Enders Game Essay Example for Free

Enders Game Essay In a world much different from ours, one with aliens and space travel lives a six-year-old boy from Earth. His name is Ender Wiggin and he is far from the ordinary. He is a â€Å"third† meaning that he was not supposed to be born due to birthing restrictions. Through the consideration of the government, his parents were permitted to have a third child. Due to his superior skills, he is chosen to attend battle school in order to fight the buggers. In the process of becoming a leader in order to save the Earth, Ender is manipulated by Valentine, the teachers and Colonel Graff. This makes him a better soldier by facing many obstacles as an individual and making him self-sufficient. Valentine is Enders 8 year old sister, whom he loves very much. Later on in the book, she manipulates him so that he would be determined to save Earth. She herself was tricked into manipulating Ender by Graff, and later regrets it. Valentine manipulates Ender by writing him a letter that Graff had convinced her to do. â€Å"Ender, the Bastards wouldn’t put any of my letters through till now. I must have written a hundred times but you must have thought I never did. Well I did. Some people might think that because you’re being a soldier you are now a cruel and hard person who likes to hurt people, like the marines in the video, but I know that isn’t true. You are nothing like you-know-who. Maybe you seem mean but you’re not fooling me†¦ All my love turkey lips, Val. Don’t write back they’ll probably sikowanalize your letter (Card, pg. 150). Valentine is manipulating Ender by making him believe that he is not like Peter, which is Ender’s greatest fear. She knows that by doing so he will believe her and will be able to focus on winning. Ender however, does not believe her because he realized that if the teachers did not let the rest of her letters be sent, then why this one? He knows she is trying to pressure him into believing that he was not like Peter. Valentine also convinces Ender to not go back to Earth. She tells him that Peter has big plans for him; he has been waiting for this opportunity his whole life. â€Å"He had plans for you, Ender. He would publicly reveal himself when you arrived, going to meet you in front of the videos. Ender Wiggins older brother, who also happened to be the great Locke, the architect of peace. Standing next to you, he would look quite mature. And the physical resemblance between you is stronger than ever. It would be quite simple for him, then, to take over† (Card, pg. 312). Valentine tells him Peter’s plans but Ender does not seem to understand. He believes that either way he has already spent his life being someone’s pawn. After talking to Valentine, he had finally decided to leave with her. He says, â€Å"I am not going for you. I’m not going in order to be governor, or because I’m bored here. I’m going because I know the buggers better than another living soul, and aybe if I go there I can understand them better† (Card, pg. 314). Finally, Valentine also manipulates Ender by meeting him at a lake and encouraging him to continue to go to battle school. â€Å"If you try and lose then it isn’t your fault. But if you don’t try and we lose, then it’s all your fault. You killed us all† (Card, pg. 240/241). Valentine persuades Ender that it is best for him and the world to continue fighting to win the battle. She tells him it is important for him to at least try rather than not try at all. If he tries then no one will say anything because he did his best. However, if he does not try at all, then everyone will blame him knowing that he could have done more t planet Earth. Valentine is someone very significant in Ender’s life and by manipulating him she helped Graff control Ender further. Throughout the book, the teachers around Ender are constantly manipulating him. They decide that by manipulating Ender, it will be best for him in the long run. One point would be when the teachers decided not to tell Ender that he was actually fighting the buggers. Ender you never played me. You never played a game since I became your enemy. Ender, for the past few months you have been the battle commander of our fleets. This was the Third Invasion. There were no games, the battles were real, and the only enemy you fought was the buggers (Card, pg. 296). No one had told Ender that he was actually fighting the buggers at their home planet. They did not tell him so he would feel no pressure. This lead to his victory over the buggers but still Ender was upset. The teachers had manipulated Ender and pushed him too far. The adults are depending on the computer to tell them when they are pushing Ender more than he can handle. You can’t be serious about this schedule of battles. † â€Å"Yes I can. † â€Å"He’s only had is army three and a half weeks. † â€Å"I told you. We did computer simulations on probable results. And here is what the computer estimated Ender would do. † â€Å"We want to teach him, not give him a nervous breakdown† (Card, pg. 173). The fact is they have already gone past his limit. The adults were by giving him more than he could handle. For example, he was once given two battles in one day during his time at Battle School. Lastly, the teachers manipulate him by never helping him in dangerous situations. Every time Ender was ganged up on the teachers would not help him and so he would fight alone. â€Å"If the teachers were allowing that to turn up on official report, it was obvious they didn’t intend to punish anyone for the nasty little skirmish in the battle room. Aren’t they going to do anything? Don’t they care what goes on in this school† (Card, pg. 117). Ender was frustrated and confused as to why the teachers were never there when he was in trouble. He learned to never count on the adults to come and rescue him. These three points made him a better soldier because t made him stronger, more independent and that helped him prepare for the real battle. Graff’s intention of manipulating Ender was to keep him on track. He wanted Ender to only be able to rely on himself and nobody else. Graff wants Ender to use his intelligence to help him get out of a rough situation. The first example of how Graff manipulates Ender is by changing his armies often. He sends Ender from Salamander to Rat, Rat to Phoenix and from Phoenix to Dragon. â€Å"Ender shook his head. It was the stupidest thing he could think of, to promote him ow. Nobody got promoted before they were eight years old. Ender wasn’t even seven yet. And launchies usually moved into the armies together, with most armies getting a new kid at the same time† (Card, pg. 69). Ender was tired of switching armies often. It was only when everything was settling down, when he made a few friends and had gotten over the fact that he was not with Valentine they decide to transfer him. Colonel Graff also manipulates Ender into going to Battle School. â€Å"You won’t miss your mother and father, not much, not for long. And they won’t miss you long either Well no one wants a third anymore. You can’t expect them to be glad. But your mother and father were a special case† (Card, pg. 21/22). Graff speaks with Ender alone and tells his how his family’s reaction would be. He brings up the past about his parents life and that having a â€Å"third† was such a disgrace for them. He tells Ender that miss them a little but soon he will forget about them and they will do the same. Furthermore, Graff also makes sure that Ender does not get any support from the teachers when he is in problem. He also helps Ender become alienated from the other launchies. â€Å"Ender Wiggins must believe that no matter what happens, no adult will ever, ever step in to help him in anyway. He must believe to the core of his soul that he can only do what he and the other children work out for themselves. If he does not believe that, then he will never reach the peak of his ability† (Card, pg. 202). Graff plays with his mind, mentally making him believe that his teachers will never be there to protect him. He makes Ender believe that he could only depend on himself.