Ender Wiggin Character Analysis

“They look at you and see you as a badge of pride, because they were able to circumvent the law and have a Third. But you’re also a badge of cowardice, because they dare not go further and practice the noncompliance they still feel is right” (Card 53). Ender Wiggin, a Third, started out having minimum affection and respect. These traits are altered resulting in a ruthless killer who is the hero of the human race. This happens because throughout Orson Card’s Ender’s Game, Card center’s his novel around his main character’s development on the age old question of nature vs. nurture; as seen in, the pseudo family, the Games, and the lies.
One character that nurtures Ender in his pseudo family is Petra. Petra helps Ender with Battle School and training

Graff nurtures Ender by tormenting him just as Peter tormented Ender. Graff does this in many ways. One way is that “Most of the time, rather than helping Ender, adults deliberately increase his torment” (N7,W1). Graff backs up this reason by saying “My job isn’t to be a friend. My job is to produce the best soldier in the world” (P2). Graff does this because he knows the International Fleet needs a commander, Ender, for the Third Invasion to destroy the Buggers. Graff believes this situation is so dire that he lie to Ender and his parents just as Peter lies to his parents. Graff offers to “Persuade him that he wants to come with us more than he wants to say with her. How will you do that? I’ll lie to him” (P4). Then once Ender gets into Battle School Graff forces Ender into situations in Battle School just as Peter forces Ender into games. “In the case of commanders Graff and Anderson at the battle school, we see authorities deliberately suppress their urge to help Ender because they believe they need him to train him to face any challenge on his own (N1,W1). Graff nurtures Ender in this case by not helping Ender with any situation. One of the situations is a planned assassination on Ender while this happens Ender accidentally kills that assassin's. This is because Graff nurtured Ender into believing that to win you must defeat your enemy so that he will never try to fight back

Leadership forces Ender into isolation allowing leadership to nurture Ender into a commander. As a commander, he knows everything about his soldiers and his rival. Ender figures out that he is being isolated when he sees “That's how they of me, too. Teacher. Legendary soldier. Not one of them. Not someone you embrace and whisper Salaam in his ear. Now he was master soldier, and he was completely, utterly alone” (P5). This isolation allows Ender to be able to study and understand his soldiers and his rivals for the Battle Room. The Game and isolation allows, “Ender’s deep empathy is what makes him both a powerful leader and a powerful enemy: his troops follow him and he understands the foe”, to emerge (N15,W2). In other words Ender knew how to command and lead soldiers because of the isolation of he faces. Ender figures this out when “They [Ender’s soldiers] trusted their fellow soldiers to fight hard and well, trusted their leaders to use them rather than waste their efforts; above all trusted Ender to prepare them for anything and everything that might happen” (P6). This means that Ender’s leadership had grew some much and to such and extent that his soldiers would follow him no matter what. Besides that “Ender proposed his bargain. Free