Life doesn't always allow you to choose who you want to be:
Ender Wiggin hated how he had the ability to be ruthless, for he wanted to be like his kind and compassionate sister. However, Ender was constantly faced with violent situations in which he had to choose between harming or being harmed. In each one of his confrontations, Ender decided that he would rather harm than be harmed. Therefore, Ender had no choice but to ruthlessly injure his enemies before they brutally injured him. Ender always felt terrible after he injured one of his enemies, for he did not want to be the cause of someone's pain. As Ender stated in the text, "I didn't want to hurt him! Why didn't he just leave me alone( Card p.213)!" Although Ender did not want to be anything like Peter, he was similar to his brother in many ways. Ender wanted to be completely void of ruthlessness, but his life's circumstances did not allow him to achieve his goal.
Manipulation can have positive and negative results:
Manipulation was the cause of many major events and struggles within "Ender's Game." For example, Ender, during he climax of the book, was manipulated into destroying an alien species, and Peter, Ender's brother, manipulated the World Government into giving him political power. Whether the result of manipulation was positive or negative, depends on the character's point of view. While Ender believed that destroying an alien species was a tragedy, the I.F. believed that it was blessing. Similarly, Peter believed that gaining political power was wonderful, but Valentine believed it would ruin Ender's chance to live a normal life. In both events, the effects of the manipulation were determined by the dominating character's view. Therefore, the manipulation had both positive and negative results.
Don't believe everything you're told:
Ender Wiggin was easily able to identify small and meaningless lies, for he used facts and contemplations to determine the truth. However, Ender was incapable of identifying deception when it was on a large scale, so he believed the adults when they told him that his battles in the simulator were fake. As a result, Ender, unknowingly, destroyed an alien species, for the adults had lied when they said that the battles were fake. Similarly, Ender was told he needed to win the ongoing war against the Buggers. However, the I.F. had deceived both Ender and the public, for the war was nonexistent. Because Ender believed most of what he was told, he was easily manipulated into doing things that he, otherwise, wouldn't have done. Clearly, we shouldn't believe everything that we are told, but we shouldn't suspect that everything we are told is a lie. We require a balance between suspicion and belief. Unfortunately, Ender did not possess balance, so he was easily deceived. Balance can prevent such exploitation.
You can accomplish almost anything if you are intelligent enough:
All three of the Wiggin children were extremely intelligent, so they used their brilliance to achieve their goals. Valentine's goal, which was to prevent Peter from manipulating Ender, was easily attainable. However, Peter's goal, which was to gain world domination, seemed impossible to achieve. Even so, Peter managed to achieve world domination, for he used political writing to manipulate the public and the World Government. Similarly, Ender's goal, which was to defeat an armada more than twice the size of his own, seemed unattainable. Nevertheless, Ender accomplished his goal, for he used a brilliant strategy in which he destroyed his enemy's species. In both instances, intelligence allowed the character to accomplish a seemingly impossible goal. However, I would suggest that average people, like you and me, maintain more reasonable goals, for only a genius could achieve world domination. Even if our goals seem as unattainable as world domination, we can still succeed.
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Text to Self Connection:
Ender Wiggin, at one point in the novel, was manipulated into fighting a war against the Buggers, for the adults had deceived him into thinking he was in a simulation. As a result, Ender ruthlessly sacrificed his starships and destroyed his enemy's home planet. I believe that the adults were selfish and cruel to have deceived a seven-year-old, but I also believe that the adults did not expect Ender to destroy his enemy's planet. Even so, I was enraged after I learned what the adults had done, for their mindless manipulation had devastated Ender. I simply couldn't believe that adults would rob a seven-year-old of his childhood so as to manipulate and deceive him.
It is arguable that the adults manipulated Ender in order to save humanity, but I don't believe that intentionally traumatizing and endangering a child is justifiable. As a result, I was absolutely shocked when Colonel Graff managed to win his innocence during a trial. Even though the government in "Ender's Game" believed Graff's actions were legitimate, my opinion did not change. I still believe that traumatizing, manipulating, and robbing a kid of his childhood is absolutely unacceptable.
Ender Wiggin hated how he had the ability to be ruthless, for he wanted to be like his kind and compassionate sister. However, Ender was constantly faced with violent situations in which he had to choose between harming or being harmed. In each one of his confrontations, Ender decided that he would rather harm than be harmed. Therefore, Ender had no choice but to ruthlessly injure his enemies before they brutally injured him. Ender always felt terrible after he injured one of his enemies, for he did not want to be the cause of someone's pain. As Ender stated in the text, "I didn't want to hurt him! Why didn't he just leave me alone( Card p.213)!" Although Ender did not want to be anything like Peter, he was similar to his brother in many ways. Ender wanted to be completely void of ruthlessness, but his life's circumstances did not allow him to achieve his goal.
Manipulation can have positive and negative results:
Manipulation was the cause of many major events and struggles within "Ender's Game." For example, Ender, during he climax of the book, was manipulated into destroying an alien species, and Peter, Ender's brother, manipulated the World Government into giving him political power. Whether the result of manipulation was positive or negative, depends on the character's point of view. While Ender believed that destroying an alien species was a tragedy, the I.F. believed that it was blessing. Similarly, Peter believed that gaining political power was wonderful, but Valentine believed it would ruin Ender's chance to live a normal life. In both events, the effects of the manipulation were determined by the dominating character's view. Therefore, the manipulation had both positive and negative results.
Don't believe everything you're told:
Ender Wiggin was easily able to identify small and meaningless lies, for he used facts and contemplations to determine the truth. However, Ender was incapable of identifying deception when it was on a large scale, so he believed the adults when they told him that his battles in the simulator were fake. As a result, Ender, unknowingly, destroyed an alien species, for the adults had lied when they said that the battles were fake. Similarly, Ender was told he needed to win the ongoing war against the Buggers. However, the I.F. had deceived both Ender and the public, for the war was nonexistent. Because Ender believed most of what he was told, he was easily manipulated into doing things that he, otherwise, wouldn't have done. Clearly, we shouldn't believe everything that we are told, but we shouldn't suspect that everything we are told is a lie. We require a balance between suspicion and belief. Unfortunately, Ender did not possess balance, so he was easily deceived. Balance can prevent such exploitation.
You can accomplish almost anything if you are intelligent enough:
All three of the Wiggin children were extremely intelligent, so they used their brilliance to achieve their goals. Valentine's goal, which was to prevent Peter from manipulating Ender, was easily attainable. However, Peter's goal, which was to gain world domination, seemed impossible to achieve. Even so, Peter managed to achieve world domination, for he used political writing to manipulate the public and the World Government. Similarly, Ender's goal, which was to defeat an armada more than twice the size of his own, seemed unattainable. Nevertheless, Ender accomplished his goal, for he used a brilliant strategy in which he destroyed his enemy's species. In both instances, intelligence allowed the character to accomplish a seemingly impossible goal. However, I would suggest that average people, like you and me, maintain more reasonable goals, for only a genius could achieve world domination. Even if our goals seem as unattainable as world domination, we can still succeed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Text to Self Connection:
Ender Wiggin, at one point in the novel, was manipulated into fighting a war against the Buggers, for the adults had deceived him into thinking he was in a simulation. As a result, Ender ruthlessly sacrificed his starships and destroyed his enemy's home planet. I believe that the adults were selfish and cruel to have deceived a seven-year-old, but I also believe that the adults did not expect Ender to destroy his enemy's planet. Even so, I was enraged after I learned what the adults had done, for their mindless manipulation had devastated Ender. I simply couldn't believe that adults would rob a seven-year-old of his childhood so as to manipulate and deceive him.
It is arguable that the adults manipulated Ender in order to save humanity, but I don't believe that intentionally traumatizing and endangering a child is justifiable. As a result, I was absolutely shocked when Colonel Graff managed to win his innocence during a trial. Even though the government in "Ender's Game" believed Graff's actions were legitimate, my opinion did not change. I still believe that traumatizing, manipulating, and robbing a kid of his childhood is absolutely unacceptable.
"The way we win matters."~A.E. Wiggin