Ender's Game Critical Essay Paper
Truong 1
Henry Truong
Mr. Wilk
English 2
10 May 2013
Hidden Dangers Before 13 “Because never in my entire childhood did I feel like a child. I felt like a person all along—the same person that I am today.” (Card xvii) In Orson Scott Card’s novel, Ender’s Game, Ender Wiggin, a little 6 year old boy, is recruited into Battle School by Colonel Graff and the International Fleet to save mankind from an alien species called the Buggers. The Buggers have been humankind’s main enemy and they know very little of the Buggers beside that they are the bad guy. There has already been two fights between human’s and buggers. During both encounters, the humans barely survived, and they now must prepare for the third fight. Ender’s Game is a journey of little Ender Wiggin, who was always being bullied for being a “third”, and how everything changed when he got recruited at the age of six to train in order save the world. Although the children in this book are trained and built to be saviors of Earth, on the other hand are treated as children and kept in the dark. “…he [Card] examines why referring to characters as ‘children’ does not necessarily make them well-rendered child characters.” (Kelly 112) In David J. Kelly’s critical essay, he starts off be stating that, and he continues to explain some of the characters who are referred to as children but are not really “children”. We may see kids
Truong 2 as innocent and not know any better, but Card believes that behind that little innocent face could be earth’s savior or doom. For example ,Ender is one of those kids, “…in physical struggles he lashes out with a fear-driven response that he has no power over, a cyclone so violent that he does not even see the results…” (Kelly 114) Like the kid version of the hulk, losing control when he gets bullied, and not knowing what he has doing until he gains back conscious of his own self. He doesn’t want to hurt others, but he ends up doing it anyways. In the next
Henry Truong
Mr. Wilk
English 2
10 May 2013
Hidden Dangers Before 13 “Because never in my entire childhood did I feel like a child. I felt like a person all along—the same person that I am today.” (Card xvii) In Orson Scott Card’s novel, Ender’s Game, Ender Wiggin, a little 6 year old boy, is recruited into Battle School by Colonel Graff and the International Fleet to save mankind from an alien species called the Buggers. The Buggers have been humankind’s main enemy and they know very little of the Buggers beside that they are the bad guy. There has already been two fights between human’s and buggers. During both encounters, the humans barely survived, and they now must prepare for the third fight. Ender’s Game is a journey of little Ender Wiggin, who was always being bullied for being a “third”, and how everything changed when he got recruited at the age of six to train in order save the world. Although the children in this book are trained and built to be saviors of Earth, on the other hand are treated as children and kept in the dark. “…he [Card] examines why referring to characters as ‘children’ does not necessarily make them well-rendered child characters.” (Kelly 112) In David J. Kelly’s critical essay, he starts off be stating that, and he continues to explain some of the characters who are referred to as children but are not really “children”. We may see kids
Truong 2 as innocent and not know any better, but Card believes that behind that little innocent face could be earth’s savior or doom. For example ,Ender is one of those kids, “…in physical struggles he lashes out with a fear-driven response that he has no power over, a cyclone so violent that he does not even see the results…” (Kelly 114) Like the kid version of the hulk, losing control when he gets bullied, and not knowing what he has doing until he gains back conscious of his own self. He doesn’t want to hurt others, but he ends up doing it anyways. In the next
Cited: Card, Orson Scott Ender’s Game. New York, NY. Phoenix Rising, 1991 Kelly, David J. “Ender’s Game—Criticism” Volume 5,112-5 Blackmore, Tim. “Ender’s Game—Criticism” Volume 5,115-8 Volume 5, 118-121