Chapter 1: Third

Summary

The first chapter of Ender's Game begins with a conversation between two unnamed people, discussing a boy and his two siblings. They decide that the boy is the one they need to save the world from the buggers, although they have doubts, just as they did about the brother and sister.

The story begins to describe the life of Ender, the six year old boy they were describing. He is having his monitor removed. This device had allowed the authorities to view the world as he did, and from Ender's thoughts we learn that the monitor has made him an outcast. His brother Peter also had a monitor, but Ender had his for a year longer, and Peter hates him for this. Ender wants Peter to stop hating him, but quickly decides that he and Peter will never be friends, because Peter is too dangerous. The removal of the monitor is painful, and Ender is drugged before returning to class.

When Ender returns to class he is teased by a boy named Stilson, but Ender just seems bored by school. He knows the answers to all of the questions and hardly bothers paying attention. He is teased about being a "Third", and Ender thinks that it is the government's fault that he is a Third, since they authorized his birth. After school Ender is cornered and held by a group of bullies led by Stilson. Ender realizes that the situation does not look good for him and decides to do something about it. He talks them into letting go of him and then kicks Stilson in the chest. It occurs to Ender that he must stop their bullying once and for all. So, even though he knows not to strike an opponent who is on the ground, he kicks Stilson brutally several more times to stop anyone from messing with him in the future. Then Ender cries while waiting for the bus, thinking that he has become just like Peter.

Analysis

The beginning of the book introduces two major themes. First, the conversation between the two unknown adults demonstrates the amount of manipulation that is involved in Ender's life. At every step there are people watching him, and, although he is a mere six years old, they are already preparing for him to be the savior of the human race. The idea of adults as higher powers controlling every aspect of a child's life brings up the question of whether or not everyone's life is controlled by another. On the other hand, this conversation shows the humanity and the desperation of the people talking. They want to control Ender, but only because they desperately need him. They may manipulate his life, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Equally important, the conversation frames the events for the chapter. The two people discuss how Ender must be surrounded by enemies, and in school he literally is surrounded by his enemies. This book is very much the story of how the worries of the adults play out in Ender's life, and this rhetorical method allows Card to tell the story from two different perspectives. It always starts with the view of the adults and then moves into the lives of the children they are describing.

The second theme that this chapter initiates is Ender's struggle to confront his sense of loneliness. He has only himself to rely on, and this forces him to be ruthless in dealing with Stilson. He is also singled out because he is a Third, a third child, something so rare that it took government authorization to make it possible. Ender has the ability to survive on his own, but there is a great personal risk. His brother Peter needs no one, and yet Ender fears nothing more than becoming his brother. The issue then is whether or not Ender can retain his humanity and still defeat his enemies. Of course, this issue is alluded to in the conversation that starts the book. The fact that Ender cries because he believes he has become just like Peter shows that he is wrong. He is still a good human being who does not want to do any harm to anyone. However, if forced, he will stand up for himself, and it is clear that standing in Ender's way is not a good idea.

Chapter 2: Peter

Summary

The second chapter begins with a conversation between the same two adults, who apparently approve of the way that Ender dealt with Stilson, comparing his actions to those of someone named Mazer Rackham. However, they are worried about Peter's reaction. Their concern, however, is tempered by the fact that they realize their job is not to make Ender happy but to save the world. The action returns to Ender's home, where his sister Valentine is comforting him over the loss of his monitor, although Ender does not seem to care. His brother Peter is angered by the fact that Ender had his monitor for longer than he did. Peter decides that he and Ender should play buggers and astronauts, a common children's game. However, Peter actually hurts Ender during the game, as he has in the past, treating his brother like a hated enemy. Even as Peter is preparing to do physical damage to him, Ender stops to think about what it really feels like to be a bugger, and what they think about humans.

Peter, a full four years older than Ender, remarks out loud that he could kill Ender by slowly crushing the air out of his lungs with his knee and how everyone would think it was an accident. Ender does not think Peter is serious but knows it is possible. Valentine talks Peter out of it by pointing out that if he wants to enter politics he cannot have anything that looks this bad in his past, and he relents, although he tells her never to stop watching Ender because someday he will kill him. Peter goes even further, telling Valentine that it will look like an accident and she will not want to blame him. But, Peter says, he will kill Ender eventually.

Then Peter laughs about it all, claiming he was just messing around. Ender's parents come home, with very little to say, and it is clear that Ender cannot relate at all to them, except that he knows how awkward he makes them feel, since he is a Third, and he hates that feeling. Finally, while Ender is lying in bed at night, Peter comes to him, and at first Ender fears for his life. However, Peter apologizes, claiming that Ender is his brother and he loves him. Later, after Peter falls asleep, Ender cries again.

Analysis

Ender's story gets more complicated in the second chapter. Peter is revealed as a truly dangerous character. The disembodied voices' concern about how Ender will handle Peter is legitimate, for Peter appears at times to be evil incarnate. There are two key features to Peter's personality. He is capable of ruthlessly killing his own siblings. He is also a genius, and incredibly manipulative. Ender fears he has become cruel like Peter after beating Stilson, but it is unclear whether he can be as manipulative as his brother.

Peter's situation is both interesting and crucial. The comparison between the siblings is a constant theme throughout the book, and Ender cannot bear the thought that he and Peter might really be the same after all. There are two sides to this comparison. Saying that Ender is like Peter makes Ender appear bad, but it might also be that there is some good in Peter. Although it is not clear whether Ender believes him or not, Peter does apologize at the end of the chapter. Peter might truly be asking his brother to forgive him or it might be another attempt at manipulation. The point is not that one or the other possibility is correct, but rather that both are possible. Card sketches complex characters with real human traits, and they are not so easily classified. Furthermore, it may be that Peter himself is not always so sure of his emotions. The interplay between good and evil, and the fine line that separates them, is an important motif in Ender's Game. Even if he was acting for his own benefit, Peter's words comforted Ender, and he therefore would have accomplished good ends through evil means. On the other hand, when Ender beat up Stilson in the first chapter, his good intentions—he wanted only to protect himself—led to a bad outcome. Not only are good and evil hard to separate within a person, good and bad acts are not so easily distinguished.

Chapter 3: Graff

Summary

The conversation that starts this chapter focuses on the other Wiggin child, Valentine. The adults need Ender to go with them somewhere, and they are afraid that his love for her will stop him from leaving. In the course of their brief conversation it becomes clear that one of them is going to get Ender and that it is imperative that he succeed.

We reenter Ender's life at the breakfast table, where Ender is too preoccupied with his thoughts to eat. A man wearing the uniform of the International Fleet (I.F.) comes to the door and interrupts breakfast. After Ender's parents talk to the man for a moment they call Ender into the parlor. Peter is upset because he still hopes to be chosen, but the other two both know it must be about Ender.

The officer asks Ender about the fight with Stilson, and Ender explains that he did not enjoy hurting Stilson but merely wanted to make sure that he would not be hurt in the future. As he is explaining, he starts to cry and becomes embarrassed. After hearing Ender's explanation the officer stands up, introduces himself as Colonel Graff, director of the Battle School in the Belt, and offers Ender a chance to enter the school. Ender is surprised, because they have already taken away his monitor, but Graff explains that that was his final test and that he has passed. Ender passes because Colonel Graff is satisfied by the reasons Ender gave for what he did to Stilson. Graff says that he needed to make sure that he knew what Ender motivation was, and he almost slips and says he needed to see that Ender was not like his brother. While Graff talks it becomes clear that Ender, as a third child, was only allowed to be born because of I.F. consent, and that he is essentially I.F. property.

Graff wants Ender to choose to come to school because he will not do well if he does not go willingly. He makes Ender's parents leave the room and tries to convince Ender to leave, by telling him how tough it will be. Graff tells him that he will not be able to see his sister for years. Ender asks about his parents and Graff explains that, although they love him, they will not miss him because of how difficult he has been for them. His father was one of nine children, and he did not want any child of his to deal with the persecution he had to face. It comes out that there are sanctions against having more than two children that have become stronger over the years. Ender's father was born Catholic, and his mother a Mormon, and although they publicly gave up their religion, they still have religious feelings. Thus Ender torments them because he represents all of the other extra children they wish they could have and he also thwarts their attempts to be like the rest of society.

Graff tells him that Battle School is difficult, but also traces it as his destiny. Peter was good, but they would not take him because of his cruelty. Next the I.F. asked for a girl, hoping Valentine would be less harsh, but she was too gentle, and so they asked for a Third. Ender was to be half Peter and half Valentine. Graff tells Ender that he is desperately needed, and that mankind would have been destroyed last time, except for Mazer Rackham, the brilliant commander who saved them all. Graff appeals to Ender on behalf of mankind, and Ender agrees to go, mostly because he has nothing to lose. The last thing he hears is Valentine imploring him to return to her.

Analysis

The conversation with Ender shows that the I.F. officers are desperate, and instills the narrative with a sense of urgency.. They need Ender and they will get him any way they can. They one thing they have going for them, however, is that things are not so good in Ender's life anyway. Ender is actually not hungry during breakfast because he is too busy thinking. He is thinking about school, about facing Stilson's friends, and these thoughts are connected to what he tells Graff when he asks about the fight. Ender only wanted to ensure his own safety, and he feels terrible that this desire caused him to do something bad. Graff only needed to make sure that Ender feels remorse and then he is willing to accept him. It is that remorse that separates Ender from Peter in the eyes of the I.F.. They think that Ender is just as capable of action as Peter but that he also has feelings about his actions. Graff does not tell Ender that he is needed to save the world. He stresses the importance of going to battle school to help save the world from the buggers, but he is able to hold back some of his desperation. The allusion to Mazer Rackham is a subtle way of linking Ender's role to that of a savior, but Ender does not see just how important he is to Graff.

This chapter establishes Valentine's importance by showing that she is the only person in the story who truly cares about Ender and the only one whom he will miss. Peter, on the other hand, seems to need no one, and so it is important that Ender places his faith and trust in at least one other human being. Without his feelings for Valentine, it is not clear that Ender could maintain that empathy that separates him from his brother. It is not a coincidence that the last voice Ender hears as he leaves home is his sister's—hers is the voice that he needs to take with him wherever he goes. The I.F. believes he needs some of each of his siblings to save the world, but Ender does not want to be Peter at all.

Ender's parents have very little role in Ender's life, and it is clear that their children are more intelligent and more interesting than them. However, what Graff tells Ender about his parents' past is significant. He points out that Ender does not really belong at home. As a Third, Ender is a constant psychological torment to his parents. Ender knows that he makes his parents uncomfortable, and hearing Graff spell it all out makes it easy for him to leave. The only thing that is difficult for Ender is walking away from his sister. He leaves behind the one thing he truly loves in life for humanity's sake. Ender is sacrificing what matters to him because he wants to do what is right. Levels of manipulation are often subtle in this novel, and Graff is able to convince Ender to come without lying to him—he just does not tell Ender the entire truth

Chapter 4: Launch

Summary

Graff and another adult, whose identity is unknown, discuss how to deal with Ender at the Battle School. They decide that he must be isolated and yet also be able to win followers—they need him to be a creative genius who can also properly delegate authority. Graff insists that Ender is nice but that they will get rid of that undesirable trait. The other adult mentions that it appears that Graff enjoys breaking the children and Graff responds that he is good at it, but it is only worth it when they are pieced back together stronger than before.

Before they go on the shuttle that will take them to the Battle School Ender notices that the nineteen other children on the launch are all laughing and joking. Ender's nervousness only makes him more serious. He realizes that Graff and the other officers were observing their every move. As Ender boards the space shuttle he realizes that gravity will have a different meaning in space. The walls are carpeted like floors, and Ender imagines himself walking down a wall. Graff speaks to him and he learns that the officer is in charge of the Battle School. Ender thinks Graff will be his friend.

Once they are in space, Graff begins playing with orientation, and since there is no gravity he can orient himself in any number of ways. Ender sees all of this and, far from being disoriented, finds it funny, changing orientations in his mind faster than Graff does physically. Graff asks him what is so funny, Ender tells him, and Graff asks the other children if they think it is funny. They all say no, and then Graff insults them, saying that Ender is the only intelligent one in the whole group. A kid behind Ender begins hitting him in the head with the buckle from his seat. Ender quickly realizes that Graff had deliberately provoked this child's anger and that he will have no help from anyone. He times the boy's movements and grabs his arm hard the next time he attempts to strike. Because of the lack of gravity, Ender's force propels the boy out of his seat and he flies along until he hits the wall, breaking his arm. Ender feels ill and thinks he is just like Peter.

Graff isolates Ender further by telling the children not to mess with Ender since he is clearly the only intelligent one among them. Ender tells himself he did the right thing, reassuring himself that he is not like Peter. When they arrive at the school Ender has a conversation with Graff. He starts to tell Graff that he feels betrayed, but Graff tells him that it is not his job to make friends. He says that his job is simply to train soldiers to save mankind. He says that people are free until they are needed by their race, at which point they are merely tools. Ender disagrees but Graff tells him that is the way things will be until the war is over. He then dismisses Ender and strikes up a conversation with a teacher named Anderson, who asks if Ender is the one. Graff says if he is not they are in trouble, and then says that he really is Ender's friend. Graff says Ender is a good kid, and that it is terrible what they will do to him. Anderson points out that they are going to make him the best commander in military history.

Analysis

Graff wastes no time in isolating Ender, just as he said he would in the beginning conversation, which now appears to have been with Anderson. The adults increasingly manipulate Ender, and it seems that adults will attempt to direct his every move. However, Ender is brilliant, and he understands what Graff is trying to do almost instantly. Every time Ender gets in a situation where he must protect himself he ends up feeling like Peter, and he has trouble convincing himself that he is any different from his brother. Ender now sees Graff purely as someone who is trying to use him, which is true, since Graff himself said it, but there is more to the man in charge of the Battle School.

As Graff says to Anderson, he does really care about Ender. The fact that they are still going to put him through so much shows that they really do have no choice, and it also makes it clear that things are even more urgent than Graff told Ender. Ender has to be the one that they are looking for, possibly because there is not enough time for them to find anyone else. Graff is human, and although he will do things to Ender that he does not think are right, they are necessary because, as he explained, people are tools when they are needed. This speech that Graff gives is as important as any in the book, because it elucidates a crucial philosophy—that our very freedom is not our own but a property of humanity's, and we may be called upon to sacrifice that freedom in order to serve a cause that is larger than ourselves. This is a major argument for why people should fight for their ideals, except in this case it is all of mankind against aliens. Ender, however, does not believe that human beings are merely tools. He thinks people are more important than that.

This chapter establishes Ender's superiority to the rest of the recruits. Although he does not deserve to be set up by Graff, Ender sees things that other people do not see, and his ability to visualize is unhampered by any assumptions that others may have. Ender can readily adopt his mind to any new situation and is flexible enough to view it on its own terms. Thus he is already showing the sort of capabilities that the I.F. is looking for in a fleet commander.

Chapter 5: Games

Summary

A conversation between Graff and someone who is clearly higher in the military command starts this chapter. They discuss Ender's isolation. Graff insists that Ender must remain isolated so that he never thinks that anyone but himself will be there to help. The other voice asks to whom they can turn if Ender cannot handle his tasks, and Graff says he will make up a list. The conversation ends with Graff saying that Ender can have friends, but no parents.

Once in Battle School Ender and his fellow launch mates (called Launchies) find their bunks and Dap introduces himself to them. Dap is in charge of watching out for them and answering their questions, but he warns them that it is difficult and that they must fend for themselves. Ender's isolation is painful. At dinner an older boy comes to sit with him but Ender does not like him and thinks his advice is not good. Ender has to focus not to let the pain and sadness bother him and so he counts powers of two. He makes it to 67108864 before he loses track and by that point his mind is clear. That night, while lying in bed, Ender cries silently, although by the time Dap comes around to check his bed he is dry eyed and glad that living with Peter taught him how to hide his emotions.

Ender goes to the game room but is quickly bored by the majority of the games. He watches the games that the older boys play, even though they do not like him there, and after about an hour he understands the patterns in the games. Ender challenges an older boy to play him best of three on a game; he beats the boy the second and third games and shocks all of the older students around.

Bernard, whose arm Ender broke, quickly gathers a troop around him. This group constantly teases Ender and an even smaller boy named Shen. Ender quickly breaks into the computer system and sends a message poking fun of Bernard, from a created student named God. Bernard does not know who sent the message, and Shen is amused. Ender later sends a message that appears to be from Bernard that makes him look even more foolish. Bernard gets angry and Dap comes in to settle the dispute. He knows who sent the message, and Bernard yells at him to tell, but Dap makes it clear that Bernard cannot yell at him. Bernard's power over the launch group is broken, and Ender becomes friends with Shen and friendly with a few others.

Analysis

Ender is able to make friends, which the adults worried he might not be able to do. He ends his isolation and does so through brilliant psychological moves. Ender does it all by himself, however, and it appears that Graff is right, that on his own Ender can handle what is thrown at him. The mental control that Ender exhibits is impressive. To clear his mind and gain control of himself, Ender counts powers of two from two to the first to two to the 26th before he loses count. That mental feat demonstrates both Ender's mental acuity and his strength of will. He is able to distract himself from his situation enough to detach himself emotionally and gain control. This is a technique that Graff wants Ender to develop.

This same mental control allows Ender to understand the patterns in the games that are difficult for the best of the older boys. By the third time he played the game he beat one of them at it easily. Ender simply sees things that others do not. In reality this just makes him different, but at Battle School it makes him better, which means many will dislike him. This is why Ender had to break up Bernard's little clique, because they would have picked on him and provoked him just like Stilson and his group. Leaders are very important, and Ender knew that Bernard would not be a good leader for the Launchies. Because he is different and quicker than the others, Ender cannot show any weaknesses, or they will be instantly exploited. This is why he was glad that living with Peter taught him how to hide his emotions so that others could not see them at all. Others can be easily read and understood but Ender presents a facade that cannot be penetrated. On the other hand, what this means is that Ender will be protected from his enemies but also isolated to a certain degree. Locking up his emotions makes him harder to hurt but it also makes it harder for him to share any true feelings with anyone else.

Help | Log in | Sign Up for a Free Account

  

 

Chapter 6: The Giant's Drink

Summary

Graff is talking with another high military authority, possibly the same person to whom he speaks in the beginning of the previous chapter. Their conversation focuses around the fact that Ender appears to be in trouble. His launch group is split apart, and in Ender is stuck at the "Giant's Drink" portion of a game the men discuss. The two make reference to a boy who killed himself, though Graff thinks the death had nothing to do with the mind game. Graff is ordered to leave Ender with his launch group to see how he handles the situation, even though Graff wants take a different course of action. The other person is in charge of the fleet, and says that until Graff gives him a commander there is nothing for him to do.

Ender and the other Launchies are in the battleroom for the first time, getting used to null gravity and the suits they wear in it. Ender quickly begins to explore with moving around, as does another boy, Bernard's best friend Alai. The two of them bond while moving around the room, as the other boys are slower to experiment and not as good. They figure out that the guns that they all have freeze the part of the suit that they hit. Alai suggests that they freeze everyone but Ender suggests that they do so along with Bernard and Shen. They freeze all the others, and Ender and Alai become friends. Soon Alai is in charge and his group includes everyone else. Bernard is no longer in charge at all.

During free time Ender plays the mind game, which is called Free Play. He almost does not want to, because he knows what will happen when he gets to the Giant, but he plays anyway. When he gets to the Giant he has to play the guessing game—the Giant sets two drinks down in front of him (they are different every time) and Ender has to choose the one that is not poison to go to Fairyland. Every time Ender plays he guesses wrong, and the game bothers him greatly. Finally, playing angrily, Ender knocks over the drinks and attacks the Giant, digging through his eye with his hands. The Giant screams and dies and a bat welcomes Ender into Fairyland. Instead of feeling happy, Ender is saddened that he could only stop his own death by killing another person. Even in a game he feels just like Peter.

Analysis

These chapters make it clear that the fate of mankind depends upon Ender. Graff is speaking with the highest officials of the I.F., who have a direct interest in Ender's actions. Graff wants to be able to teach Ender without any interference, but in a matter of this much importance it is unlikely that he can avoid questioning of his moves by the higher authorities. On the other hand, it appears that Graff's faith in Ender is well placed, since Ender managed to solve the launch group problem through his friendship with Alai. This is the first true friendship that Ender has made, and it is important, because his loneliness was troubling him greatly. The fact that he broke Bernard's control of the launch group means that he will no longer have to be an outsider amongst his own.

What is more troubling and ultimately more important is the mind game. The concern that the other voice expressed about the game seems to be justified, if only because of the import it has for Ender. He is aware that it is just a game, but he is tormented by it, unable not to play but at the same time angered by what he has to do in order to survive. Ender is able to get past the Giant's Drink by breaking the rules—he chooses not to choose a drink and instead attacks the giant. He did this mostly because he was so angry at how unfair the game was, but the novel establishes a paradox by showing that the only way Ender can win is by breaking the rules. Similarly he won the fight against Stilson and his cronies by breaking the rules of combat, kicking an opponent while he was on the ground. Ender is constantly put in situations where he has to figure out a way to save himself, and the only way to do so seems to involve exploding the prescribed rules. Although the officials are comfortable with this chain of events, Ender feels that such acts of violence uncomfortably align his character with Peter's. Ender does not want to hurt anyone, yet he is constantly put in situations where he must either be hurt or hurt someone else, and in those cases he really does not have much of a choice. Graff's strategy seems to be to always put Ender in a situation where he will do what he is needed to do, not because he wants to, but because he has no choice.

Chapter 7: Salamander

Summary

A conversation between Graff and an I.F. commander who reveals himself as General Levy reveals that the general is concerned with the fact that Ender is just a kid. Graff is happy that Ender both solved the problem with Bernard and got past the Giant's Drink, which no one had ever done before. General Levy is concerned that the children at the Battle School do not act like normal kids. Graff points out that they are highly intelligent and that their job is to save the world. The general tells Graff not to hurt Ender, and when Graff responds incredulously, the general qualifies his statement—Graff should not hurt him any more than necessary.

The night starts out with Ender and Alai eating dinner together discussing the security systems on the computers. Alai wants Ender to set up security for him the way Ender has for himself. Ender leaves his food unfinished (Alai points out that he never finishes), and goes back to the barracks. But when the get back they find that Ender has been transferred to Salamander Army, under the command of Bonzo Madrid. Alai hugs Ender, kisses him on the cheek, and says the word "Salaam" in his ear. Ender knows that Alai has given him a gift of a word that has tremendous personal import.

Ender plays the mind game again, moving farther along and figuring out how to get past obstacles until he gets to a door the is labeled "The End of the World." Ender moves through the door and soon finds himself in a tower room with no visible escape. But just then the screen goes blank and a message pops up telling Ender to report to his commander. As he goes he imagines that beyond the end of the world is the end of the games, where he can just go and live normally, whatever that means.

In Salamander Army Ender is befriended by Petra Arkanian, an outcast herself, and is immediately disliked by Bonzo Madrid. The commander of the army assumes that Major Anderson, who is in charge of the games, gave him Ender as a trick. Bonzo tells Ender not to do anything in battle and to stay out of the way. Petra tells Ender she will teach him how to fight in the battleroom. Petra does so, and also tells him that they can control gravity and do many things that the adults do not tell them about. The adults are the enemy in her mind. Ender turns seven. Since he cannot practice with Bonzo's army, during free play Ender takes those who are willing from his launch group into the battleroom to practice. Bonzo does not like this and tells him to stop. Ender convinces Bonzo that he has to let Ender do it, since he cannot control free play, and also suggests to Bonzo that he authorize it so he does not lose face. Bonzo hates Ender for this.

At the end of his first battle (in which Ender is the only Salamander not frozen) he is ranked first on the soldier efficiency ratings is high—not only was he not frozen but he did not miss a single shot (though he took none). He could have helped but since Bonzo ordered him to remain still he did, and the enemy assumed he was frozen. After a few more battles where Ender does nothing, at the end of a fight against Leopard Army he freezes enough of their remaining soldiers to force a draw. Bonzo is further enraged, trades Ender to Rat Army, and slaps and punches Ender for his disobedience.

Analysis

The children in Ender's Game, while exceptional, create a community which plays out may of the concerns of the adult world. Ender and his companions may be more intelligent than normal children, but they have all of the same hatreds and jealousies that plague the rest of humanity. Alai is Ender's one bright spot, the one other human being with whom he really feels comfortable. Unfortunately for Ender, he is taken away from Alai and his launch group just when he is comfortable. However, the gift that Alai gives him is enough to let Ender know that they will always share something. He needed to share something again with another human being, since he has not come close to relating to anyone since he left Valentine.

Ender establishes a moral universe with rules that differ from the militaristic world into which he has entered. Salamander Army is tough for Ender because he is not used and his talents are rotting under Bonzo. Ender manages to learn from Petra but, more importantly, figures out a way to learn more and maintain a relationship with the Launchies—he starts training them in the battleroom during free play. What Bonzo does not understand is that Ender is too good not to be used and too smart not to figure out a way to do something. Bonzo sees Ender at first as a waste of a soldier and then as a threat after Ender forces him to let the free play practice sessions continue. Even though orders from a commander are considered sacred, Ender breaks Bonzo's in order to help his army. Breaking orders is wrong, but a wrong that is committed in the cause of winning is fine for Ender. Furthermore, Ender always looks at the bigger picture, and he quickly realized that Bonzo does not. This ability to see beyond the immediate future is what Ender uses to manipulate Bonzo and also the reason why he starts training his launch group.

Chapter 8: Rat

Summary

Colonel Graff and Major Anderson have an argument. Graff wants Anderson to set up battleroom scenarios that are unfair. Anderson objects, pointing out that the whole school is based upon the fairness of the games. Graff agrees but states that war is not fair, and that Ender must be ready to face anything. Anderson threatens reporting Graff's actions because he thinks someone else should have some input concerning the fate of humanity. Graff says that he realizes that what he is doing is not right, but if he does not succeed it will not matter because the buggers will win. He convinces Anderson not to contact higher authorities—it is difficult enough for Graff to get Ender ready without further scrutiny.

Even as the head of the school and the man in charge of the battleroom clash over Ender's fate and that of the Battle School itself, Ender goes to Rat Army, where Rose the Nose is in charge, and he is assigned to Dink Meeker's platoon. Rose tells him he must stop his practices with Launchies and stop using his desk (his computer), but Dink tells him that Rose cannot stop him. Dink is good, and Ender learns from him, though he still sees things that Dink does wrong. He runs his practice sessions and teaches what he knows to his launch group. Ender has been taking personal attack classes in order to protect himself, and in a confrontation with his commander he refuses to stop using his desk. At the next battle, against Centipede Army, Rose sends Ender out immediately, just to have him frozen, but Ender manages to freeze several of the enemy and Rose no longer questions him.

Ender and Dink have a talk one day where it comes out that Dink was promoted twice but refused to be a commander because he does not believe in the school. Dink says that he believes children are not meant to be commanders of armies, they are meant to be children. He says that they are not normal, and the school makes them crazy. Ender points out that Dink could still be a commander, but Dink will not let the adults run his life completely. Refusing command is his way of attacking the system. Dink thinks that the buggers are gone but that the school is kept up to keep the I.F. in control. Ender does not believe Dink, but the conversation has an effect on him—he begins to look for ulterior motives in people's actions and words.

At one of Ender's extra practice sessions some older boys taunt them and a fight breaks out. Ender gets all of his Launchies out of danger but remains surrounded by the older boys. He fights his way out, injuring four of the boys, and feels bad about doing so. Ender returns early that night and plays the mind game, where he returns to the tower room and ends up looking into a mirror where Peter looks back out at him. This image haunts Ender. He believes he is not like Peter but then realizes that it is the killing part of him that his teachers like the most. Ender thinks that he really is a tool, and it does not even matter if he hates himself for it.

Analysis

Graff wants Anderson to make unfair battleroom scenarios so that Ender can face situations like real war, compromising the integrity of the entire school. Ender really is the only hope, and so the Battle School must be manipulated to make Ender ready, just as he himself is manipulated to be what they need him to be. Anderson disagrees with Graff and threatens to notify higher authorities but Graff convinces him not to. This series of events shows the uncertainty even within the I.F. as to how to proceed. Graff wants full control over the teaching of humanity's last hope, and Anderson trusts him enough not to interfere. Graff is talking on a huge role, but the point is that it only matters if he is right. Graff makes an appeal based solely on ends—mankind must survive, at all costs. If the games and the school must be sacrificed, then so be it.

Meanwhile, Ender faces challenges of his own, and progresses very well. He learns from Dink and knows how to maintain his own power as a soldier. Even more importantly, he thwarts the attempt to stop his extra practice sessions by fending off his attackers. The fight troubles Ender, but he knows that its occurrence is not his fault. More troubling to Ender is the image of Peter in the mirror. The mind game clearly bothers Ender, and now he thinks it is claiming that he is Peter. This is Ender's worst nightmare brought to reality, and he is actually coming to terms with the fact that he might be like Peter. Unfortunately, Ender comes to this conclusion, not happily, but with apathy and despair. He has been pushed into being Peter, and it has become harder and harder to deny comparison with his evil brother. Ender has started to hate himself, and this hate could destroy all that is good within him.

Chapter 9: Locke and Demosthenes

Summary

Graff is furious that the computer threw the image of Peter into Ender's game. He is arguing with Major Imbu, who seems to be the computer expert. Graff wants to know why Ender's brothers picture was shown, and Imbu explains that the mind game is between the child and the computer. The computer must think that it will help Ender to see that picture. Graff points out that the photo is a recent one that could not have been taken from any I.F. network and Imbu points out that the mind game program can take information from anywhere. Then Graff wonders why Peter is so important to Ender and Imbu admits he has no idea—further, he states, the computer does not either since it is making up the program as it goes along. This makes Graff feel slightly better, since he is doing the same thing.

Meanwhile, Valentine has not forgotten Ender, even though the family moved to Greensboro. She celebrated his eigth birthday on her own, but what worries her is Peter. He is outwardly normal, but she knows he is still evil inside. What she counts on is that he acts out of nothing but pure self-interest, and there is a certain comfort in that. Valentine knows Peter will never do anything that is not a calculated move designed to help him. Peter has figured out that Russia is preparing for land war. The Warsaw Pact, which joined the nations together under the threat of the bugger wars. He realizes that something big is happening in space and that the nations of earth are preparing for its aftermath. Valentine knows that Peter can find peoples fears and manipulate them and that she can persuade people to do what she wants them to do, and realizes that there is much of Peter in her—they both manipulate in their own ways. He has a plan to take over the world. As he explains to her, he will gain power, one way or another. It is in his nature to control. With her help he can rule over something worthwhile. They begin to use the nets to communicate political ideas, Valentine as the radical Demosthenes and Peter as the moderate Locke. Their ideas begin to spread, and Peter has lots of patience.

Back at Battle School nine year old Ender is the top ranked soldier and a platoon leader in Phoenix Army with Petra as commander, but he hates his life. Ender still cannot get past the part of the mind game where he sees his brother's face, and he feels only despair. Graff comes to talk to Valentine because he believes Ender needs help. He asks her what makes Ender different from Peter and also if Peter is really that bad a person. Graff wants her to help Ender and convinces her to write him a letter. Valentine writes the letter and Ender reads it, but he sees through it instantly. He realizes that they must have made her write it and that it's goal was clearly to show him he is not like Peter. Therefore they must know about the mind game. Ender is furious that they have taken from him his last true memory—that of his sister. He goes back to the mind game and yet somehow, this time, the snake that has crushed under his feet in the past turns into his sister and they walk to the mirror together. Peter does not appear and behind the mirror is a stairway that he and Valentine walk down. Ender is happy that Valentine will always be with him.

Analysis

This chapter deals with the relationships between the siblings. At the same time that Graff is freaking out because of Ender's computerized similarity to Peter, Valentine realizes that there is much of Peter in her as well. Valentine and Peter's actions demonstrate that on earth just as in space it will be the Wiggin children who hold the power. Although they have not yet started to exert real influence, it seems clear that Peter will get what he wants. Peter is scary because his intellect is matched only by his ambition, and there is no doubt that he can manipulate almost everyone. The only question is whether or not Valentine can temper his actions. Although she is going along with him, her motivations are different. Valentine enjoys having power but does not thirst after it the same way that Peter does. She also knows that Peter is right, that things are changing, and that they can make a difference.

The interaction between Valentine and Graff is especially interesting because he makes no attempt to deceive her. He basically makes it clear that she can have some influence on helping Ender even as Graff manipulates her letter for his own use. Graff is the only character in the book so far to see the Wiggin children for what they are—mature minds inside the bodies of children. He treats Valentine as an intellectual equal. The effect that her letter has on Ender is at once tragic and helpful. It destroys for him the only memory that still meant anything to him, but at the same time it angers him. Ender has been in a state of despair, and his anger reaches enough of an emotional peak to move him farther in the mind game than he had ever been. It was only by taking away Ender's most precious posession that Graff could spur earth's savior onward to step outside of the rules again and figure out a way to do the impossible. The sacrifice for Ender was great, and it has made him view Graff and the teachers as the enemy, but Graff's manipulation worked perfectly, for Ender is once again ready for battle.

Chapter 10: Dragon

Summary

Graff gives Anderson the order to make Ender a commander, and Anderson agrees, apologizing for doubting his superior's tactics. Anderson mentions that Ender has been happy and playing well lately. After Anderson leaves to go get Ender, Graff says to himself that he hopes Ender has enjoyed being happy, because things are about to get considerably worse for his brilliant student. They make Ender the commander of Dragon Army, an army that has been defunct for several years, and give him an army of mostly untrained Launchies with several veterans. All are younger than Ender's nine and a half years, and he is forbidden to make any trades.

Ender meets his soldiers and immediately takes them to the battleroom for practice. He shows them that gravity has no meaning in the battleroom and they must leave it behind; the only thing that matters is the direction of the enemy, which he says is always down. He drills his army, learning about each of the soldiers as he does. One soldier, a small boy named Bean is very quick and good, and Ender picks on him, asking him for answers that the other soldiers do not have.

Bean confronts Ender and asks to be made a platoon leader, or "toon leader." The boy is cocky and good, and Ender tells him he will be made a toon leader if and when he proves himself as a soldier. Ender is then left wondering why he singled Bean out. Then he realizes that he has done to Bean the same thing that Graff did to him over three years before. Ender understands that Graff isolated him to make him the best soldier he could be, and he is now doing it to Bean. However, he is determined to be Bean's friend, even if his soldier does not know it.

Anderson tells Ender that he can no longer hold his informal practices, and Ender realizes that things are to be different now that he is a commander. He sees Alai in the game room, and they realize that even between them things must now be different. However, he knows that he still has the memory of the word salaam that Alai whispered in his ear those years ago, and that memory will stay with him, like his memory of Valentine. And Ender knows also that the teachers can no longer hurt him. He sees that they used Valentine as a weapon, and he determines to defeat them for it.

Analysis

Ender's promotion to commander changes both his military and psychological status. He is now forced to give orders, to be a disciplinarian. However, he still cares, and even though he picked on Bean he wants to be there for him, to help him. In this way Ender actually becomes very much like Graff, even though he thinks he is his opposite. Ender believes that Graff is using him, and that is true, but he does not know that Graff really is his friend. In the same way, Bean will not know that Ender cares about him. Some manipulation is necessary in order to make soldiers the best that they can be. Ender does not understand how he is being manipulated, and it is necessary that he does not know. The only way for him to be a great commander is for him to hate the teachers, to blame them for what he has been forced to become, and he is right to do so. At the same time, they are only doing what they need to do. The way he treats his army is a miniature model of the way the adults have been manipulating him. Everyone is acting out of necessity, and each lower level blames those above.

The novel also explores the difficulty of taking responsibility in a military environment by showing that Graff and the other adults is that they have no one to blame for their actions but themselves. They can only use the fact that they are saving the world as justification for what they are doing. It is clearly worth it to them to mistreat children if it makes them into the fighters they will need to save the rest of humanity, but it does not make it any easier to do so. In Bean Ender sees himself, and he realizes that he can take Graff's path but still retain his humanity. He does not know that Graff himself is attempting the same thing.

Chapter 11: Veni Vidi Vici

Summary

Anderson and Graff are discussing their plans for Ender's army, and it seems that Anderson has devised an unprecedented number of battles. Graff plays devil's advocate for a few moments but then agrees that this is what they must do. He is worried about how far they will push Ender, but knows that they must accelerate things in order to have him ready in time for the war with the buggers.

Ender's first battle is with Rabbit Army, and Dragon Army demolishes their opponent. Ender's army works unlike any other army. Each of his five toons can work independently and they can even split into ten half-toons of four people, achieving unprecedented independence and flexibility. Ender takes advantage of the insights of his toon leaders, like Crazy Tom, Fly Molo, and Hot Soup, and trains them to deal with situations on their own. Carn Carby, the leader of Rabbit Army, is gracious to Ender and in the commanders' mess he is the only one who treats Ender well. Even Dink and Petra do not seem to be Ender's friends anymore.

Ender's army fights and beats Petra's Phoenix Army the next day. By the end of the week they have fought seven straight battles and won them all. Ender begins studying videos of the first and second invasion to learn strategy, and it is from the buggers that he begins learning new modes of attack. He is brought in to speak to Anderson and Graff, and they ask him about his army. Ender is cocky and antagonistic, and challenges them to give him a good battle. They tell him he has a fight in ten minutes (his army's second fight of the day) against Salamander Army, and by the time Ender's troops are ready his opponents have already set up position. Ender defeats them quickly and easily but is angered that the fight was not fair. He speaks rudely to Anderson and releases his army instantly. Only in hindsight does Ender realize that not only did he defeat Bonzo's army in a fight where they had an advantage, but he did not go through with the normal ceremonial surrender. He realizes that his snub will whip Bonzo's hatred into a frenzy.

Ender has Bean come to his room and has a talk with him. He makes sure that Bean knows that the significance of the game, rather than the game themselves, is important. Ender says that the game means that the teachers are trying to find the best soldiers for the real war with the buggers. Ender tells Bean that he needs him, and lets him choose one soldier from each toon to be a part of a special unit that Bean will train separately during their extra practices. He wants Bean to come up with new ideas—to try risky tactics that no one would rationally engage in.

Analysis

Ender is a brilliant commander, far better than any of his competition. He is able to lead his soldiers effectively and gets the most out of all of them. His conversations with the adults show that he is competing with the teachers more than with the other soldiers. He wants to beat them when they try to make him lose. However, Ender's anger with the teachers causes him to unwittingly insult Bonzo, and he knows that his insult will have repercussions. Bonzo already hates Ender when the battle begins, and afterward his honor is slighted publicly. Ender simply makes enemies because of his success, and Bonzo is a perfect example. All along Ender has never had the intention of angering Bonzo, and the hate is not reciprocal. Ender's empathy is strong enough so he does not hate others even when they hate him, but he also knows that he may be forced to deal with their hatred.

Ender's conversation with Bean reveals that Ender is a complex emotional being in addition to an excellent military commander. So far, at the Battle School, only Alai and Bean have seen the truly human side of Ender. He opens up emotionally to only those two boys, and Bean is the first in several years. Ender is surely doing this to help Bean, but he is also being honest. It is not easy for him to be a commander, and the job is starting to take its toll. Ender needs to be able to count on others to help him. It is not that he is not self- sufficient, merely that he needs his army to think for itself, because he cannot be everywhere at once. Here we see that Ender is thinking like a fleet commander, entrusting local strategies to subordinates while he coordinates a global strategy. Ender does not place his trust lightly, and he is both burdening Bean and helping him. He will help make Bean a better soldier, or else, if the new job is too much for him, it will crush him. Ender is a leader who does not let his troops fail, and if they match his commitment they will succeed. Ender imposes his own will upon his army. They must all desire to win as much as he does; but for those who are to command, like Bean, they must also know why it is important to win. The games themselves mean nothing; only the future war with the buggers matters.

Chapter 12: Bonzo

Summary

The chapter begins with a heated argument between Colonel Graff and General Pace, the chief of the I.F. military police. Dap has filed a report regarding the possible conspiracy to harm Ender among some of the students at the school. Pace wants Graff to take some action and Graff insists that Ender must handle this on his own. There will be no one to save Ender when he is the commander in the war against the buggers and so he must rely only on himself and his fellow schoolmates. This is the only way that Graff believes Ender will be able to reach his fullest abilities. Graff refuses to back down, and Pace can only threaten action if Graff's plans do not work.

Meanwhile Ender trains his men, working on some new techniques that Bean has come up with. Petra attempts to warn Ender that he is in danger, and he already knows this. His toon leaders escort him to his room, where Dink has left him a message of warning. Ender is only able to sleep when he thinks that surely the teachers will keep him safe outside of the battleroom.

After winning their battle the next day, Ender falls asleep before showering and wakes up just before lunchtime. Without thinking, he heads to the showers and soon finds himself surrounded by seven boys, with Bonzo at the lead. Ender quickly realizes that Bernard and the other boys pose no true threat—it is Bonzo who wants to kill him. He is able to use Bonzo's honor to convince his enemy to face him alone, and Bonzo strips to face Ender on equal terms. Dink rushes in to try to convince Bonzo not to fight but he is pushed outside by the other kids.

Ender asks Bonzo not to hurt him in order to provoke an attack, and Bonzo jumps at him. Ender avoids the attack and hits Bonzo in the face with the top of his head. He has injured Bonzo and knows he might be able to walk away, but he does not want to have to fight the battle again. Ender realizes he must make Bonzo fear him enough never to fight him again. He knocks Bonzo to the ground and kicks him in the crotch, but Bonzo is motionless, and does not even respond. Dink takes Ender away, and Ender knows that no adult will ever help him. Ender feels terrible about how he hurt Bonzo, and begins to cry.

Ender is given a battle at seven o'clock that night against two armies. He does not want to fight and cannot believe the assignment. Ender figures out a brilliant way to win the game, but he does not even care about it. The boys in the other armies pay tribute to him but Ender only wants to go back to his room. Bean comes to see him and tells him that he has been put in command of an army, as have all of Ender's toon leaders and assistants. Then Graff and Anderson come in and give Ender a sheet graduating him to Command School. Ender leaves Bean, who wonders what it could all mean and is convinced that something significant must have happened with the war. Ender is briefly taken back to Earth before his trip to command school, and he finds that the feel of his native planet is all wrong—the Battle School has become his home.

The chapter ends with a conversation between Colonel Anderson, now in charge of the battle school, and Major Imbu. It is revealed that Ender killed Bonzo when they fought. They are discussing Graff's future, unsure whether he was arrested or promoted, since Ender succeeded brilliantly, but a student died under Graff's command. They also mention that Ender also killed Stilson, although he does not know it. Anderson ends by saying that they are getting Ender to Command School just in time—the war is at hand.

Analysis

Ender's fight with Bonzo mirrors his fight with Stilson. In both cases Ender ends up hurting someone when all he wants to do is to protect himself from being hurt in the future. Ender kills both boys, yet he is not the aggressor in either case. The main difference between the two fights is that Stilson likely would not have killed Ender. He was just a bully who picked a fight with the wrong kid. Bonzo wanted blood, and Ender knew he needed to defend himself. Ender's fight with Bonzo also cost him more. He did not want to hurt anyone and he is sure that he did terrible damage to his opponent. It shows him that he cannot escape hurting people. In fact, his life is now made up of a pattern of hurting people who have become his enemies. But, unlike everyone around him, Ender does not think that Bonzo had it coming—he simply wishes that Bonzo would have left him alone so no one would have been hurt. Ender is still filled with compassion, but he now seems to have no place for it in his life.

Immediately after the Bonzo fight, the worst event in Ender's life so far, he is forced to fight a battle with impossible odds. Graff pushes Ender to the limits of human endurance, and Ender succeeds, but he no longer cares about winning. In fact, he no longer cares much at all. All Ender knows is that the same adults who care so much about him winning his games let a fight take place in which Bonzo was seriously injured and he was forced to hurt him. Earlier Ender hated the teachers and saw them as the enemy, but now he does not wish to have any enemy at all. He does not want to play any games at all. Ender leaves the Battle School with no belongings, just as he came. He still has some humanity left, but the despair and apathy that gripped him once before have again taken hold of him. Ender Wiggin survived Battle School, but it is uncertain how much of him will be left when he gets to Command School.

Chapter 13: Valentine

Summary

The conversation that starts Chapter 13 is not about Ender but rather about Peter and Valentine. Two American I.F. officers are discussing the other two Wiggin children, since they have finally tracked down the true identity of Demosthenes and Locke. The officers decide to follow Graff's advice on the matter, which was to do nothing, to let them continue, since they have not caused harm and may be correct.

Valentine, meanwhile, enjoys being Demosthenes, although Peter is as dangerous as ever, and they learn that the world is preparing for war. To a large degree Valentine has become her pseudonym. Graff picks her up after school one day and takes her to go see Ender. She is forced to trust him when he mentions that he knows who Demosthenes is; Valentine does not want Locke to find out about this meeting.

Valentine meets her brother again. Ender has been on earth for two months and has no intentions of returning to space. He does not want to fight, and he is sick of games. They talk for a long time, and Valentine learns why Ender is tired of fighting. He learns his enemies so well that he almost loves them, and then he destroys them. Ender does not want to destroy. He also knows that he cannot win all the battles. Valentine thinks he means that he will never be able to beat Peter, but she does not understand that he only wants Peter to love him. Valentine appeals to Ender, for her sake, to go save mankind. She leaves hating Graff for having forced her to convince her brother to return to where he does not want to go.

Graff explains to Ender that he was here to remember what he was fighting for, and he knows that Ender will hate him for using Valentine and the earth to make him return, but insists that his feelings for his sister are what really matter. Ender thinks briefly that Graff may actually care for him but decides that everything is calculation with Graff. On the voyage to Eros, where I.F. command is, Graff tells Ender all he knows about the buggers. Ender learns that they communicate instantaneously, and that from them humans learned how to do the same. They have the ansible, a device that allows ships to talk to each other from across the galaxy. Graff also tells him that all human ships have been sent out to attack the buggers in the Third Invasion, and he is expected to be the commander five years from now. Finally, Ender asks why they are fighting the buggers, and although Graff does not know, he speculates that a species that can communicate through thought must have a hard time understanding that humans are intelligent life at all. So it could all just be a misunderstanding, but when the species is at stake, there is no choice but to attack.

Analysis

The various people in Ender's life cause him to come to terms with his identity in this section. Graff manipulates Ender's process of self-discovery, but Ender's sister Valentine plays a larger role. Ender still loves Valentine, and so she is able to influence him. She convinces Ender that he must return to space to save mankind from the buggers. Her appeal is on a personal level, and it works. Ender knows that he can defeat his enemies, and he can do that by understanding them better than anyone, but unlike Peter, when he understands them he starts to love them. It is then painful for him to destroy them. While Peter crushes what stands in his way without a second thought, Ender does not feel the same way. Ender is unconcerned with ambition or power, and unlike Valentine, would be content to live a normal life. However, he loves his sister, and, along with her, the rest of humanity. Because of this conflict, Ender has no choice but to go to I.F. command and prepare to fight the buggers. He is aware that he risks destroying himself, for he will again be forced to give in to his destructive side—Ender must act like Peter once more. It will be painful and the risks are great, but there is nothing that Ender would not do for Valentine. In the end it is his love that makes him strong enough to go on, and that forever separates him from Peter, who would not do anything for love. Ender hates himself because he is like Peter, and now his sister, the one person he truly loves, is asking him to go back to being like Peter in order to save her life. It is a tremendous personal sacrifice for Ender to leave earth, but for Valentine he will even destroy himself.

Once he decides to leave, Ender begins to pick Graff's brain for all that he knows about the buggers. Ender learns that by studying the buggers, humans have learned how to master communication at faster than light speed—the buggers actually think that way. He also learns the sad truth that the bugger wars may be due entirely to a misunderstanding. Assuming that the buggers communicate instantaneously with each other, how could they understand that humans are actually intelligent life forms? This possibility troubles Ender, but he is forced to agree with Graff that since they cannot know for sure that the buggers will not attack again, they must wipe their enemy out.

Chapter 14: Ender's Teacher

Summary

Admiral Chamrajnagar welcomes Colonel Graff to I.F. command by questioning the three month vacation that he let Ender take. Graff points out that it was necessary for Ender to be ready. Chamrajnagar tells Graff of their plans for Ender, and Graff says he is only there to help the boy. They dislike each other, but respect each other, and both know that Ender is the only one who matters. Ender spends his time alone or with Graff, occasionally taking classes but mostly working with the simulator. In this game Ender starts commanding a single fighter but soon is in charge of an entire fleet. After a year Ender finds it easy, and he says so to Graff.

The next day Mazer Rackham introduces himself to Ender by attacking him and subduing him, explaining to the boy that he will be his teacher because he will be his enemy. Rackham has a brilliant mind, and Ender respects that. Rackham explains how he took a relativistic trip in order to be alive to train the commander of the Third Invasion. Together they watch tapes of the First and Second Invasions. Rackham explains why the buggers stopped fighting after he attacked a single ship—he destroyed the queen ship. The enemy is like highly evolved insects, and they do not think to each other but are more like many parts of a single organism, with all thought coming from the queen. Rackham explains modern weapons to Ender as well as the one advantage humans have over buggers: every pilot is a thinking being, and so people can carry out many more strategies at once than the buggers.

Ender is moved into a new simulator where he is to command an entire fleet, this time with three-dozen real squadron leaders made up of all his best friends and opponents from Battle School. Rackham tells him that he is preparing more and more complex simulations and that Ender cannot quit because winning is everything. Ender spends hours practicing with his squad leaders and battles are fought every couple of days. Afterwards he and Mazer go over them to see what he could have done differently. Ender is lonely and tired, but he does not stop. He is a commander, not a friend, to his leaders. Ender dreams strange dreams about the buggers and he has difficulty sleeping. He breaks down physically once, and he wakes up in time to win a battle and go back to sleep. He fights when awake and then sleeps, and the days blend together. Then one day Mazer tells him that the battle will be his final examination in Command School. Ender is happy to hear that because he is tired of it all. Then he sees the battle, and he despairs, for he is vastly outnumbered. He does not even want to play but decides that he will win an unfair battle rather than be beaten unfairly. Ender wins the battle by destroying the planet that the enemy lived on, and the room explodes in cheers. Rackham tells him that he has actually been the fleet commander of the Third Invasion and that he just destroyed the buggers completely. Ender is angry with Rackham and Graff for using him. He did not want to hurt anyone and now has destroyed an entire race without his knowledge. Ender sleeps through the five days of war on earth and when he awakens, the Locke Proposal (put forth by Peter to settle the war) has been accepted and all of his friends are there to tell him what he has missed.

Analysis

After Ender has won the final battle, assuring humanity's safety from the Buggers, Ender is the only one who does not celebrate. He feels only sadness and anger. He is sad because he destroyed the buggers, and he did not want to hurt anyone. He is angry because he was manipulated perfectly, and Graff and Rackham got everything out of him that they wanted. Ender is really the only character who feels for the buggers, for he is the only one whose compassion extends not just to all human beings, but to all sentient beings. The buggers are intelligent life, and to kill them all is a horrible thing to Ender, even if there was no choice. Ender is angry because he still feels he should have had a choice. He knows, however, that the adults did what they had to do to save their species, and that whatever price he has to pay would be worth it to them. Graff and Rackham know that Ender feels betrayed, and the only justification they can offer is that they had no choice. Their manipulation was wrong, but it was the right thing to do for the survival of humanity. Ender Wiggin is a genius, and he understands people's motivations, but he is also tired of being used to fight other people's wars. Ender does not hate the buggers, and so this was not a war he would have consciously fought. At the same time, Graff, Rackham and the I.F. leaders knew that, and that is why they had to make it seem like a game.

Throughout the book, Ender has been a part of games, and the end of the novel blurs the distinction between game and reality. In Battle School and in Command School the games have real meaning because the games change lives. A continual theme throughout Card's novel is that games do not exist in opposition to reality. Card suggests that every action we take has meaning. We may not understand the meaning, and others may be manipulating the actions, but the meaning exists nonetheless. Moreover, the way that Ender wins all of the big games is by breaking the rules. Time and time again he is put in a situation where the only way out is to play the game a way it is not played. If games are reality and the rules of games must be broken, then it seems that there are no rules that cannot be broken. This is precisely the philosophy that Rackham and Graff believe justifies their use of Ender and his friends, but Ender is the only one of the children who fully understands the philosophy's implications. It means that mankind really had a right to destroy the buggers. And Ender is the only one who disagrees. He thinks there should have been a way to save mankind without war, and if left to himself he would avoid conflict. It is only when placed in certain situations that war is necessary. In those circumstances Ender always wins, but he wishes not to have to face them altogether. This does not demonstrate Ender's cowardice, but rather his nobility. He would always be willing to take the more difficult road and try to find a way to circumvent war. Again and again Ender has triumphed over impossible odds by coming up with a brilliant solution that breaks the rules of the game, but in doing so, his anger was always directed at the game itself. Unlike Peter, who finds pleasure in playing games, Ender never hated a single one of the people, armies, or buggers he fought, and it is the games that he wishes to stop playing.

Chapter 15: Speaker for the Dead

Summary

The final chapter of the book begins with Graff and Anderson, speaking much more casually than they have in the past. Graff has survived his court martial trial, where the prosecution attempted to prove that Ender was a killer. Ender watched, and learned that he killed both Stilson and Bonzo. What he cannot understand is why the deaths of the bugger queens do not matter to anyone. To him they are crimes just like Stilson and Bonzo's deaths. On Eros Ender does his best to help out, although ironically no one thinks he can be of much use in peacetime. He learns to suggest ideas through others, since he does not care about reputation but merely getting things done. Valentine comes to him and tells him that Peter is in control of the earth and that he can never go home. Ender realizes that Peter would use Ender if Ender ever returned to earth. She is going on the first colonization ship to the bugger worlds and wants Ender to come along—he is to be governor of the first colony if he agrees. Ender does not want to populate worlds whose owners he killed. Valentine sees that he thinks she is trying to manipulate him and tells him that no one has a free life to live, so the least he can do is choose a path put forth by one who loves him. Ender decides to go, but tells her that the reason is to try to repay the buggers by learning about their past.

The colony travels to the new world and settles down. The people begin to live new lives there, and they are not concerned with what is happening back on Earth. New ships will be coming with other colonists and Ender goes off to find a place for the new colony to settle in. It is then that he stumbles upon landscape that is all too familiar—the giant's corpse and all of his images from the mind game. He follows them to the tower and climbs up to the room with the mirror. Ender realizes that the buggers must have built all of this for him in order to leave him some sort of message. Behind the mirror Ender finds the pupa of a bugger queen, and the queen communicates with him. She shows him the images of the battles, from the buggers' point of view, and then sends images to his mind of what he needs to do to let her live again and start a new bugger civilization. Ender figures out that they learned his thoughts through the ansible—it was, after all, a human attempt at mimicking bugger communication—and built this place because he was the only one they knew and the only one who could understand. She tells him that the buggers did not know that humans were thinking beings. When the buggers figured out that human beings were capable of thought, they did not attack again.

Ender writes a book based upon the knowledge he gathers from the queen, telling the entire bugger history, especially their sorrow that the two races could not understand each other, and signs it SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD. The readers of the book form something of a religion on earth, but on the colonies, where people live in worlds that the buggers lived in, the teachings of the book become a veritable religion. Ender speaks to Peter once (who is now in his seventies because the relativistic ride that took two years for the colonists was fifty earth years), and his brother tells him his story. Ender writes this up in a book as well, signs it with the same title, and the two books are the basis of the religion. Finally Ender convinces Valentine to fly with him to different worlds. He is looking for a place to start a new bugger civilization, and his search lasts many years.

Analysis

Valentine provides Ender with the final word on manipulation. People are always manipulated, all that they can choose is whose path they will follow. Ender will never be able to live his own life; in fact, there is no such thing as living one's own life without others' influence. Ender leaves with Valentine because at least once he gets to the bugger world he will be on his own. Peter will not be able to control him there, and he can attempt to understand better the race that he destroyed. When he finds the bugger queen Ender understands that the buggers know him very well, and that they understood that he did not hate. They knew that his compassion would be strong enough for him to help them. Even the buggers manipulate Ender, since they get him to dedicate his life to finding them a new home. The difference is that Ender has taken Valentine's advice and has chosen to follow the path that he wants to be on anyway. In this way Ender is able to finally win back his freedom, because, although he is on a mission that another race left for him, it is the mission that he wants to be on. The buggers understood Ender better than anyone else, because they saw his thoughts, and so they know not only that will he help them but that he wants to help them.

In the end it is Ender's empathy that wins out. He is perhaps the only human being who would be willing to listen to what the bugger queen has to say, and empathy is the same trait that allows him to destroy the buggers. Ender was right when he told his sister that after he understands his enemy, and before he destroys them, he loves them. Now there is no war to be fought, and he does not have to destroy someone else's enemy. Ender is free to understand and to love, and that is why he agrees to help the buggers find a new home. He has to make up for the crimes that he committed. Graff and Rackham thought that they were doing what needed to be done, and that the necessities of war meant they had no choice but to trick Ender into fighting, but Ender now knows that they were wrong. All of mankind was wrong. The buggers did not want to fight and would have been willing to communicate. They do not blame humans for killing them, but Ender blames himself because he always knew in his heart that there had to be a way other than war with other sentient beings. All of the manipulation that Ender had to endure was to win a war that never needed to have been fought, and this deeply troubled Ender's soul. Now, with the bugger queen, he has a chance to undo his wrongs and bring back the consciousness that he wiped out, and there is no one else to tell him what to do. Ender is finally free, and with his freedom he must make up for all that he did while under someone else's control. Valentine was right when she told him that his life would never be his own, but it is only when acting fully of our own volition, even if on a path prescribed by another, that we are truly free. It took years and billions of deaths, but Ender Wiggin has won his freedom, and he has still retained the compassion that will let him use that freedom to help make up for the crimes of his past.