Morality is the “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.” (1) While reading Ender’s Game, the reader will question the morality of the characters often. Ender’s Game is a military related, science-fiction novel written by Scott Orson Card in 1985. The lens of moral criticism, which is “a tendency… of literary criticism to judge literary work according to moral rather than formal principles,” (2) asks the question of what is right, what is wrong, and what are the intentions of the characters. The morality of Ender is one that is controversial and important through the book; But he is an innocent person with guilty actions, and the opinions fall from there. There are lots of examples of his violent …show more content…
The important part about this though is where he says “Several enemies had already rebounded toward him. Ender was startled to see Stilson’s face among them. Then he shuddered and realized he had been wrong. Still, it was the same situation, and this time they wouldn’t sit still for a single combat settlement (Card 82).” Here, we see how Ender regrets his decision and his actions, even years later after tons of other memories; he remembers. Anyways, he continues to tear the ear of one boy, give another a nose bleed, and hurt some others pretty bad. He knows this is bad though. (“I’m doing it again, thought Ender. I’m hurting people again, just to save myself. Why don’t they leave me alone, so I don’t have to hurt them? (Card 82)” He regrets his violent actions now and before but he feels like he keeps being placed in these situations. And from here, the decision is no longer his to choose. He is specifically placed in a certain position to …show more content…
During the time he thought he was training, he was actually commanding his friends in combat against these aliens and eventually committing xenocide against them. Throughout the end of his trip through battle school and especially in command school, Ender is constantly down and almost what seems to be in a deep depression or some sort of mental disorder, like Colonel Graff predicted would happen. Ender did not enjoy the fights, day after day, and so when he realized that he had actually killed all the buggers, he was not happy in the slightest. “Ender’s mind was too tired to cope with it all. They weren’t just point of light in the air, they were real ships that he had fought with and real ships he had destroyed. And a real world that he had blasted into oblivion. He walked through the crows, dodging their congratulations, ignoring their hands, their words, their rejoicing. When he got to his own room he stripped off his clothes, climbed into bed and slept (Card 108).” Ender never would have acted so violently if he knew that it was real, like his fights. He never would’ve acted so violently if he had known his strength or if he knew what was being presented upon him. (“’Ender grabbed Mazer’s uniform and hung onto it, pulling him down so they were face to face. ‘I didn’t want to kill them
Before Ender got picked to fight the buggers he was just a normal boy he went to school like every other kid, one day he got put in a test and if he passed he would go to battle school in space, Ender eventually passed the test and he had a military personnel come to his door and tell his parents that he passed the test and is going to battle school.
Ender is selected to go to Battle School in space because of the actions he has displayed against a bully after a device known as a monitor, which allows the leaders of the I.F. to watch and hear everything Ender perceives. Although Ender’s conception was predetermined (in this time period, families are only allowed to have two children unless stated by the government which is why Ender is often called a “Third”), he had to display the correct characteristics to be selected. Ender’s siblings, Peter and Valentine also wore the monitor, but neither wore it as long nor was selected because Peter was too cruel and Valentine was too mild. Once Ender arrives, he makes a couple new friends from the other selected children, including a boy named Alai. When Ender is alone, he plays a mind game and progresses farther than anyone has before so out of the blue, Ender becomes promoted to a group called Salamander Army, where he befriends the only girl, Petra Arkanian, at Battle School. As Ender continues to display his brilliance, he is continuously being promot...
They wanted Ender to see that it was a game because this would insure that the humans would be victorious over the buggers. Because of this, Ender has suffered a great ordeal of losses in everything such as life, love, family, and friendship. At this point of my explanation, we can clearly see that Ender does suffice enough to be a Christ Figure because he began his journey with a full heart and now he is ending his journey with nothing left but a new world to live in with Valentine, while trying to find a safe place for the Queen Bugger to live. This is his last and most important mission of all. It looks like as if Ender is beginning a whole new journey. Truth be told, Ender is done, but he has that final step to go before he can call out to home and finally live the rest of days free of
Leading up to that he faces enemies and obstacles in the form of bigger kids and the games that he wins thoroughly, to the point where he cannot be beat. He always is one set ahead of whatever is thrown at him. Until Ender finds the Bugger Queen pupa.” Reached into the cavity and took out the cocoon.” (Card 321) Here in this scene Ender is going against what we have come to see as part of who he is. He has the intent to allow the Buggers to rebuild and try to live along side of humans. Normally he destroys something so thoroughly that it can never hurt him or the people he is fighting for again. This is perhaps one of the very best examples of the theme that one’s past does not define them or their
Therefore, Ender shows the reader that he takes responsibility as an adult for just waking up early and on time for his battles. Therefor, Ender taking that responsibility must be hard since he's just a kid and has to be responsible for
After years of being monitored by government officials, Ender Wiggins, the main character of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, finds himself completely alone. The loneliness set's in as he finds himself in a new school, away from the watchful eyes of the government and bared to the world. He is a Third. This feeling of being a third makes Ender feel even more isolated, "It was not his fault he was a Third. It was the government's idea, they were the ones who authorized it - how else could a Third like Ender have got into school?" (Card 5). There was no one there to keep the bullies away now. Although he never really liked the monitor, he now found himself alone and missing the advent ages of having it on and knowing that someone, somewhere was always with him and watching him. At battle school, Ender knows that he will be isolated from the other students. Colonel Graff tells the other students of Ender and how superior his talents and intelligence is compared to the rest of the group. The other students don't like Ender and don't trust him. Throughout battle school, Ender is kept from his family and isolated from other children.
Most of the children know about the web of deceit and the manipulation, including Ender who works around it because of his own beliefs of his own purpose. Although he is needed in the mission to save the world, from Ender's point of view he needs to do this for Valentine. Or is he just tricking himself into thinking this? Ender realizes there is deceit by the IF and teachers. They deceived Ender into thinking that Valentine's letter was sincerely written by her. Ender realizes that he is being deceived and manipulated, his thoughts were, "It isn't the real thing because they made her write it. She's written before and they didn't let any of those letters through. Those might have been real, but this was asked fo...
“The only way to end things completely was to hurt him enough that his fear was stronger than his hate (Page 211).” – Andrew “Ender” Wiggin. Fear and the power of fear are very delicate things. If someone has too much fear, it turns to anger. Not enough fear, and they have no respect. The book Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is about fear, especially of the unknown, and the controlling power it has.
He uses a combination of Peter’s ruthlessness with Valentine’s compassion. “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. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves” (Card 238). Ender reveals this to Valentine because it is the main reason why he despises himself. Ender first uses his method against Stilson after getting his chip removed. He realizes that with the way Stilson is, the only way to stop him is to cause enough pain to deter retaliation. Learning from his enemies does not only occur on Earth. While being rejected in Salamander Army, Ender studies the good and bad techniques in the battle room. Given that, Ender ultimately beats Bonso once he is in command of his own army. He continues to do this with every person and battle he comes into contact with, making him the best commander at
Richard Connells “The Most Dangerous Game” is a short story which illustrates that calm analytical thinking can increase your odds of survival and controlling panic.
During the book ender plays many battle games, intelligence games, and mind games. It basically turns enders life into a game, or saying life is “Ender's game”. Next, there is the part where Ender destroys the Bugger (alien) army he believes it is just a game. The leaders of the schools tell Ender that it is just a simulation, just a game, but really it ends up he is leading the real armies to beat the buggers. Once again there is a game, Ender's game. Throughout the book it is constantly telling you low key that life is Ender’s game, that he can do whatever. Lastly, one of the mind games ender plays ends up being real in real life. In this game ender kills a giant, and explore this magical land. In this land Ender kills a giant and explores the playground area next to a forest where there is this castle. Representing Ender's game, The buggers somehow built this magical land on one of their planets with the giant and castle and
In Orson Scott Card’s novel, Enders Game, at the age of six, Ender is chosen by Colonel Graff and the International Fleet to help save mankind from the buggers. However, through his journey, he experiences manipulation and deception from significant figures that surround his life. This deceit from Colonel Graff, Valentine, and Mazor Rackham is focused on defeating the buggers in the Third Invasion.
One can be easily led to share the same belief Kessel displays in his carefully crafted essay, as he states many convincing points. A point commonly made is that even though Ender killed the bugger race unknowingly, he had planned on exterminating them anyways. Otherwise, he would not have attended Battle School. However, this was one of many instances of manipulation. Ender, along with the rest of the human race currently on earth, were led to believe that the buggers were planning an attack. Humanity was at stake, and the buggers were to blame. The Third Invasion all of humanity was taught to dread was believed to be an attack of the buggers onto earth. When offered a spot at Battle School, Ender was told that this was the only reason he was born. His life had one purpose, to protect humanity. If he didn’t go, why was he even still alive? This is a lot of pressure to be placed on a six year old boy. In
“I didn’t want to kill them all! I didn’t want to kill anybody! I’m not a killer! You didn’t want me, you bastards, you wanted Peter, but you made me do it, you tricked me into it!(page 297-298)” Ender’s fury underlines his own personal detriments, but when this is weighed against the countless lives that have been saved through these actions, it is clear that this was the most utilitarian choice. Furthermore, Mazer Rackham shows how he was the only one who could eliminate the threat, exclaiming “Any decent person who knows what warfare is can never go into battle with a whole heart. But you didn’t know. We made sure you didn't know. You were reckless and brilliant and young. It’s what you were born for.(page 298)” Even at the beginning, it is apparent that Ender’s goal is to save his sister from certain death by the buggers. By eliminating the threat, he has kept what is most important to him safe as well as the rest of
...is enemy, he became the most ruthless and yet most compassionate commander the world has ever seen in all the wars the human race has withstood. Above all, however, isolation is the tool that made all the attributes transparent and viable to Ender and to the I.F. Beyond the war, Ender became more than just a tool to be used; he became a savior. A savior of not only one, but two different races bent on destroying each other. Ender became the very definition of Hope.