In the novel Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, he explores a world in which lies and manipulation are a positive idea. The main character, Ender Wiggin, is a six-year-old boy who is recruited into a battle school known as the International Fleet. This battle school was presented to the children as a place where they can train to protect Earth from an alien life form known as buggers.The students soon learn the real reason they are there. Ender in particular begins to figure out that the adults are the enemies as they have continued to lie in order to achieve cooperation. In Ender’s Game, Card argues that lies can be justified for the greater good of an individual. The first example of lies being portrayed as justified for the greater good is when the leaders of the I.F. lie to …show more content…
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). The whole time Ender had not been aware he had killed them, and the leaders were manipulating him for his own sake. They explain that they didn’t tell him that he actually killed both Bonzo and Stilson; so that he wouldn’t think of himself as a killer. Throughout the book Ender repeats that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone and doesn’t like that he has to be violent in order to be safe. If Ender would’ve found out, it would destroy his motivation and drive to want to be the best he can be. All in all, Ender is an overall better person because of the fact he didn’t know the
We learn from this scenario that Ender has come to believe that the only rational policy to insure one’s safety in the world is to be ready always to inflict grievous bodily harm on anyone who threatens him. No adult, authority, law, or social institution may be relied upon. “The power to cause pain is the only power that matters, the power to kill and destroy, because if you can’t kill then you are always subject to those who can, and nothing and no one will ever save you.” (p 232) Despite the revelation of this philosophy, after the fight is over the reader is once again reassured that Ender is at heart a pacifist.
Who would have thought that a boy both violent and caring could save and eliminate a species? In the book Enders Game, Ender and he was no ordinary child, and his intellect was beyond any normal child. His life started to change as his monitor, a device that tracked what he did, was removed and he was forced to face with a long-time bully of his. As Ender gets pushed around, he hits a hard blow and gives no mercy to the boy if he ever wanted it to end. Surprisingly, the people in commands recognize his unfound talents and decided to train him in a school every boy would want to attend.
After all of the trauma, heartbreak, and mental abuse that the Battle School put Ender through, he has finally broken down. Over the course of a few years, Ender’s human endurance has been pushed far past his limits. Once again, he had to force himself onto another as an act of self-defense. Although he did not wish to harm either of his past attackers, Ender did not want to be killed either. After his fight with Bonzo, Ender no longer has faith in the Battle School.
Innumerable volumes of people portray power as one’s capacity to exhibit their potency; their unquenchable thirst for the dominion over all. Formidable and influential flawlessly depicts the being this definition conveys, a being considerably similar to Ender Wiggin. To the lionizing eyes of Earth, he is a child deity who possessed power abundant enough to exterminate an entire extraterrestrial race, but in truth, he is a boy, rupturing from his plethora of errors. In Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card To be vague, Ender’s usage of power is persistent, him not ceasing until the annihilation is complete. “Ender…kicked him again…
In Ender’s Game Bonzo has a serious problem with Ender, He would literally kill Ender if he could, yet why? One reason Bonzo might hate Ender is because, Bonzo couldn't get Ender punished. “That’s why he hates you, because you didn’t suffer when he tried to punish you” (pg.109). Although another reason may be how small and young Ender is. “But as small as you are, you are worse than useless” (pg.77).
Their purposeful trickery of Ender and his fellow young commanders was the best way to ensure the largest amount of surviving people. This is comparable to the famous Trolley Problem, where a trolley is about to run over five people, but you have a lever that switches the tracks so the trolley runs over only one person. In Ender’s Game, however, it’s the
When Ender was talking to himself he said,”the power to cause pain is the only power that matters, the power to kill and destroy, because if you can’t kill then you’re always subject to those who can, and no one will ever save you,”(Card pg.212). This shows that inaction can make people prone to lose against people who have power can have power over them because inaction leaves them open and defenseless to those they could restrain. This also shows that inaction leads to loss because Ender is referring to the fight against Stilson, Bonzo, and Bernard because if he had waited for the teachers to respond to call for help they would’ve overpowered him and he would’ve lost. After ender defeated the buggers Mazer Rackham told Ender, “you made the hard choice, boy. All or nothing.
Bonzo is so angry with Ender because he punishes Ender and wants him to suffer But Ender rebounds stronger every time he is punished .He, in Bonzo’s mind , is stronger because no matter what he does Ender bounces right back. Bonzo finds Ender to be stronger than him and it hurts his pride. Because, he is a proud person and proud people don't like their pride or reputation to be hurt. He doesn't like that someone under him like Ender could be better at somethings than Bonzo.
Both characters were influenced to change their values; to kill others in order to protect themselves and survive. In Ender’s case, he had killed Stilson and Bonzo just as Katniss had done to the other tributes during the Games. Each had killed to protect
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.
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.
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
This causes problems only to himself when he refuses to acknowledge Ender’s potential in battles making him look foolish to other characters. Violence and revenge is his way to solve his problems, but it ultimately fails and creates more. He doesn’t enforce discipline but destroys
Ender also had several confrontations with a Battle School leader named Bonzo. Ender didn’t want to follow Bonzo’s rules because it would’ve held him back from learning how to
At this point he is admitting fault with lying to Ender about the battles just being a game, and not the actual war. At this point in the book, Card intends that the reader catches on to the fact that Ender dislikes lying, if the reader has not done so already. After this point in the book, Ender does not tell a lie, but only tells the truth. This is how Ender was able to rise up as a person from such a traumatic event, and learn quickly that lying is never the answer, and that it will result in nothing good in the end. Ender even admits earlier that Colonel Graff was indeed right in his speculation of Ender not being able to kill off the bugger species if he had known exactly what he was doing.