Ender's game
Orson Scott Card
Science Fiction
36/324
Summary
The novel begins with two anonymous people
discussing about a boy and his two siblings and decide that he is the one to
save Earth from the buggers. The 6-years-old boy named Ender Wiggins is being
monitored by the I.F. (International Fleet) for his excellence. His brother
Peter hates Ender for his excellence; because he is a living proof that he was
not good enough. Ender's monitor is removed before he goes to school and Ender
faces dangers now that his monitor is gone.
At school, he was teased by a boy named
Stilson and his gang about being a "Third". After school, Ender is
cornered by Stilson and his gang. After a failed attempt of telling them to let
him go, he kicks Stilson in his groin and continues kicking him even after he
fell to make them stop teasing him forever.
At Ender's house, Peter, who is 4 years
older than Ender forces him to play Buggers and Astronauts with him and makes
him the bugger. Ender puts on a bugger mask and Peter climbs on top of him and
threatens him that he could kill him and nobody will blame him and says that he
will eventually kill Ender.
Next morning, while the Wiggins are having
breakfast, a man from I.F. visits them. The man, whose name is Graff interviews
Ender about the fight with Stilson. Ender explains that he wanted them to leave
him alone forever. Graff tells him that he has passed the test and that he has
been chosen to attend Battle School and that life in Battle School will be hard.
However, Ender chooses to attend Battle School since he has nothing to lose and
leaves his family. His sister Valentine cries to him to return some day.
At the launch to Battle School which is in
space, Ender was with kids from all over the world chosen for their excellence.
Other kids were joking around but Ender was not part of it and thought that
none of it was funny. As they enter the shuttle, Ender who was not part of the
conversation unlike all others, finds his seat belt and straps it on. Graff,
who decided to isolate Ender to make him a good commander, compliments Ender
for putting on his straps when all others were talking. Because of that, a boy
keeps hitting him in the head so Ender grabs his arm and throws him in null
gravity breaking his arm. Ender feels that he is only a "Peter" and
feels bad about it.
Once in the Battle School, he was to be a
launchy which is what the group of 6-year-olds are called in the school. He
finds his bunk in the barracks in the worst place and sets off for dinner. He
goes to the game room, finds older boys playing and watches them play. Ender
challenges the best player among the group of older boys. They play 3 times;
the first 2 games he lost but in the end he won and shocked the older boys.
Bernard, whose arm Ender broke gathers a
gang just like Stilson. Ender hacks the computer system of the school and sends
messages to his fellow launchies that makes him look foolish. This stops him
from getting too much control over the kids. A small boy named Shen who was
bullied by him is amused and grows intimate with Ender.
Reflection
It was painful to see a kid only
6-years-old face isolation in order to become a commander who will eventually
save the world. I expect to see him overcome his numerous challenges and someday
become a great commander.
Passage
I thought Ender might call for help.
"Call for help? I thought that was what you valued most in him - that he
settles his own problems. When he's out there surrounded by an enemy fleet,
there ain't gonna be nobody to help him if he calls."
This is a conversation between two high
authorities in I.F., Graff and Anderson. They talk about the incident in the
launch; about Ender breaking a boy's arm. They talk about his future and decide
that he should be isolated to make him think that help will never reach him. I
thought this passage was important because this isolation is what makes Ender
most painful right now.
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