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April 19, 2007

Poor Ender!

Card, Ender's Game Ch 1-6 -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"The sister is our weak link. He really loves her."
"I know. She can undo it all, from the start. He won't want to leave her."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Persuade him that he wants to come with us more than he wants to stay with her."
"How will you do that?"
"I'll lie to him."

Eww! I hate adults in this book. I feel so bad for Ender. Not only does his brother manipulate and want to kill him, but the adults in his life are manipulative too. On top of that, he has the pressure of saving the whole human race on his shoulders. He's only six years old, and although he is a genious, he is still only a child. People are playing with his mind and taking advantage of his innocence and his want to fit in. He's a typical child who doesn't want to be isolated and bullied, and they pretty much make it impossible for him to have friends and be happy. Poor Ender!

Posted by CheraPupi at April 19, 2007 4:37 PM

Comments

Although characters such as Graff do indeed manipulate Ender, from their point of view, this manipulation is necessary. In fact, they like Ender and feel just as bad for him as the reader does. Their actions are not guiltfree because they do realize that he is a six year old boy. However, they believe that their actions are also necessary in order to save the world. In effect, Card causes the reader to question, "Is the world worth saving when saving it requires a young boy to sacrifice so much?" Graff believes it is, and, ironically, so does Ender. For this reason, Ender chooses to go to battle school--Graff does not force him to go and even warns him about how horrible it will be.

Posted by: Ellen Einsporn at May 7, 2007 9:44 AM

I feel bad for him too. It is a shame that they all manipulate him. I agree with Hallie as well. You really do have to wonder what is true and what is false. Deception, manipultion, and lies seem to play major roles in this book, at least in my own understanding anyways.

Posted by: Jennifer Prex at April 19, 2007 7:17 PM

I have to wonder, though, did that character actually lie to him? It says in the beginning of the chapter that Graff would attempt to lie to Ender first, then tell the truth if it was necessary. But as far as I can tell Graff never lied or, assuming that he is lying the whole time, never had to tell the truth. Which is it, I wonder? It certainly seems like he told the truth.

Posted by: HallieGeary at April 19, 2007 6:57 PM

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