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Sympathy In Ender's Game By Orson Scott Card

515 Words3 Pages

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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The chapter begins with a conversation about the other Wiggin child, Valentine, specifically for the reason that the two anonymous characters need Ender to go with them and they fear that Ender’s love for Valentine will prevent him from leaving. The conversation conveys the idea that it is imperative for one of them to retrieve Ender for sake of success. The reader reenters Ender’s life while he is at the breakfast table preoccupied with his thoughts about how school is going to turn out considering the fact with Stilson. While pondering, a man wearing an International Fleet (I.F) uniform approaches interrupting breakfast; he begins to speak with the parents then calls Ender into the room, causing Peter to get angry in the hopes that it is

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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

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In the book Ender’s Game a boy named Ender Wiggin decides to go to battle school, so he can fight in the war against the alien buggers. In battle school Ender meets Alai, Bean, Petra and Dink who all help him become a better commander when he gets his own army. Ender kills his enemy Bonzo and quits battle school, so he ends up going home to see his sister Valentine,

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His two most memorable confrontations were with Stilson and Bonzo, in both situations Ender had no choice but to engage and protect himself, this leading to the death of Stilson and Bonzo at the hands of Ender. Keeping this trait in both the film and novel was crucial to the interpretation of Ender’s personality. Additionally, Ender’s relationships are portrayed the same, his fear of Peter, how he adores Valentine, and even his friends at battle school, along with gaining the trust of his squad. Including this in both platforms keeps the consistency of the character, making it easier to relate get to know Ender for who he

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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.

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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.

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The protagonist, Ender Wiggin, possesses both admirable and repulsive traits throughout Ender's Game. Ender's intelligence and ability to plan are two of his best traits. He's a brilliant strategist whose strategies helped defeat the extraterrestrial formics and save humanity. According to his instructor, Mazer Rackham, " You're the one, Ender. You'll

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On Earth there was a bully named, Stilson. Ender found himself getting physically abused by him daily and when he finally got his opportunity, he made sure he was never bullied again. In battle school, there was a commander named, Bonzo that threatened to kill him; then, in the same scenario Ender decided to make sure that he would win the war and erase all future battles. In argument with Major Anderson, Graff states, “Ender’s not a killer. He just wins--thoroughly” (226).

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While the other soldiers may think Ender is pleased at defeating them, Ender reveals how that isn't true. When Ender visits Valentine back on Earth, he explains, “"In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.” (184) His understanding is a double edged sword, though it gives Ender the ability to defeat his enemies, he also feels pain in doing so. The greatest example of this is when Ender defeats the buggers themselves, the main goal of the story.

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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

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They have been fighting a race of alien named buggers that once tried to colonize Earth; so they wanted to beat the buggers once and for all. Ender also had another duel with Bonzo, commander at battle school. The duel happened because Bonzo told Ender to lose on purpose; Ender disobeyed Bonzo's orders and won his team the game. While Ender was in the shower, Bonzo tried to fight him. Ender defended himself as the narrator states “The classic move at this moment would be to bring up his heel into Bonzo’s crotch, but for that move to be effective required

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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.

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“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.

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Ender ends up crying while the queen bugger wipes his tears away. At this point, he knows that the queen bugger is going to die. This shows that he’s passionate because he shows that he’s sorry for her and doesn’t want her to

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Therefore tricking the commander and the squadron leaders was the only choice mankind has against forces that may destroy humanity. Another reason why the command school authorities kept the truth away from Ender especially is because Ender’s personality is a combination between Valentine’s and Peter’s. Basically a mix between good and evil. If his compassionate side gave in, then the buggers might take over the world. Although his kindness might cost the destruction of his world, his killer instinct might take rash decisions.

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