Choose the three most important themes of the book that are NOT already on the list. Use two-three sentences to describe the theme and its importance to the book. Make sure to include your name!
KIDS GROWING UP TOO FAST: One of the very important themes of the book is the idea that kids are growing up too fast. At the start of the book, Ender is only six, yet he is smart enough to know how to hurt Stilson and keep Stilson's friends from hurting him later. He saves the world before he's even a teenager. I think the author was definitely trying to send us the message that our society expects children to grow up too fast.
TRUST IS DANGEROUS, BUT IMPORTANT: Throughout the book, there is this idea of trust. We are left wondering who can be trusted many times, and Ender is, too. From the start of his time in battle school, he learns that he can' trust anyone, because Graff, who Ender thought was his friend, turns the other children against him. However, it is the trust that Ender and his squadron form that wins the war against the buggers.
PEOPLE AREN'T ALWAYS WHO THEY APPEAR: When we are introduced to Peter, we see him as a cruel older brother who is simply mean. However, when he thinks Ender is asleep, we see the soft, hurt side of Peter. This reappears in the book later on with Mazer Rackham, Graff, and even Ender.
Love: It appears many times throughout the book. One of the vary important ways is that in order to completely understand and beat his enemy Ender has to understand and love them. He understands and loves the buggars in the end. He even devotes much of the rest of his life to finding a safe place for the queen. Also, the only think that he wants from Peter is love. It is something, along with friendship, that Ender covets.
Control: Throughout the book everyone is always grappling for control. There is a twisted and hard to follow path of exactly who is controlling whom. For much of the book people are controlling Ender. It escalates from Peter having some control of Ender to the adults and teachers controlling almost aspect of his life. In this people everyone is fighting for control over themselves and others; they always desire more than they have. This reappears throughout the entire book with nearly all of the character.
Respect vs. Friendship: Ender always has a hard time keeping his friends because though a certain amount of respect is needed to be friend, if there is too much respect then being friends and joking can be hard. More than anything Ender wants to have friends, but he is so well respected, especially when he is the commander that is almost impossible. This leaves Ender lonely. He values respect, but, I think, he would rather have friends.
Decisions: What I mean by decisions is what you have to choose to do in a quick amount of time. Sometimes it doesn't even have to be made quickly, it just has to be the right decision. Every person involved had a decision to make at one time or another and if they even so slightly made a wrong one, it could have changed the entire future of their earth.
Trusting yourself: This theme is all about how the pilots, commanders, launchies, and everyone else couldn't get anywhere if they didn't trust themselves. If Ender hadn't trusted that he could defeat all of those armies and could, if he worked hard enough, rise to the top, then he would've been stuck at square one the entire time or not at all.
Authority: In this book, authority is a constant theme. Everyone works so hard to become the best launchie, the best toon leader, the best commander. What these people are all searching for is authority. They all want to have the freedom to rule over someone else. Everyone there wants some type of power. Even the people like Dink that say they will reject being moved to a higher position of authority, because after all that is said and done, Dink took the position. Authority is also a theme because everyone seems to fear the people with higher positions of authority out of want to be like them.
People sacrificing others for their own gain: There is a lot of sacrifice going on in this book. Ender must choose whether he should be a friend of Dink, Petra, and the rest of his toon leaders, or whether he should be a commander. Graff must decide whether he wants to be Enders friend and support system, or he should be cold to Ender so that Ender can be a strong commander. Isolating people so they'll be more creative and independent: Isolation is a huge theme in this book. Graff isolates Ender in hopes that he'll grow more independent and keep his creativity. Manipulating others so that one can get his way: Lots of characters manipulate others for their own good. Mazer Rackham manipulates Ender by saying that it's just a game so that Ender will not think he's killing anyone. Graff manipulates Ender in the beginning by telling Ender that his parents don't care about him so that Ender will leave home and go to Battle School.
PEOPLE DEHUMANIZE OTHERS WHEN THEY ARE FIGHTING: Dehumanizing others is defiantly a theme in this book. Most of the people (actual humans) made the buggers seem like these unfeeling creatures, because they were fighting. When in war, people have to feel that way because if they didn’t, they would always feel really bad about killing each and every person in war. The humans, even though they weren’t fighting against each other, still had to do this to the buggers because if they were like Ender, and had to love their enemy to be able to understand and then to kill them. Ender went through a lot of grief because of his way of fighting, and therefore, he didn’t want to fight.
BEING DIFFERENT/THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX: Thinking outside the box is a theme in Ender’s Game. Ender is one of the very few people (excluding his best friends that end up helping him win battles against the buggers) who actually do think outside of the box, especially at the Battle School. People never expect for Ender to do the things he does because he does things that no one has ever done before. For instance, Ender chooses to NOT use formations, which is thinking outside the box, but then when he is faced with a battle that he is not able to win, he uses the formations, which confuse the other army because they weren’t expecting him to use it.
WHO’S YOUR FRIEND AND WHO IS NOT: This is also a big theme in Ender’s Game. Being able to tell who was actually Ender’s friend was very hard, a ton of the time. This is probably because depending on what he did, he would/could make one of his good friends turn on him. For example, Petra. Petra was one of Ender’s friends, but then when Ender beat her, she got mad at him, and in return, lost some of Ender’s trust because he didn’t know if she was his friend or not. Graff is another example. We really didn’t know if he was really Ender’s friend or not because he would do things that would make Ender (and me) think that he was Ender’s friend, but then a chapter later, he would isolate Ender or make him feel like he was useless.
EMPATHY: One thing Ender has that is special is the power to feel or tell how others are feeling. Ender tells Valentine on page 238, "In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then at that very moment I love him. I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them in the way they love themselves..." I think this really shows how Ender has something that others in this book don't have. In another part of the book, he sees how the bugger queen felt, and how all she wanted to do was communicate with the humans. People like Graff and Peter, though, are very cold and seemingly heartless and don't understand other's emotions, making it difficult for Ender.
TRICKING OTHERS IN ORDER TO WIN: Many people in this book hurt and fool each other just so they can succeed. Anderson and Graff don't tell Ender that the simulation is real-life so he will kill all of the buggers. Another time Peter tells Valentine that if he helps her with his Demosthenes and Locke idea that they can rule the world peacefully together. Peter knew all along that once he was in power, Valentine would receive nothing. There have been lots of times when people tell each other lies to get what they want.
NOT KNOWING/UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS GOING ON: Lots of times in this book people are confused and not sure what is happening around them. Many times when Valentine would be taken to see Ender, Graff wouldn't tell her what was happening directly. She wouldn't understand and wouldn't be allowed to see where they were going until they arrived. Another time Ender goes slightly crazy and goes in and out of nightmares. A war is going on on Earth and he doesn't even know it. He can't tell what is happening. The reader, too, is confused at this point because we are seeing life through his eyes. In times like these, the characters are disoriented and aren't aware of what's going on.
You sometimes have to do a lot to be happy: My first theme is about what people have to do to be happy. With Ender, it took him a very long time to be happy. Throughout the book, whether he was at Earth, in Battle school, or at Eros, he was never truly happy. Finally, he found himself being content with Valentine and trying to reestablish the bugger race. Ender had too wait a long time before he was happy.
Attempting to Control others: People are always trying to control Ender. I think a word that comes with control is power. Graff tries to control Valentine when he wants her to write Ender a letter. The teachers are trying to control the kids. And of course, the humans try to control the buggers. There are always people who are trying to get more power by controlling.
Not knowing what is truth and what is not: Throughout the book you always see people don't know the truth. Whe Peter says he has changed, Valentine doesn't know whether to believe him or not. Ender doesn't know if the teachers are enemies or not. This leads to characters guessing about what is the truth. Lots of things that happen in the book are off of people not knowing the truth.
We were introduced to this when Dink was talking about whether the buggers still wanted to kill the humans, or if the I.F. had made up the whole story to have some command and not be ended because there is no need for them.
Kids being more like children or adults.
This was introduced early in the book when all the Wigin children were said to be super smart. It was carried around throughout the book and a heavy role of it was placed on Ender. He was only Eleven when he had destroyed the whole bugger race (except for the hive queen) and most people (including me) wouldn't think that a child would be able to do this task. I would think that they would make an adult do it like Mazer Rackham. It is just weird that the children are given adult roles.
Trust, Respect, and Friendship..
This has been around throughout the book, it appears when Demosthenes and Locke were writing their articles, Valentine seemed to be giving peter respect and some trust, but she seemed like it was friendship that they were gaining but it seemed like peter was using this to use Valentine. Also with Ender and his star ship commanders, they would give him trust and respect, but the more they gave him, the lesser of friends they became. This also appears in many more places.
Alexander Ender’s game themes FINDING WERE YOU BELONG A lot of things book is about Ender learning were he belongs. In the first part he wants to go back home, to earth, were he feels he belongs, later he doesn’t really belong there anymore, but he can’t call battle school his home. Then when he is on the lake, he says he wants to go home, but he is talking about battle school. Then he goes to Eros it doesn’t feel right to him. Part of that is because it was built by buggers and part is because he feels he doesn’t belong there. FINDING WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO IN LIFE In the fist part, Ender doesn’t think his life is that important because he is a third and every one makes fun of him for it. When he is at battle school, he is rushed through it so he is always the youngest. That means for a while he is the worst fighter. That confuses him about what he is supposed to do because everyone told him he was the best. Then he because the best and he understood what he should do. PUSHING PEOPLE TO HARD Through ought the whole book Ender and his army is pushed to the boundaries and sometimes beyond them. In battle school, he is pushed through so quickly. Then once he gets to the top he has twenty one battles in the time period that most armies have one. Then when he gets to Eros he barely sleeps he gets pushed so hard. As I said earlier, his army is also pushed. Petra has a breakdown, because she is pushed so hard.
War is never ending. I think this is a major theme in the book. I think this because when the bugger war ended. The humans immediately started to fight. The only reason that war ended is because of rebellion in the Warsaw Pact. I think that the author is trying to show that war is just in human nature and is always going to go on.
If you get above your peers, you might start losing friends. I think that this is a major theme throughout the book. For example when he first beat Petra’s army. He could she the hate in her eyes. Another example would be when he became the commander of all his squadron leaders and he felt that they were losing their friendship.
Most problems in the world could be solved by communication. I think that this is an important theme in the book. A good example of this is the bugger wars. Since the buggers could not communicate with the humans, they ended up attacking them. If the humans could have communicated with the buggers than, they would not have wiped out the whole bugger race.
Leadership: The idea and theme of leadership has come up many times in this book. Who’s going to be the one to take charge? Usually, being commander would give you that spot of leadership, but sometimes I noticed people who had an even higher level of leadership. It seemed like there was always someone who could tell you what to do. Before, Ender had a commander who was the leader, then there was Major Anderson and he had Colonel Graff, and also, Colonel Graff had Admiral Chamrajnagar. Leadership seemed like it played an important role and made the characters different from each other.
Big Picture (My life vs. Everyone else): In Ender’s Game I feel like Ender thought a lot about his life versus saving the world. He knew that he was their last hope and kept trying to decide whether or not he would be happy or save the world. Ender was stuck in some sticky situations having to decide what he should do even though he was so little. If I was in that situation I don’t think I would’ve known what to do.
Violence: The theme of violence showed up a lot in this book. There were several times when Ender was violent trying to protect himself. When he killed Stilson and Bonzo, also when he beat up some kids in the battle room, and also not even meaning to, killing all of the buggers. Sometimes the violence was accidental, other he was protecting himself. And sometimes, it even reminded him of Peter, who was the violent child.
THE ONLY PEOPLE WITH REAL POWER ARE THOSE THAT CAN KILL. In the book Ender realizes this through Peter. The three children are just as smart, but Peter has the overwhelming advantage because he is willing to kill to get what he wants. This comes into play again when Ender kills Bonzo. Before he killed him everyone hated him; some even wanted to kill him, but afterwards he had all the respect and power he needed. Lastly, the only way for I.F. to win the war, was to get Ender to kill them, so they would have power again.
ONE CAN ALWAYS DO BETTER Ender raced over one obstacle after another. Every time he completed something, either small or big, he was faced with a new challenge, pushing him to his limits and making him improve. He managed it every time. He accomplished one goal after another until he destroyed the buggers.
BEING SPECIAL When people are told that they are more special they start to think they can do whatever they want, like Peter. Reading the book the reader sees many people suffering from being special. It is the few people like Ender and Mazer Rackham, who can channel this, that can really make a difference.
ENDER AND PETER ARE BOTH SIDES A COIN AND VAL IS IN THE MIDDLE. THis is an important theme because it goes through the whole book and without Val to keep Ender and Peter from having it out, there would be a real problem
PETER IS ALWAYS LYING TO TRY TO TRICK VAL. This is an important theme because Peter is doing this all the time and Val always thinks she is in control until Peters trap slams shut and then its to late for her to correct what she has done wrong.
GRAFF KEEPS HAVING TO COME BACK TO VAL TO MOTIVATE ENDER. This is a really important theme because it Graff didn't have Val to get Ender going then they would have lot the Bugger war. This theme really controls what Graff can do the rest of the book because he can't really do anything without Val.
You sometimes have to do a lot to be happy: My first theme is about what people have to do to be happy. With Ender, it took him a very long time to be happy. Throughout the book, whether he was at Earth, in Battle school, or at Eros, he was never truly happy. Finally, he found himself being content with Valentine and trying to reestablish the bugger race. Ender had too wait a long time before he was happy.
Attempting to Control others: People are always trying to control Ender. I think a word that comes with control is power. Graff tries to control Valentine when he wants her to write Ender a letter. The teachers are trying to control the kids. And of course, the humans try to control the buggers. There are always people who are trying to get more power by controlling.
Not knowing what is the truth and what is not: Throughout the book you always see people don't know the truth. Whe Peter says he has changed, Valentine doesn't know whether to believe him or not. Ender doesn't know if the teachers are enemies or not. This leads to characters guessing about what is the truth. Lots of things that happen in the book are off of people not knowing the truth.
Leadership: The idea and theme of leadership has come up many times in this book. Who’s going to be the one to take charge? Usually, being commander would give you that spot of leadership, but sometimes I noticed people who had an even higher level of leadership. It seemed like there was always someone who could tell you what to do. Before, Ender had a commander who was the leader, then there was Major Anderson and he had Colonel Graff, and also, Colonel Graff had Admiral Chamrajnagar. Leadership seemed like it played an important role and made the characters different from each other.
Big Picture (My life vs. Everyone else): In Ender’s Game I feel like Ender thought a lot about his life versus saving the world. He knew that he was their last hope and kept trying to decide whether or not he would be happy or save the world. Ender was stuck in some sticky situations having to decide what he should do even though he was so little. If I was in that situation I don’t think I would’ve known what to do.
Violence: The theme of violence showed up a lot in this book. There were several times when Ender was violent trying to protect himself. When he killed Stilson and Bonzo, also when he beat up some kids in the battle room, and also not even meaning to, killing all of the buggers. Sometimes the violence was accidental, other he was protecting himself. And sometimes, it even reminded him of Peter, who was the violent child.
WHAT IS LOVE: Many times in this book, the question, what is love? has come up. Graff at first seems to like Ender, then he decides to isolate and push him, and then he loves him again when he wins the third invasion. Also, Ender doesn't know if Peter loves him truly or not. He says he's going to kill him but then late that night he goes to Ender and talks about how much he loves him. Ender doesn't know who loves him and who doesn't, and he isn't even sure what love is.
SYMPATHIZING WITH THE EMEMY: Ender, unlike most in this book, can really feel how other's feel. He says to Valentine on page 238, "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 in the way they love themselves." This shows how much Ender can feel about others. Also, he could understand the buggers. He knew all they wanted was to communicate, and he could see the bugger queen before she died. He understood them so much, he could see them.
CONFUSION: Many people are confused many times in this book. First of all, we see that lots of times Graff will take Valentine and put her in a car and not tell her what is going on. She can't see out the windows and isn't told anything until they get there. She is always confused but Graff doesn't care. Another time, Mazer doesn't let Ender sleep or rest for many days. He goes almost crazy and stays in a state where he doesn't know if it's a dream or not. In this time, the reader, too, is confused with him because we are seeing life through Ender's eyes. Lots of times people get confused or disoriented throughout the book.
Hey, y'all. Here are some themes I stole from a website that I thought might be of some help to you: ␣ Lack of communication leads to problems. ␣ Human nature is to destroy that which we do not understand. ␣ Survival of the fittest. ␣ Humans have a competitive nature. ␣ People dislike those who excel. ␣ Ignorance is bliss. ␣ People wear identities and unconsciously become them. ␣ People have a killer instinct when threatened. ␣ The enemy is the only real teacher.
Rose
ReplyDeleteKIDS GROWING UP TOO FAST: One of the very important themes of the book is the idea that kids are growing up too fast. At the start of the book, Ender is only six, yet he is smart enough to know how to hurt Stilson and keep Stilson's friends from hurting him later. He saves the world before he's even a teenager. I think the author was definitely trying to send us the message that our society expects children to grow up too fast.
TRUST IS DANGEROUS, BUT IMPORTANT: Throughout the book, there is this idea of trust. We are left wondering who can be trusted many times, and Ender is, too. From the start of his time in battle school, he learns that he can' trust anyone, because Graff, who Ender thought was his friend, turns the other children against him. However, it is the trust that Ender and his squadron form that wins the war against the buggers.
PEOPLE AREN'T ALWAYS WHO THEY APPEAR: When we are introduced to Peter, we see him as a cruel older brother who is simply mean. However, when he thinks Ender is asleep, we see the soft, hurt side of Peter. This reappears in the book later on with Mazer Rackham, Graff, and even Ender.
Becca
ReplyDeleteLove: It appears many times throughout the book. One of the vary important ways is that in order to completely understand and beat his enemy Ender has to understand and love them. He understands and loves the buggars in the end. He even devotes much of the rest of his life to finding a safe place for the queen. Also, the only think that he wants from Peter is love. It is something, along with friendship, that Ender covets.
Control: Throughout the book everyone is always grappling for control. There is a twisted and hard to follow path of exactly who is controlling whom. For much of the book people are controlling Ender. It escalates from Peter having some control of Ender to the adults and teachers controlling almost aspect of his life. In this people everyone is fighting for control over themselves and others; they always desire more than they have. This reappears throughout the entire book with nearly all of the character.
Respect vs. Friendship: Ender always has a hard time keeping his friends because though a certain amount of respect is needed to be friend, if there is too much respect then being friends and joking can be hard. More than anything Ender wants to have friends, but he is so well respected, especially when he is the commander that is almost impossible. This leaves Ender lonely. He values respect, but, I think, he would rather have friends.
Kira
ReplyDeleteDecisions:
What I mean by decisions is what you have to choose to do in a quick amount of time. Sometimes it doesn't even have to be made quickly, it just has to be the right decision. Every person involved had a decision to make at one time or another and if they even so slightly made a wrong one, it could have changed the entire future of their earth.
Trusting yourself:
This theme is all about how the pilots, commanders, launchies, and everyone else couldn't get anywhere if they didn't trust themselves. If Ender hadn't trusted that he could defeat all of those armies and could, if he worked hard enough, rise to the top, then he would've been stuck at square one the entire time or not at all.
Authority:
In this book, authority is a constant theme. Everyone works so hard to become the best launchie, the best toon leader, the best commander. What these people are all searching for is authority. They all want to have the freedom to rule over someone else. Everyone there wants some type of power. Even the people like Dink that say they will reject being moved to a higher position of authority, because after all that is said and done, Dink took the position. Authority is also a theme because everyone seems to fear the people with higher positions of authority out of want to be like them.
People sacrificing others for their own gain:
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of sacrifice going on in this book. Ender must choose whether he should be a friend of Dink, Petra, and the rest of his toon leaders, or whether he should be a commander. Graff must decide whether he wants to be Enders friend and support system, or he should be cold to Ender so that Ender can be a strong commander.
Isolating people so they'll be more creative and independent:
Isolation is a huge theme in this book. Graff isolates Ender in hopes that he'll grow more independent and keep his creativity.
Manipulating others so that one can get his way: Lots of characters manipulate others for their own good. Mazer Rackham manipulates Ender by saying that it's just a game so that Ender will not think he's killing anyone. Graff manipulates Ender in the beginning by telling Ender that his parents don't care about him so that Ender will leave home and go to Battle School.
Claire
ReplyDeleteEnder’s Game Themes
PEOPLE DEHUMANIZE OTHERS WHEN THEY ARE FIGHTING:
Dehumanizing others is defiantly a theme in this book. Most of the people (actual humans) made the buggers seem like these unfeeling creatures, because they were fighting. When in war, people have to feel that way because if they didn’t, they would always feel really bad about killing each and every person in war. The humans, even though they weren’t fighting against each other, still had to do this to the buggers because if they were like Ender, and had to love their enemy to be able to understand and then to kill them. Ender went through a lot of grief because of his way of fighting, and therefore, he didn’t want to fight.
BEING DIFFERENT/THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX:
Thinking outside the box is a theme in Ender’s Game. Ender is one of the very few people (excluding his best friends that end up helping him win battles against the buggers) who actually do think outside of the box, especially at the Battle School. People never expect for Ender to do the things he does because he does things that no one has ever done before. For instance, Ender chooses to NOT use formations, which is thinking outside the box, but then when he is faced with a battle that he is not able to win, he uses the formations, which confuse the other army because they weren’t expecting him to use it.
WHO’S YOUR FRIEND AND WHO IS NOT:
This is also a big theme in Ender’s Game. Being able to tell who was actually Ender’s friend was very hard, a ton of the time. This is probably because depending on what he did, he would/could make one of his good friends turn on him. For example, Petra. Petra was one of Ender’s friends, but then when Ender beat her, she got mad at him, and in return, lost some of Ender’s trust because he didn’t know if she was his friend or not. Graff is another example. We really didn’t know if he was really Ender’s friend or not because he would do things that would make Ender (and me) think that he was Ender’s friend, but then a chapter later, he would isolate Ender or make him feel like he was useless.
Sarah
ReplyDeleteThree Themes
EMPATHY: One thing Ender has that is special is the power to feel or tell how others are feeling. Ender tells Valentine on page 238, "In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then at that very moment I love him. I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them in the way they love themselves..." I think this really shows how Ender has something that others in this book don't have. In another part of the book, he sees how the bugger queen felt, and how all she wanted to do was communicate with the humans. People like Graff and Peter, though, are very cold and seemingly heartless and don't understand other's emotions, making it difficult for Ender.
TRICKING OTHERS IN ORDER TO WIN: Many people in this book hurt and fool each other just so they can succeed. Anderson and Graff don't tell Ender that the simulation is real-life so he will kill all of the buggers. Another time Peter tells Valentine that if he helps her with his Demosthenes and Locke idea that they can rule the world peacefully together. Peter knew all along that once he was in power, Valentine would receive nothing. There have been lots of times when people tell each other lies to get what they want.
NOT KNOWING/UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS GOING ON: Lots of times in this book people are confused and not sure what is happening around them. Many times when Valentine would be taken to see Ender, Graff wouldn't tell her what was happening directly. She wouldn't understand and wouldn't be allowed to see where they were going until they arrived. Another time Ender goes slightly crazy and goes in and out of nightmares. A war is going on on Earth and he doesn't even know it. He can't tell what is happening. The reader, too, is confused at this point because we are seeing life through his eyes. In times like these, the characters are disoriented and aren't aware of what's going on.
John
ReplyDeleteEnder's game Themes
You sometimes have to do a lot to be happy:
My first theme is about what people have to do to be happy. With Ender, it took him a very long time to be happy. Throughout the book, whether he was at Earth, in Battle school, or at Eros, he was never truly happy. Finally, he found himself being content with Valentine and trying to reestablish the bugger race. Ender had too wait a long time before he was happy.
Attempting to Control others:
People are always trying to control Ender. I think a word that comes with control is power. Graff tries to control Valentine when he wants her to write Ender a letter. The teachers are trying to control the kids. And of course, the humans try to control the buggers. There are always people who are trying to get more power by controlling.
Not knowing what is truth and what is not:
Throughout the book you always see people don't know the truth. Whe Peter says he has changed, Valentine doesn't know whether to believe him or not. Ender doesn't know if the teachers are enemies or not. This leads to characters guessing about what is the truth. Lots of things that happen in the book are off of people not knowing the truth.
Drew
ReplyDeleteEnder's Game Themes
What is reality and what if fake.
We were introduced to this when Dink was talking about whether the buggers still wanted to kill the humans, or if the I.F. had made up the whole story to have some command and not be ended because there is no need for them.
Kids being more like children or adults.
This was introduced early in the book when all the Wigin children were said to be super smart. It was carried around throughout the book and a heavy role of it was placed on Ender. He was only Eleven when he had destroyed the whole bugger race (except for the hive queen) and most people (including me) wouldn't think that a child would be able to do this task. I would think that they would make an adult do it like Mazer Rackham. It is just weird that the children are given adult roles.
Trust, Respect, and Friendship..
This has been around throughout the book, it appears when Demosthenes and Locke were writing their articles, Valentine seemed to be giving peter respect and some trust, but she seemed like it was friendship that they were gaining but it seemed like peter was using this to use
Valentine. Also with Ender and his star ship commanders, they would give him trust and respect, but the more they gave him, the lesser of friends they became. This also appears in many more places.
Alexander
ReplyDeleteEnder’s game themes
FINDING WERE YOU BELONG
A lot of things book is about Ender learning were he belongs. In the first part he wants to go back home, to earth, were he feels he belongs, later he doesn’t really belong there anymore, but he can’t call battle school his home. Then when he is on the lake, he says he wants to go home, but he is talking about battle school. Then he goes to Eros it doesn’t feel right to him. Part of that is because it was built by buggers and part is because he feels he doesn’t belong there.
FINDING WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO IN LIFE
In the fist part, Ender doesn’t think his life is that important because he is a third and every one makes fun of him for it. When he is at battle school, he is rushed through it so he is always the youngest. That means for a while he is the worst fighter. That confuses him about what he is supposed to do because everyone told him he was the best. Then he because the best and he understood what he should do.
PUSHING PEOPLE TO HARD
Through ought the whole book Ender and his army is pushed to the boundaries and sometimes beyond them. In battle school, he is pushed through so quickly. Then once he gets to the top he has twenty one battles in the time period that most armies have one. Then when he gets to Eros he barely sleeps he gets pushed so hard. As I said earlier, his army is also pushed. Petra has a breakdown, because she is pushed so hard.
Evan Gold
ReplyDeleteWar is never ending.
I think this is a major theme in the book. I think this because when the bugger war ended. The humans immediately started to fight. The only reason that war ended is because of rebellion in the Warsaw Pact. I think that the author is trying to show that war is just in human nature and is always going to go on.
If you get above your peers, you might start losing friends.
I think that this is a major theme throughout the book. For example when he first beat Petra’s army. He could she the hate in her eyes. Another example would be when he became the commander of all his squadron leaders and he felt that they were losing their friendship.
Most problems in the world could be solved by communication.
I think that this is an important theme in the book. A good example of this is the bugger wars. Since the buggers could not communicate with the humans, they ended up attacking them. If the humans could have communicated with the buggers than, they would not have wiped out the whole bugger race.
Three Themes
ReplyDeleteRylee Hafitz
May 12, 2011
Leadership: The idea and theme of leadership has come up many times in this book. Who’s going to be the one to take charge? Usually, being commander would give you that spot of leadership, but sometimes I noticed people who had an even higher level of leadership. It seemed like there was always someone who could tell you what to do. Before, Ender had a commander who was the leader, then there was Major Anderson and he had Colonel Graff, and also, Colonel Graff had Admiral Chamrajnagar. Leadership seemed like it played an important role and made the characters different from each other.
Big Picture (My life vs. Everyone else): In Ender’s Game I feel like Ender thought a lot about his life versus saving the world. He knew that he was their last hope and kept trying to decide whether or not he would be happy or save the world. Ender was stuck in some sticky situations having to decide what he should do even though he was so little. If I was in that situation I don’t think I would’ve known what to do.
Violence: The theme of violence showed up a lot in this book. There were several times when Ender was violent trying to protect himself. When he killed Stilson and Bonzo, also when he beat up some kids in the battle room, and also not even meaning to, killing all of the buggers. Sometimes the violence was accidental, other he was protecting himself. And sometimes, it even reminded him of Peter, who was the violent child.
Gabe
ReplyDeleteTHE ONLY PEOPLE WITH REAL POWER ARE THOSE THAT CAN KILL.
In the book Ender realizes this through Peter. The three children are just as smart, but Peter has the overwhelming advantage because he is willing to kill to get what he wants. This comes into play again when Ender kills Bonzo. Before he killed him everyone hated him; some even wanted to kill him, but afterwards he had all the respect and power he needed. Lastly, the only way for I.F. to win the war, was to get Ender to kill them, so they would have power again.
ONE CAN ALWAYS DO BETTER
Ender raced over one obstacle after another. Every time he completed something, either small or big, he was faced with a new challenge, pushing him to his limits and making him improve. He managed it every time. He accomplished one goal after another until he destroyed the buggers.
BEING SPECIAL
When people are told that they are more special they start to think they can do whatever they want, like Peter. Reading the book the reader sees many people suffering from being special. It is the few people like Ender and Mazer Rackham, who can channel this, that can really make a difference.
Robz
ReplyDeleteENDER AND PETER ARE BOTH SIDES A COIN AND VAL IS IN THE MIDDLE. THis is an important theme because it goes through the whole book and without Val to keep Ender and Peter from having it out, there would be a real problem
PETER IS ALWAYS LYING TO TRY TO TRICK VAL. This is an important theme because Peter is doing this all the time and Val always thinks she is in control until Peters trap slams shut and then its to late for her to correct what she has done wrong.
GRAFF KEEPS HAVING TO COME BACK TO VAL TO MOTIVATE ENDER. This is a really important theme because it Graff didn't have Val to get Ender going then they would have lot the Bugger war. This theme really controls what Graff can do the rest of the book because he can't really do anything without Val.
John
ReplyDeleteEnder's game Themes
You sometimes have to do a lot to be happy:
My first theme is about what people have to do to be happy. With Ender, it took him a very long time to be happy. Throughout the book, whether he was at Earth, in Battle school, or at Eros, he was never truly happy. Finally, he found himself being content with Valentine and trying to reestablish the bugger race. Ender had too wait a long time before he was happy.
Attempting to Control others:
People are always trying to control Ender. I think a word that comes with control is power. Graff tries to control Valentine when he wants her to write Ender a letter. The teachers are trying to control the kids. And of course, the humans try to control the buggers. There are always people who are trying to get more power by controlling.
Not knowing what is the truth and what is not:
Throughout the book you always see people don't know the truth. Whe Peter says he has changed, Valentine doesn't know whether to believe him or not. Ender doesn't know if the teachers are enemies or not. This leads to characters guessing about what is the truth. Lots of things that happen in the book are off of people not knowing the truth.
Three Themes
ReplyDeleteRylee Hafitz
May 12, 2011
Leadership: The idea and theme of leadership has come up many times in this book. Who’s going to be the one to take charge? Usually, being commander would give you that spot of leadership, but sometimes I noticed people who had an even higher level of leadership. It seemed like there was always someone who could tell you what to do. Before, Ender had a commander who was the leader, then there was Major Anderson and he had Colonel Graff, and also, Colonel Graff had Admiral Chamrajnagar. Leadership seemed like it played an important role and made the characters different from each other.
Big Picture (My life vs. Everyone else): In Ender’s Game I feel like Ender thought a lot about his life versus saving the world. He knew that he was their last hope and kept trying to decide whether or not he would be happy or save the world. Ender was stuck in some sticky situations having to decide what he should do even though he was so little. If I was in that situation I don’t think I would’ve known what to do.
Violence: The theme of violence showed up a lot in this book. There were several times when Ender was violent trying to protect himself. When he killed Stilson and Bonzo, also when he beat up some kids in the battle room, and also not even meaning to, killing all of the buggers. Sometimes the violence was accidental, other he was protecting himself. And sometimes, it even reminded him of Peter, who was the violent child.
WHAT IS LOVE:
ReplyDeleteMany times in this book, the question, what is love? has come up. Graff at first seems to like Ender, then he decides to isolate and push him, and then he loves him again when he wins the third invasion. Also, Ender doesn't know if Peter loves him truly or not. He says he's going to kill him but then late that night he goes to Ender and talks about how much he loves him. Ender doesn't know who loves him and who doesn't, and he isn't even sure what love is.
SYMPATHIZING WITH THE EMEMY:
Ender, unlike most in this book, can really feel how other's feel. He says to Valentine on page 238, "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 in the way they love themselves." This shows how much Ender can feel about others. Also, he could understand the buggers. He knew all they wanted was to communicate, and he could see the bugger queen before she died. He understood them so much, he could see them.
CONFUSION:
Many people are confused many times in this book. First of all, we see that lots of times Graff will take Valentine and put her in a car and not tell her what is going on. She can't see out the windows and isn't told anything until they get there. She is always confused but Graff doesn't care. Another time, Mazer doesn't let Ender sleep or rest for many days. He goes almost crazy and stays in a state where he doesn't know if it's a dream or not. In this time, the reader, too, is confused with him because we are seeing life through Ender's eyes. Lots of times people get confused or disoriented throughout the book.
Hey, y'all. Here are some themes I stole from a website that I thought might be of some help to you:
ReplyDelete␣ Lack of communication leads to problems.
␣ Human nature is to destroy that which we do not understand.
␣ Survival of the fittest.
␣ Humans have a competitive nature.
␣ People dislike those who excel.
␣ Ignorance is bliss.
␣ People wear identities and unconsciously become them.
␣ People have a killer instinct when threatened.
␣ The enemy is the only real teacher.
meep
ReplyDelete