End of Ender's Game

After finishing Ender's Game, there are many comments I would like to make. First off, Ender's Game was an amazing book with exciting twists at the end. When I learned that Ender had been killing off the bugger population without knowing it, I thought that that was very unfair and cruel. Then I realized why the I.F. had tricked Ender into killing the buggers. They knew that despite his similarities to Peter, Ender would have never been able to kill an entire population. He was not that cruel. This was what made Mazer's trickery the worst. Ender was very distraught when he learned what he had done. Another fascinating twist at the end of Ender's game is when Ender finds the pupa of a queen bugger. Ender must have been even angrier when the queen tells him that the buggers didn't want to murder the humans. I think Ender would have realized that he killed an innocent civilization. This must have spurred him to help bring back the bugger population. I found the last sentence in the book interesting and it accurately described the human race. At the end of the book, Ender was looking for a place where the bugger population could grow in peace and without being killed by humans.The sentence in the book is, "He looked for a long time." (324). To me, this shows that Ender had a hard time finding any place where humans would not kill the buggers, even if they knew that the buggers just wanted to live in peace. Overall, Ender's Game was a great book worth rereading because of its complex lessons and surprises.

Going Back to the Conspiracy Theory

Because I am approaching the end of the book, I have decided to go back to the conspiracy theory that Dink first mentioned to Ender. When Dink first brought up that Battle School is only there to keep the I.F. in power and that buggers were not attacking, Ender, for the most part, believed him. I also thought this theory sounded reasonable. As the story continues, however, evidence for and against this theory arises. At one point in the book, Ender says that the real enemies are the teachers and not the buggers. I think at this point that Ender is fully convinced that Battle School is a fake. Then, evidence arises against this theory. The first piece of evidence is when they send Ender to Command School. If Battle School and the buggers were not real, then the I.F. wouldn't bother to send people to Command School, because they could stay in power without having a Command School. Another piece of evidence contrasting Dink's theory is Mazer Rackham training Ender. Mazer Rackham has fought the buggers before, and he wouldn't take the time to tutor Ender if the Third Invasion was not real.

Ender and Valentine's Talk

In Chapter 13, Valentine talks to Ender for the first time since Ender has been home. Ender refuses to have the Colonel listen to their conversation. I think he does this because he doesn't want them to analyze the talk and use it against him. Ender explains that he is very good at understanding how people think. I found it interesting when Valentine is frightened by this comment. I found out that Valentine is afraid of Ender knowing too much about her, even though Peter understands her, too. We learn another interesting thing about Ender in this chapter.  The reason that Ender does not inflicting physical violence is because the moment he is about to beat someone, he loves them. This explains many actions that Ender has taken throughout the book. One time where Ender was ashamed on his violent tendencies is when he brutally beat up Bonzo and then cried about it and was ashamed later. This is a very drastic difference from Peter. Ender is even able to love people who are trying to hurt him, whereas when Ender says that he wants Peter to love him, Valentine admits that Peter doesn't love anybody.

A Threat to Ender's Life

In Chapter 12, we learn about a plot against Ender's life. It seems as if some of the older boys are planning to kill or seriously injure Ender. I found this plan interesting for a couple reasons. One reason is that to kill Ender out of jealousy does not seem like a smart thing to do. The boys recruited into Battle School are supposed to be brilliant. To kill a fellow student is not something a genius would do because of the inevitable consequences. They seem to care too much about the glory of winning the game. That brings me to my next point. Battle School is supposed to be about preparing children for the war against the buggers so that the kids can "save the world". It seems to me that the children have got too caught up in the game played at Battle School. If they are willing to kill the best commander just because they are jealous of his skill, then they are missing the final objective of Battle School. If they were thinking about the future and the bugger war, then they would realize that Ender is going to be a very important person in the fight. Another thing I found intriguing was that Colonel Graff is willing to let the other boys attack Ender. This is more evidence that supports the conspiracy theory. If Battle School is really about saving the world from buggers, then Colonel Graff would probably not be so willing to let the jealous boys attack, and potentially kill, the best commander in the school.

Ender's Game Chapter 11

In Chapter 11, Ender's army's battles begin. Ender's strategy to not make formations is brilliant. This allows his army to adapt to anything the opposing army throws at them. I also found Ender's conversation with Colonel Graff very interesting. Ender basically tells Graff that he is tiring out Ender's army and doesn't care about their school work. Ender also tells Colonel Graff that he won the fantasy game. This tells us that Ender believes that once he kissed the snake instead of killing it, then his journey was over. The most intriguing part of this chapter is when Anderson sets Ender up for a battle with Bonzo's army. Not only is this the second battle Enders had in one day, but Bonzo's army also got a head start into the battleroom. Yet another showing of Ender's commandeering abilities and his brilliance is when he manages to defeat the army even though they are hiding behind a wall waiting to ambush him. I think that Ender will continue to be the most outstanding commander and will thwart any tricks other armies try to pull on him, especially with his new addition of Bean's special army.

Ender's Game Chapter 10

In Chapter 10, Ender gets his own army, the Dragon Army. Graff informs Ender that Dragon Army has not been around for many years. I think the reason that Graff brings out the Dragon Army for Ender, is that Ender is unique and needs an unique army to raise. I found it extremely intriguing when I realized that Ender was treating one kid in his army in the same cruel way that Graff and Ender's commanders treated him. Ender immediately tries to isolate the kid that seems to be the brightest. This is the exact same thing that Colonel Graff did to Ender. I think Ender is again showing similarities to Peter, and Ender realizes it. At the end of the chapter, Ender says that he is angry enough to defeat his real enemies: the teachers. This is the point where Ender realizes that his greatest enemies are the teachers and not the buggers that he is supposedly saving the world from. I believe Ender is using the anger that he felt when he realized the teachers had used Valentine to manipulate him, and redirecting it to bring down the teachers' lies and find the truth behind Battle School.

Ender's Game Chapter 9

In Chapter 9, Valentine and Peter hatch a plan to gain more political say. They decide to made pseudonyms that they will use on the internet, because if people knew they were children then their ideas would not be taken seriously. So far, Valentine and Peter's plan seems to be working. This was interesting because if Battle School really is a fake, then Valentine and Peter are doing more to save the world than Ender is. I found this ironic, because Battle School is supposed to prepare kids to save the world and both Valentine and Peter were rejected from Battle School. Another thing that happened in chapter 9 is that Colonel Graff comes down from Battle School and tells Valentine to write a letter to Ender. Ender receives the letter but knows that they made Valentine write it. I believe this makes Ender angry, and convinces him even further that Battle School isn't real. Because the teachers at Battle School underestimated Ender's intelligence, their plan to make Ender happier did not work.

Similarities between Peter and Valentine

In Chapter 9, some similarities between Peter and Valentine become obvious. Up to this point, Peter and Valentine have, for the most part, been described as total opposites. I found it interesting when it said that Valentine could control people by finding what they liked most about themselves and flattering them. The author then contrasted her with Peter by saying that Peter could control people by finding what they feared most and exposing that fear. This shows how Valentine and Peter can each manipulate people to their points of view. Although the two siblings seem like complete opposites, this is just one similarity that becomes clear. I think throughout the book more cases of Peter and Valentine's similarity will show up. I am hypothesizing this because Valentine thinks "There was more Peter in her than she could bear to admit..." (128). This quote shows that even Valentine, as much as she doesn't like it, is similar to Peter.