that Ender faces with being a "Third" is he always gets bullied because it is illegal to be a third where they come from. They can only have two kids.
3. Who becomes Ender's first friend? Under what circumstances? The person who became Ender's first friend was Shen . The only reason Shen became his friend, is because they were being targeted by the same group which was Bernard's Clique.
The significance about Enders monitor is that his monitor records the things he sees the things he hears and his feelings, its placed on the back of his neck.
As Ender heads off to Battle School, he thinks of his family and begins to feel sad that he won’t see them for many years. As he reconsiders his decision, he thinks that being bullied by Stilson and facing death threats from his brother would have been worth remaining with his family.
He acknowledges that, by attending Battle School, Ender will essentially be giving up his childhood, but adds that he would suffer anyway due to other children being jealous of his talents and making fun of him for being a Third. In the world of Ender’s Game, even children who do not ...
On Ender’s seventh birthday, he receives a new uniform but no one acknowledges his day. Here, he thinks of how, if he had been at home, Valentine would have made him a cake, and he wants to tell his friend Petra about his birthday traditions.
After reading some old books, Dink begins to understand that children should not be put under the pressure they experience at Battle School. He argues that by forcing children to take on these responsibilities, the teachers make the children mentally unhealthy.
In the world of Ender’s Game, even children who do not attend Battle School do not seem to get the chance to enjoy their childhood.