Ender doesn’t like hurting people much at the beginning but towards the end he becomes a soldier and a killer. Ender leaned his head against the wall of the corridor and cried until the bus came. I am just like Peter. Take my monitor away, and I am just like Peter. This quote shows that Ender doesn’t want to turn out violent like his older brother, but the government forced him to.
Kessel says that this is all used to by Card to make the reader sympathize for Ender. This allows him to be portrayed as a killer who commits mass genocide, yet is innocent because he has good motives. Kessel goes on to
“He didn’t know what to say, and he was afraid to reveal himself to be any more monstrous than his actions had made him out to be… Ender couldn’t help it, he was too afraid, too ashamed of his own acts; though he tried not to, he cried again.” (19) Ender is immensely terrified of becoming a monster; his remorse and shame caused by his horrific actions increases his fear. However, his guilt-enforced tears show that even though his actions were callous, Ender’s possession of kindness is unscathed. The humanity Ender shows through the tears he failed to stop is what prevents his worse nightmare from coming true.
The novel Enders Game by Orson Scott Card is compelling with its characterizations and futurist plot line. Written in 1985, the story shows a boy, only 6 years of age named Ender and his journey through battle school with his companions and altercations with enemies to defeat the supposed “threat” of the buggers: alien invaders. A common practice by the characters in the novel is lying and deceiving to gain power; oddly however, the lies and deceit are more useful than telling the truth. Card shows this theme through the motif of power and how those above Ender such as Graff, Valentine and Mazer Rackham lied to him to help Ender gain power.
In the book “Ender’s Game,” Ender, the book’s protagonist is the hero of the story. Many of the characters in and out of the book and at times even Ender himself had viewed him as a villain. This is due to the fact that Ender on occasion displayed merciless aggression towards others, despite good intentions. Many of the characters in the book felt inferior to Ender because he was constantly getting singled out because of his mental acuity. Ender was a hero because he always acted in self defense, and always did more good than bad.
Ender was tasked with leading a platoon when he was in command. He led the platoon through battles against the buggers. Unknowingly, he was fighting off the buggers that entire time. He sacrificed some of his men to kill more buggers. Those men died and Ender at such a young age has to comprehend that he killed people unknowingly.
In Orson Scott Card’s book Ender’s Game, Ender is continually set up against impossible odds by the International Fleet, which is part of a plan to train Ender to fight in the Third Invasion and end the bugger wars forever. Ender’s trials are portrayed more convincingly in the book, as the book shows him struggling with the expectations placed upon him more so than in the movie. An important theme in Ender’s Game is that Ender is continually kept in the dark about the events happening around him. This theme is prevalent throughout the book, and sets the stage for the book’s climax, the Third Invasion.
He can never come to believe that anybody will ever help him out, ever. If he once thinks there's an easy way out, he's wrecked.” This quote shows how Ender may make friends but in reality he can only count on himself and must always expect to be
John Kessel, a well known critic of Ender’s Game, briefly touches upon this in Creating the Innocent Killer, “Ender becomes expert at wielding violence against his enemies, and this ability ultimately makes him the savior of the human race.” (Kessel, 4) Ender causing death is not only good but what makes him a hero. Even when others shun him and disapprove of his actions they are in the wrong. “ ‘It wasn't murder, Colonel… No one can blame Ender.’...
And Ender hated himself.” () Virtually identical to the emotional consequence Ender formerly suffered from Stilson, delineates his sentiments regarding Bernard; Card not developing on his idea in the slightest, keeping Ender’s own hatred of himself and the potential individual he apparently mocks
Calculating Judgments For someone so young, Ender is exceptionally calculating. In almost the very beginning of the novel, the author shows Ender being bullied by Stilson and his gang. Ender realizes that he must thoroughly beat Stilson so the rest of the gang wouldn’t pick on Ender ever
Ender is manipulated Almost all individuals prefer honesty over deceit. There are times when lying and manipulation seem to be necessary. To remove a burden, lying can be a proper solution. But there are times people just lie for their own benefit, which eventually hurts others.
The author cannot say that Ender never had selfish motives or bad intentions when it came to hurting others, because it is shown in the book that he does. Andrew admits it when he says, "I guess I'm just a killer to the core. " But I'd rather be alive than dead"(Ender’s Game, 293). This hatred can dig deep into children's minds by showing them that they can get away with cruel things as long as they do it to make sure they will be safe in the future. Card teaches them never to consider another’s feelings and to only care for themselves, as violence is the only answer to every situation in which they suspect they will be harmed.
Ender never wanted to kill anyone. If Ender did harm someone he would go into a depression. When Ender did the bugger simulation, after he killed the whole plant of buggers, Ender began to think if he had done the right thing. They have not told him that it is fake, so Ender goes into panic. After all this Ender went away for a good amount of time to a rusty house on the lake.
However, the majority of the battles he fights are constructed and orchestrated and controlled by the Adults. Ender lives in a military archetype which assumes humans are compliant, flexible, controllable pawns, tool to be used for the benefit of others. Ender’s insecurities,doubts and fears, as to why he is so isolated, how he is becoming more like petter, how he is an ostracized genius, all that sets him apart– make him diligent, sympathetic, preservant, resilient, flexible, and above all pliable, impressionable, malleable, qualities far more common in children. Supporting quote: “‘So what do we do now?’ asked Alai.
