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Sympathy In Ender's Game By Orson Scott Card

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Being unaware of significant information during a crucial time is justifiable if it’s for the greater good. In this case, in the novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, the Command School authorities did not inform Ender Wiggin and his peers that they had been fighting real buggers the entire time they thought they had just been practicing in a simulation. Without knowing that the final evaluation was a real fight against the buggers and not just Mazer Rackham or a computer, Ender Wiggin, and his peers destroyed them. For instance, Colonel Graff states, “It had to be a trick or you couldn’t have done it…We had to have a commander with so much empathy that he would think like the buggers, understand them and anticipate them…But somebody with that much compassion could never be the killer we needed”(Card 208). …show more content…

To win the battle, Ender’s ability to understand the bugger's tactics was needed, but his empathy for the buggers was not. Since Ender Wiggin didn’t want to injure anyone, in fear of becoming like his brother, they made him believe that what he was doing was just a practice simulation and nobody would get damaged by it. By not telling Ender, the authorities were able to get him to command against the buggers and ultimately save the human race. Having Ender assume he was fighting Mazer Rackham gave him motivation to win the final battle because he didn’t want Mazer to win. For example, Ender states, “I won’t let you beat me unfairly--- I'll beat you unfairly first”(Card 205). Ender Wiggin had a real relationship with Mazer Rackham so he felt real emotions towards

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