Ender's Game Questions Chapters 6-8

Chapter 6
1. The purpose of the Giant's drink game is to see how prospective soldiers deal with certain death. Ender knew that whichever drink he chose was going to kill him, and the game taught him how to work around that. He knew that he was probably going to die, but through the game he figured out how to have success even though it may involve his death. Ender should evaluate his success at this game as an accomplishment. As the adults said, "...he won the game that couldn't be won" (66). The game was supposed to be impossible, and yet he figured it out cheated death. I don't think Ender is a murderer, I think he was just doing what he had to do to succeed. It meant he had to kill some imaginary people in a game, but it does not mean that he really has a bad heart.

Chapter 7
1. Alai said "salaam" to Ender. He also kissed him on the cheek. This exchange was very important because it was not something Alai was supposed to do. It relates to his religion, and religion was supposed to be outlawed so exchanges like this cannot happen. It shows how much Alai supports and trusts Ender, and how he knows that Ender is on his side and would not tell that that had happened. Ender learned how to win people over and make friends.

2. The "just living" mentioned in this chapter is what Ender considers a normal life to be. Living alone with your family, spending time with friends, going to school. No monitors or Battle School in his idea of normal life. I think it is true that Ender has never done this. There was a time when he did not have a monitor, but at that point his siblings had one. Ender wants success out of life. He does not want to be a killer like his brother, but he wants to be liked by people and he wants to be with his sister Valentine. He wants peace and rest and a lack of pain and fear. If I was him, I would be sad that I had never had the opportunity to live in that more simple, gentle way. I enjoy my life and I don't think I would like it if I was in Ender's place.

3. Petra helped Ender by being his friend and by instructing him in battle moves. She taught him how to make his shot better and in doing so she spent a lot of time with him. As she said, "...why don't we be friends?" (79). She accepted him and showed him that not everyone is trying to be mean to him and bring him down. Petra's friendship is a hindrance to Ender because she is not popular in their army and is not especially liked by everyone else. Ender does not want to be outside by association, yet he still wants the companionship of Petra.

4. Ender learns various things about leadership and tactics from Bonzo. Bonzo shows him that appearing as if you know what you are doing does not what you are doing is correct. Bonzo looks like he is doing the right thing, but Ender sees that his battle tactics are flawed but at the same time Bonzo shows him how to bring an army together and create a sense of unity. As said on page 77, "Madrid was not trying to hurt him, merely taking control of a surprising event and using it to strengthen his control of his army". When Ender first arrives and is thought to be awful, Bonzo turns that into a chanting session rallying army pride. Ender also sees that Bonzo pushes around and physically abuses his soldiers unnecessarily. Bonzo does not even give Ender a chance to try, he just orders him to stay immobile. He shows him that you must show your army your power, even though he does it in bad ways.

Chapter 8
1. When Graff says that "Ender Wiggin is ten times smater and stronger than I am" he means literally, but also emotionally. Graff sees that Ender had that strength to, at 6, leave his family and go work for the greater cause. Ender is smart with his emotions; he has learned not to cry or show pain. Graff also means in the games. Ender solves problems and comes up with solutions no one else can see. Graff is also afraid of Ender. He is not sure what Ender is capable of, and doesn't want to take chances.

2. The quote "So teach me." "So learn." shows how on their own everyone is at battle school. Ender's toon leader, Dink, is telling him that he must learn by observing, because no one is going to go out of their way to help him. He is saying that he has to catch up, because until then he is useless and will not have any success.

3. Ender's response to an attack is significant because no one else has tried it before. He has come up with something unique and unexpected that actually helps a lot in battle. His method has not been seen by the other teams so they do not know how to respond to it. He came up with something on his own that was useful for everyone else, which is a special occurrence. Most of the other soldiers can't think outside the box to do something like that, because they cannot understand how to think of up and down  in the Battle Room like he can. Ender also notes that "...even though Dink was very, very good, his persistence in holding onto the corridor gravity orientation instead of thinking of the enemy gate as downward was limiting his thinking" (102). Ender thinks in his own way.

4. The scene with the snake and Peter's reflection represented his conscience. He saw in the mirror what he was afraid of becoming: a murderous monster. He grew up under Peter, so he is used to evaluating what he does in terms of what Peter would have done. He does  not like it when he finds similarities between his and Peter's actions.

5. The game knows about Peter because it is created by adults, such as Graff, that are in charge of what goes on at the school. They know Ender is special, so they put something special into the game to draw him in and see how he reacts. The adults saw that he defeated the game when he shouldn't have, so now they are throwing knives in to make it interesting and test out any theories they may have about Ender.

6. The significance of the last paragraph of chapter 8 is Ender's inner turmoil. He feels used, like he wasn't created to live life he was created to be played and used for other people's will. He hates himself and what he has to do, and that could end up affecting his results in real life. He could end up not being able to accomplish what is necessary because he has not feeling of success or pride. He is starting to get deeper into this dark depression where he is not content with anything that happens or that he does. He hates everything: the game, his life, his abilities and their results. He does not care if he dies in the game because he does not care about most things "...when the little serpents killed me in the game, I agreed with them, and was glad" (119). At this point, he has lost the will to live.