Valentine In Ender's Game

With Valentine in the role of the ego, Ender becomes the super-ego. Valentine views Ender as a strong moral character, and while Ender does not agree, all the sins he commits are done under extreme duress, followed by extreme guilt. Despite the violence Ender engages in on several occasions, he, unlike Peter, is rarely eluded to as a monster. In fact, Ender is often described in ways that seem at odds with his twice-murderer committer-of-genocide status. The people in charge of Ender say that “he’s clean,” that he’s a good person, “right to the heart” (Card 66). Despite the recent murder of one of Ender’s peers, Graff describes Ender as “even sweeter than he looks,” which, considering that Ender is a smaller-than-average six-year-old, is saying a lot (Card 57). Ender hurts

“He’s too malleable. Too willing to submerge himself in someone else’s will” (Card 31). The super-ego is formed by others, not the individual; in this sense, like Ender, it is vulnerable to what others want and expect. Most chapters in Ender’s Game begin with dialogue between Graff and Anderson, and they continuously bring attention to how much control they have over Ender’s character. One confesses that they are afraid that they are “going to screw [Ender] up,” to which the other replies that it’s their “job” (Card 39). Not only are they conscious of the effect they have on Ender, but they are actively trying to ensure that he changes to suit their needs. In Ender’s Game especially, the adults “seek to control children’s attitudes and behaviours” (Day 207). They do not have only an inadvertent effect on their charges, but an intentional one. They do not teach Ender things in passing, he does not simply learn from their actions. Rather, they deliberately place Ender in specific situations to force him to take on the values and beliefs that they believe will aid the International