Aliens! Buggers, forcing people to fall into a truce..The government, allowing kids to be born, just to find one that could help them end the alien threat. They succeeded. Andrew (Ender) Wiggin defeated this external threat. This probably seems like a really heroic thing for a child to do. However, to what extent should Ender be considered a hero? This question can only be answered after taking these three, important facts into consideration. He was capable of things no one else could’ve done, but he was always unaware of what was really going on or what even he did sometimes. However, he also redeemed himself in the end of the book. He cannot just be judged as a hero or not right away. There’s more to it than meets the eye.
First of all, Ender was known throughout the book to have great potential. He wasn’t an ordinary kid. He didn’t even have to pay attention in class, like in chapter one it said, “The teacher would know of course, that he wasn't paying attention, but she wouldn’t bother him. He always knew the answer..” Everyone knew he was outstanding. Even his classmate, Bean said so when Ender was explaining how the teachers were trying to break him. “You’re the best, Ender.”, he said as encouragement. On top of all that, Ender had entered Battle School at the early age of six and was constantly promoted early. He was youngest to ever become a commander of his own army. He was given many difficult challenges to face in the battle room, challenges that no one else could handle. No matter how badly these ‘games’ messed with his brain, he never failed to win. He was later graduated to Command School. This made him the youngest graduate of Battle School. Ender, was truly a genius. His strategic victories, triumphs, determinatio...
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...s can start anew, thrive and live in peace. He redeemed himself and changed his reputation. From being seen as Ender Wiggin, a killer, to being Andrew Wiggin, speaker for the dead.
So back to the big question. To what extent can Ender be considered a hero? His brilliance and achievements at such a young age is worth being mentioned. Although he was kept in the dark most of his life and exterminated a species without knowing it, his redemption in the end of the book really shows he wanted to bring change to his life after what he did. Not only that, but he dedicated the rest of his life to bring a species back from the dead. He's taking them away from humans, so they can live in peace. That is something you wouldn't expect from a child who spent his life in military training. It was truly a heroic thing to do. You could say he's the savior of the bugger race!
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.
...er him as the hero is was and not the man he was accused of becoming.
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...
Ender has proven himself that he is capable in all odds of being credited as the Christ Figure. He has gone through so much in his journey, from being accepted to a whole new society to being the person that everyone looks up to, Ender has given everything that he has to give to win the battle at the end of the day.
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
Ender’s game is a science fiction novel written by Orson Scott card it was published in 1985. This book is in the future when in the story earth has been invaded by an alien race and is almost destroyed by the invasion but wins the battle and to prevent earth from being destroyed if they return they create the International fleet which recruits kids an teaches them to be commanders. The chapter that I am going to analyze is chapter one which is called Third. This chapter shows how Ender is being manipulated since the start and how he has to deal with being different by being a third.
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.
Ender is first shown as intelligent and skillful, and Peter shows the same attributes throughout the story. Ender uses his intellect to triumph over his bullies, and this translates to his experience in the Battle Room. He has to outsmart the enemy, rather than beat them physically, and it worked in his favor the majority of the time. Ender understands when he has to use his physicality to beat a bully, but also knows when he has to strategize to avoid a certain situation. When Ender is encountered by Bonzo after he won the battle by disobeying Bonzo’s orders, he has to use his judgement rather than his fists to get what he wants. Ender argued with Bonzo, “‘... I’ll pretend that you won this argument. Then tomorrow you can tell me you changed your mind.’ ‘I don’t need you to tell me what to do.’ ‘I don’t want the other guys to think you backed down. You wouldn’t be able to command as well’” (Card 87). Ender understands what his enemy, in this case Bonzo, wants, and knows how he can make both of them get what they want. He doesn’t resolve to violence when he knows that he can use a different method that benefits him. Ender’s intelligence and strategizing helps him overcome the difficulty he approaches throughout his life. Peter also uses his intellect to benefit himself throughout the events that happen.
Who is a hero? In contemporary times, usage of the term has become somewhat of a cliché. Over the years, the term “hero” has become representative of a wide variety of individuals, each possessing differing traits. Some of the answers put forth by my colleagues (during our in-class discussion on heroism) as to whom they consider heroes pointed to celebrities, athletes, teachers and family members. Although the occupations differed, each of their heroes bore qualities that my classmates perceived as extraordinary, whether morally or physically. Nonetheless, Webster’s defines “hero” as “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities.” Thus, it is worth considering that individuals become heroes relative to the situation with which they’re faced.
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
All in all, heroism is a vague word that could be defined as many of things. Such as bravery, courage, honesty, morality, trusts...etc. If Beowulf was defined as a hero then the knight should be defined as one also seeing as he gave the old women the choice to be old and good or pretty and bad. Or if the Author of The Art of Courtly love cannot be heroic and then write in a way of being heroic how can one decide what heroism is. All three of these studies show different forms and fashions of heroic people, feelings, and attitudes. Overall heroism is and always will be based on personal opinion, what one person defines as a hero can be completely different from what another person sees it as.
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.
What is a hero? Is a hero someone with superpowers? Or is a hero someone who does extra ordinary deeds? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a hero is “a man admired for his achievements and qualities” (337). I believe that Centurion Marcus Flavius Aquila, the main character in The Eagle of The Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, is a hero. Marcus demonstrates that he is a hero by expressing courage, intelligence, and mercy.
...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.