Sosnowski 1 Spencer Sosnowski Mrs.

Bach AP English IV 22 January 2013 Enders Game: Its Not a Game Anymore One of the most important themes in Enders Game is violence. The book explores, among other things, the violent nature of humans. The many acts of violence by characters on themselves and each other, and the narrative acts caused by the author, are all tied together by the intimacy of violence. The violence begins almost immediately. Ender is bullied for his status as a Third, a special case, a government-approved third-born child in a world where most families are only permitted to have two. One of the bullies, Stilson, while Ender is held immobile by several other bullies, taunts Ender: Were people, not Thirds, turd face(Card 7). Ender is released by the bullies because they believe they have subdued him. Ender lashes out, kicking Stilson in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Instead of leaving it at that, Ender continues beating Stilson. All the acts in this scene are parts of a conversation between Ender and the bullies. The bullies initial acts of pushing and shoving, on the surface, are just that, but they are really representative of societys tendency to shun those who arent normal. Enders reaction, involving violence of a much higher degree than the bullies, is more than just a reaction. It is his message to the bullies, much stronger than words, that ensures they will not bully him anymore. Furthermore, it is Orson Scott Cards way of subtly hinting at racial, gender, and other social inequalities in our world.

Sosnowski 2 As Ender sits on the spaceship that is taking him to Battle School, another violent encounter manifests itself. Colonel Graff, the principal of the Battle School, clearly prefers Ender to the other recruits. Graff purposefully makes this clear to all the recruits, knowing full well that it will cause the other boys to dislike, even hate Ender. Graff only does this because he believes in Ender, and he knows that if Ender is kept ostracized from his peers while at the school, he will prove to be the best commander Earth has ever had. Graff is the cause of the violent scene that happens on the ship, yet it is for superior reasons, not violence for its own sake. The boys begin hitting Ender in the head from behind, getting harder each time. Ender bears it as long as he can, even recognizing a pattern in the seemingly irregular blows. As a boy goes to hit Ender again, Ender grabs the boys arm, which, because of the zero gravity, causes the boy to flip over the seat and soar across the ship, breaking his arm. Here, the conversation is more between Ender and Graff than it is between Ender and the boys hitting him. Graff sends Ender mixed signals: he seems to have taken a liking to Ender but allows this to cause the boys to harm Ender. This is the beginning of many instances in the book where authority figures in Enders life mislead him, lie to him, or send him mixed signals like Graff. Enders retaliation, while potentially excusable as the reasonable response of a boy accustomed to Earths gravity, just magnified by the lack of gravity, is not so. Ender had meant to hurt [the boy], and had pulled with all his strength(Card 33). Even though Ender has just met Graff, this scene brings a certain level of intimacy to their relationship. They share a bond that is unique, and it would be significantly diminished if this scene had just been Ender and Graff talking to each other about how they feel about things. The book follows a general trend of becoming more and more violent, culminating in the destruction of an entire alien race. Ender, only eleven years old, has been unknowingly enlisted as the commander of humanitys space fleet. The adults in his life have him believe that he is

Sosnowski 3 running training simulation after training simulation, when in reality he is commanding actual ships and people. In what appears to be his final examination, Ender innovatively prevails against the enemy fleet, which outnumbers his fleet a hundred to one. He uses a superweapon to take out the enemy planet, which engulfs the entire enemy fleet with it. He believes it is only a simulation, but when he learns the truth, he has to come to terms with the knowledge that he has destroyed an entire race, an entire species. This act of violence represents all the horrible things humanity is capable of, alluding to such genocides as the Holocaust. Card relates this story set far into the future to people now through violence such as this. We have all witnessed, or been a part of, or been the victims of violence. Therefore, a connection exists between readers, the characters in the story, and the author that would not exist without the intimacy of violence.

Sosnowski 4 Works Cited Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor. New York: Harper, 2003. Print. Card, Orson Scott. Enders Game. New York: Starscape, 2002. Print.