The Theme Of Ender's Reality In The Dreamworld By Orson Scott Card

The Dreamworld: How Does “Free Play” Reflect Ender’s Reality?

Although games are typically created with the sole purpose of providing entertainment, the games displayed in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game are clearly exceptions. One of those games, Free Play, delves into a fantastical yet ominous world. In the novel, Andrew Wiggin, more commonly known by his nickname, Ender, is an extremely intelligent and capable child. Ender volunteers to go to Battleschool where he is taught military strategy in the form of games in addition to his regular school subjects. The nations of the world have formed the I.F. or International Fleet for the purpose of creating a military force that is able to defend Earth against aliens otherwise known as buggers.

When Ender first enters the castle, he is faced with a rug that transforms into a serpent and kills Ender’s character. Each time Ender goes back to the castle, no matter what he does, his character in the game dies. Finally, after reading Valentine’s forced letter, he becomes so agitated to the point where he gives up on trying to properly play Free Play. This time when he encounters the serpent, he does the unexpected and kisses it. The serpent then transforms into Valentine and through the power of compassion and love, Ender defeats the serpent. This part in the book reflects Ender’s reality because vanquishing the serpent and breaking free of the End of the World, represents Ender vanquishing and breaking free of the cage of betrayal created by Valentine’s forced letter. This in turn makes Ender realize that wherever he went, Valentine would be there to support

In East Asia, dragons usually symbolize benevolence, wisdom, and power. However, in European culture, dragons represent all that is chaotic and evil. Unicorns usually symbolize purity and serve as a connection between the everyday world and the afterlife. In the End of the World, the dragon in the mirror represents Ender’s personality because as well as having a benevolent, wise, and powerful side, which is shown when he is commanding his troops in Battleschool, he has a dark, chaotic side. This part of his personality allows him to severely injure and even kill other children. However, because these two sides of Ender balance each other out, he is indeed a mixture of Valentine and Peter. The unicorn in the mirror symbolizes Valentine because she implements purity into Ender’s life. For example, Valentine is like a beacon of light and hope for Ender as she is a fellow person who sees through Peter’s innocent facade into the cruelty beneath. As a reader, it is apparent that over time Free Play teaches Ender that he has to accept that he is not like Peter even though they share qualities such as competitiveness and ruthlessness. This is shown when the mirror reflects the images of a dragon and a unicorn, which reveals a second meaning. The dragon is Peter’s personality in Ender and the unicorn is Valentine’s personality in