Ender’s Game Theme Essay Essay

Pressure, pain, corruption, and insecurity; imagine dealing with this every moment of your life. In The Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, a young boy genius must take on the weight of the world while dealing with these things. Ender, a nine year old boy, is chosen by the government to go to Battle School, where he must learn to fight and improve his army skills. While he’s there, he struggles with his own morality and insecurity, and tries to do what other people want him to do. Even though he is so smart that he beats every single challenge presented to him, he had to learn throughout the course of the novel to be self-reliant and try to figure out the truth about his whole training. Although Ender is a boy genius and master tactician, he is easily manipulated and has a tough time dealing with the pressure of the world. Ender’s clever genius and amazing military skills has made him become one of the most formidable opponents. His ability to use his genius in any situation combined with his great military skills makes him victorious in even some of the most impossible situations, such as when he had to battle against the humongous bugger army on the battle simulator. The bugger army had outnumbered him, â€Å"A thousand to one (696),† and he needed to think up of a plan. So Ender decided to do the unthinkable, to take out the enemy permanently. â€Å"Then he whispered a command and the ships dropped like rocks toward the planet’s surface. They were starships and fighters, completely unequipped to handle the heat of passage through an atmosphere. But Ender never intended them to reach the atmosphere. Almost from the moment they began to drop, they were focusing their Little Doctors on one thing only. The planet itself (701). † Ender, at first felt like he wouldn’t be able to win the battle with so many enemies against him. But he used his clever wit to think of the impossible and use his military skills to take action. He sent the ally ships as close to the enemy planet as possible and then used Little Doctors (Weapons of Mass Destruction) to nuke the whole planet. This decision eliminated the enemy, but it also killed Ender’s ally command fleet. Ender during the novel showed his great military strength and superior thinking to conquer many of his challenges. He was able to stand up and defeat any bullies who wanted to hurt him, and even with a seemingly useless army he was able to train them using new tactics to win every single battle with them. The final simulator test against the buggers was one of the greatest of his genius military wins, but little did he know that it was just a game. Although Ender is genius in many ways and has great military skills, he is still easily manipulated by adults and starts to crumble under the pressure of the world. Ender throughout the novel has very low self – esteem. He just views himself as a tool under other people’s hands. So, when he is given the chance of a two week break, he takes it and has a three month break. He was tired of being pressured to be the best military leader the human world had to offer. He didn’t believe he could keep enduring, and thought he would fail. On his break, the government got so desperate for Ender they sent his sister to go in and help persuade Ender to keep on fighting. â€Å"Ender insisted that his conversation with you should not be bugged. I promised him it wouldn’t be, and to help inspire confidence, the two of you are going out on a raft he built himself (546). † This scene of the book shows how Ender is still a human being, and everyone’s got a cracking point. In able to go on, many of us find it comforting and strengthening when someone says we can do it and inspires us to keep on fighting. Valentine was Ender’s inspiring push to keep him going, but even she was another tool the government used to manipulate Ender. Ender got manipulated a lot in the novel by adults, especially when he was training in the simulator. The adults acted like it was just a game or challenge, and that Ender was just practicing to face the buggers. But when the final test came and Ender won by destroying the whole bugger race, he realized that the adults lied to him, and it was never just a game. Orson Scott Card illustrated how even the strongest and best of us still has a limit and can crack. Ender proved how he was one of the smartest and most brilliant military leaders alive through his training and thought out decisions in Battle and Command School. He was a genius among geniuses, and always thought of something new and effective. But he too, succumbed under the pressure of the world, and needed inspiration and courage to push through. He became too easily manipulated by adults, which led him to a decision he wish he never made. Orson Scott showed how even the best of us, can give in to the dark and evil intentions of man.