Enders Game Essay

Personalities

War is a common thing among humans and always will be because of the people that have large egotistical minds. The difference between humans is their personalities and the type of training one receives for combat. There are many different types of training that can influence ones personality in positive and negative ways. Obviously the goal of any training is to have a positive outcome and reaction to the one that is involved. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is a great example of how personality and training could affect someone in a futuristic setting of war.

Futuristic warfare against aliens would take a considerable amount of training and a commander with very high self discipline. One would also think that the commander would be an adult. The personality of the commander in this setting would half to be perfect to obtain victory against the enemy. If the personality of the commander was not fitting to the situation great mistakes could come about. If a hasty command is made without thinking it through the lives of countless soldiers could be lost in a matter of seconds. If it takes too long for a command to be made the enemy could already have the soldiers surrounded and be forced to surrender. War is a very delicate dance that requires great training and a flawless personality because the commander has everyone's life in the palm of their hand.

Ender is the younger of his two siblings Valentine and Peter. He is referred to as the "Third" many times by children at school "Hey, Third, hey, turd, you flunked out, huh? Thought you were better than us, but you lost your little birdie, Thirdie, got a band aid on your neck" (Card 5). Also at home his brother Peter would pick on him and be very violent with him, "They meant you to be human, little Third, but you're really a bugger, and now it shows" (Card 9). Ender is bullied at school by a boy named Stilson and some of his friends and become fed up with it. Ender decides to stop the bullying once and for all by showing force, "Ender kicked out high and hard, catching Stilson square in the breastbone. He dropped" (Card 5). Ender decided to keep striking Stilson to get the message across to never bully him again. The government is the ones that approved Ender's birth because they thought that there would be a good chance that Ender is the one they need.

Being the "Third" wasn't easy for Ender, not only did he get bullied for it but his parents also looked down on him and felt ashamed by him as Graff said "They do love you, Ender. But you have to understand what you life has cost them. So, you see, having a Third, even under the government's direct instructions, undoes everything they've been trying to do" (Card 16). The government wants Ender because they believe his personality is between Valentine and