Ender's Game: Character Analysis

Character Analysis:

Ender Wiggin

Colonel Graff

• Colonel Graff is Ender's trainer throughout the majority of his life starting from Battle School until the destruction of the Buggers.
• Colonel Graff exhibits tough love towards Ender, because he loves Ender and wants him to become a powerful commander, but depicts his love by pushing Ender's limits.
• He doesn't restrain from isolating and manipulating Ender because he believes that the only way for Ender to reach his full potential is when he is given multiple obstacles

Influence on Ender

Colonel Graff prepares Ender to beat the Buggers by making him go through ruthless training. He constantly pressures Ender to do things that exhausts him mentally and physically; thus bringing out the qualities of commander that they need. Colonel Graff uses games to manipulate, train and asses Ender. It can be argued that Ender wouldn't have been as good of a commander if it wasnt for Graff's violent strategies. Colonel Graff maximizes Ender's tactical skills, even if it often causes pain and frustration.

By: Patricia Panganiban

Peter Wiggin

Bean

• Bean is a mini-version of Ender.
• Much like Ender, he is young and very brilliant for his age.
• Later, Ender assigns Bean to be a toon leader whose job is to try new things.
• In at least once occasion, Bean's new tricks helps Ender's army to win.
• He stand by Ender's side and takes the military exercises seriously.
• Bean becomes one of Ender's valuable soldiers.

• Peter is Ender's cruel brother.
• He is the complete opposite of Valentine.
• Much like his siblings, Peter is also a genius, but desires too much power and control over the world, even over Ender.
• He has an aggressive relationship with Ender because he enjoys torturing him and constantly threatens to kill him.
• Peter is a potential military leader, but his fearful violence disqualifies him.

Influence on Ender

Bean is an important person in Ender's life because he provides a chance for Ender to realize why Graff continuously puts him in a conflicting situation. During their first interaction, Ender promises himself to not be like the other harsh leaders, but ends up singling bean out, similar to the time when Graff points him out in the ship on the way to battle school. Ender worries and fears that he'll end up torturing Bean as much as he's been tortured by Bonzo, Peter and Graff. However, the relationship between him and bean helps Ender realize why Graff isolates him.

Influence on Ender

Mazer Rackham

Introduction:

Although Peter's psychopathic personality affects Ender physically and mentally, he serves as a driving motivation for Ender to prevent violence and the destruction of other people. Peter's brutal personality gives Ender a reason to hold on to every last piece of his humanity while undergoing training that is designed to make him a murderer.

• A legendary fighter who defeats the buggers during the Second Invasion.
• Much like Ender, Mazer is an empathetic, smart and innovative individual.
• His empathetic abilities contributes to the triumphant invasion because he gets to know his enemies (the Buggers) really well; to the point where he determines how he can easily outplay them.
• Rackham's character appears near the end of the book, where he gets the chance to be Ender's strategic mentor.

Influence on Ender

Ender is heavily influenced by Mazer Rackham during his final stage of training. Just like Graff, Mazer Rackham expresses genuine affection towards Ender (14.308). However, Mazer's manipulative tactics are also very similar to Colonel Graff's. Ender is forced by Mazer Rackham to play 3D simulation games to train him for war against the Buggers. When Ender finishes his last gaming session, he finds out that the games are in fact the real battle. Ender Wiggin along with his exceptional Dragon Army, wipes out the entire bugger population without them knowing. It is evident throughout Ender's battles that his mentor's (Mazer Rackham and Colonel Garff) agonizing manipulation is the reason why he is molded into a dynamic leader and military commander.

Ender Wiggin is the wise and extremely skillful protagonist in this novel. He is the third child in a future earth where people are only limited to having two kids. However, Ender's birth is considered to be an exception due to the skills and abilities that his first two siblings' have displayed. Potential children like the Wiggins kids are needed to defend Earth from the Buggers; the aliens who have attempted to invade Earth and will continue to attack until they colonize the planet. At a young age, Ender is chosen to fight the Buggers because he has the perfect balance of the best qualities needed to become a powerful military commander. Ender Wiggin's character develops greatly as he overcomes several obstacles throughout the novel.

Valentine Wiggin

• Valentine plays an extremely important role in Ender's life.
• She is Ender's sister, but serves much like a mother figure to Ender, even if their mother is present in the book.
• Valentine is compassionate, loving, protective and wise like Ender.
• However, she is considered to be too sympathetic to be a military commander.

Influence on Ender

Since Valentine is the only person who Ender loves and trusts so much, her words are very influential and significant to him. When Ender loses the motivation to continue to participate in Battle and Command School activities, he returns to Earth with Colonel Graff. Upon their return, Colonel Graff asks Valentine to try and help rebuild Ender's confidence and mental strength. Being the important person that Valentine is, she successfully convinces Ender to return to Battle School to fulfill his duties as a military commander.

Ender's Relationships and their influence

• Valentine
• Peter
• Colonel Graff
• Mazer Rackham
• Bean

Persistent

• Ender immediately encounters the challenge of isolation during his arrival at Battle School.
• His trainer, Colonel Graff, isolates him to avoid distractions and people that will disable him from relying on his own strength and intelligence.
• Due to Ender's persistence, he attempts to create allies and build friendships continuously, successfully displaying his persistent personality.
• In the event when Ender joins a new group full of older kids who despise him, he persists and finds a way to train and learn the skills he needs to be successful.

Evidence

• Ender feeling isolated

"The fear stayed, all through dinner as no one sat by him in the mess hall. The other boys were talking about things – the big scoreboard on one wall, the food, the bigger kids. Ender could only watch in isolation." (page 73)

• Ender overcoming this challenge through his persistence and making friends

"They [Shen and Ender] laughed together, and two other launchies joined them. Ender's isolation was over." (page 86)

Intelligent

• Ender is very intelligent, especially for his age.
• He is able to understand, learn and perform quicker than the other children at Battle School.
• Ender advances in Battle School faster than the average student, leading an army of his own at the age of 10.
• He depicts his intelligence when he becomes the first person to beat the Battle School's programmed computer game, which consists of challenges that tests the player's problem-solving skills.
• Throughout Ender's life in Battle School, he astonishes not only the trainers, but also the older adolescence in Battle School.
• Later on, Ender Wiggin moves to Command School, where Mazer Rackham, the last person to beat the Buggers, assists him to another possible triumph.
• Children sent to this school are considered to be extremely skillful and are the only hope to the defeat of the Buggers.

Evidence

Ender's intelligence

"He always knew the answer even when she thought he wasn't paying attention." (page 35)

"All he had to do was watch the game and understand how things worked, and then he could use the system, and even excel." (page 80)

Innovative

Ender vs. Bullies (Man vs Man)

• When Ender enters the zero gravity Battle Room for the first time, he immediately finds a way to learn which tactics will work best to stabilize him.
• Ender tries to expose himself to the new environment, and experiments with different things he can use and do for their upcoming battles.
• Ender Wiggin's creative mind also allows him to run an entire army by himself.
• He discovers efficient ways to beat their enemies, and successfully creates formations that will not only lead to their victory, but also the less numbers of attacked members.

• Ender encounters this type of conflict multiple times, all while he's an innocent little boy, trying to restrain himself from violence.
• Ender's bully, Stilson, whom he goes to school with, gets a taste of Ender's cruel side when he picks him out for being a "third" child.
• Being born as a third child in their futuristic world is frowned upon because families are only based on having two children.
• Ender brutally beats Stilson, causing severe injuries that leads to his death in the hospital. "Ender kicked out high and hard, catching Stilson square in the breast done. He dropped... Ender walked to Stilson's supine body and kicked him again, viciously, in the ribs." ( page 37)
• Ender once again demonstrates his vicious side when he gets into a fight with Bonzo.
• Bonzo Madrid is Ender's Salamander Army leader, but is also one of Ender's worst enemy.
• Due to Bonzo's jealousy towards Ender, he targets Ender for being the successful most celebrated soldier, surpassing Bonzo's effort to be the best.
• Bonzo displays his hatred for Ender when he treats him badly, excluding him from their army's battles.
• Bonzo states to Ender, "you will stay out of the way when we're training in the battle room... When were called to battle, you will dress quickly. But you will remain at the gate, with your weapons undrawn and unfired." (page 111)
• He clearly doesn't want Ender to interfere because he knows that Ender will outshine him.
• In chapter 12, Bonzo attacks Ender, which results in Bonzo's death.
• "Ender leaned back against the wall behind him, then jumped up and pushed off with his arms. His feet landed in Bonzo's belly and chest. Ender spun in the air and landed on his toes and hands; he flipped over, scooted under Bonzo, and this time when he kicked upward into Bonzo's crotch, he connected, hard and sure."
• These brutal events prove that a man vs man is a type of conflict Ender goes through in the novel.

Frame 2

Evidence

Ender "found himself ripping the seat tightly, even though gravity pulled him firmly against it. The other boys were bouncing on their seats a little. Ender carefully found the straps, figured out how they fit together to hold him at crotch, waist and shoulders." (page 61)

"... and this time, Ender was deft enough to pull off a few maneuvers that the boy had obviously never seen before." (page 80)

Ender vs. Society (Man vs. Society)

Adaptive

• Ender Wiggin's ability to adapt to a variety of circumstances makes him an extremely adaptive character.
• At first, he struggles to function properly without his monitor. However, he proves that he can defend himself without the monitor to help him when he fights Stilson,.
• Ender also portrays his adaptability throughout his stay at Battle School and Command school by still being able to learn with the other kids, even the ones who resent him.
• Ender manages to work with a new team when his teacher transfers him to Salamander Army.
• Even if he is seen as a competition by the team, especially its leader Bonzo, because of his strong capabilities as a launchy, he is still able to adapt to his discouraging team.
• As an inexperienced and young member of the Battle School, Ender effectively adapts to being a leader when he is promoted to lead an army of his own.

• Ender's confrontation between himself and the society relates back to the time when Stilson would bully him for being a "third."
• As previously mentioned, Ender lives in a society where being the third child is considered to be unusual and almost forbidden.
• Throughout his grade school life, Ender faces the challenges of being hated and made fun of by his peers and even his own brother, Peter.
• His classmates tells Ender, "Lost your birdie Thirdie... We're people, not Thirds, turd face. You're about as strong as a fart." (36-37) Ender's daily life at school is an endless cycle of teasing and bullying.
• As for Peter, he always reminds Ender , "they meant you to be human, little third, but toured really a bigger... They only authorized you because I was SI promising. They think you're better. But I don't want a better little brother, Ender. I don't want a third." (42)
• Ender Wiggin feels like the world is against him, but it is clear that it's not his fault that he's a third.
• Society pinpoints the fact that having a third child isn't right, but Ender is able to redeem and prove himself to be a necessary human being when he saves the entire human race against the Buggers.

Evidence

• When he joins the Salamander army, he quickly adapts to Bonzo's rules and the unpleasant surrounding.

"Since Bonzo had ordered him not to draw his weapon, Ender continued to drift, not moving his head or arms, as if they had been frozen too." (page 125)

• Ender's adaptability to become a successful leader, despite the fact that he's very young and Colonel Graff exhausts his army by putting them in multiple battles almost every day

"At the end of the week Dragon Army had fought seven battles in seven days. The score stood 7 wins and 0 losses." (page 224)

Frame 2

Empathic

Ender vs. Himself (Man vs. Himself)

Evidence

• Ender's emphatic abilities are evident throughout the whole book.
• Near the beginning of the book, when Ender plays "Buggers and Aliens" with his brother, he puts himself into the buggers position; trying to sense what they feel, think and how they would move.
• In the end, Ender greatly displays his empathy for the buggers.
• He willingly listens to the Bugger Queen, which is something that no one would've done after they attacked Earth.
• Ender learns from the Bugger queens that they didn't intend to hurt the human race.
• With the help of Ender's empathy, he enables himself to create peace between him and the buggers and he starts to appreciate and comprehend with the so called "enemies."

"He put on the mask. It closed him in like a hand pressed tight against his face. But this isn't how it feels a bugger, thought Ender... On their home worlds, do the buggers put on human masks, and play?" (page 41)

"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." (page 279)

• Ender Wiggin experiences this type of conflict throughout the whole book, especially during his time at Battle School.
• He is always doubting himself and his actions, thus making it extremely hard for him to act upon a decision.
• His low self esteem and indecisiveness is shown when Graff gives him a choice between staying with his family or go to Battle School to train as a valuable commander. Ender tells Graff, "Im afraid, But I'll go with you... It's what I was born for isn't it? If I don't go, why am I alive? I don't want to go, but I will" (56) This particular quote portrays the fact that Ender is hesitant to go, and has trouble deciding whether he should stay with his family or attend Battle school.
• Ender instills the thought that he's only good enough to be a commander and that it's his only purpose in life.
• As a compassionate and empathetic person that he is, Ender refuses to kill and hurt others, but is constantly put into situations where his survival only depends on his ability to fight back. When Ender discovers that Bonzo is dead, he "began to cry. Lying on his back, still soaking wet with sweat and water, he gasped his sobs, tears seeping out of his closed eyelids and disappearing in the water on his face. 'I didn't want to hurt him [Bonzo]!' Ender cried." (251).
• In this situation, Ender is angry at himself for killing Bonzo, due to the fact that it's not doesn't intend to hurt anyone, but he does to defend himself. It is evident that Ender is constantly at war with himself throughout the book

Ender Wiggin's Character Traits

• Persistent
• Intelligent
• Innovative
• Adaptive
• Empathic

Personal Growth

• Ender excels in decision-making skills throughout his time at Battle and Command School
• He turns into one of the most respected commanders
• He learns how to cope with loneliness and simultaneous problems
• Throughout the book, he is able to boost his capabilities and creativity
• At the end of the novel, he becomes more confident due to his accomplishments and the man people who believe in him

Ender's Role

Ender's Conflicts

• To become a strong military commander
• To beat the Buggers and save humanity

• Ender vs. Bullies (Man vs. Man)
• Ender vs. Society (Man vs. Society)
• Ender vs. Himself (Man vs. Himself)

Secondary Reference

Author: Mocko, I

Publiclation Date: November 13, 2013

Type of Document: Article, Book Review

http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/detroit/orson-scott-card-enders-game/Content?oid=1597717

Author: Mr Modenait

Publication Date: Monday May 14, 2012

Type of Document: Article, Book Review

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/14/enders-game-scott-card-review