Revisiting the Ender's Game Anticipation Guide

After reading my original responses to the Ender's Game anticipation guide statements, I am surprised because most of my opinions only changed slightly, but some I agree with now more than before. For most of the statements about violence my opinion that violence is not preferable, but acceptable in certain situations, did not change. For statements relating to more general ideas, there were more changes.

Lying is justifiable if it's for the greater good.
I had at first ranked this as a 4, because I thought that the statement was true most of the time. My opinion on that has not really changed, because many people in Ender’s Game lie because they want to save the world from the buggers. For example, when Ender kills his peers such as Bonzo or Stilson when fighting them, the adults don’t tell him because they know it would ruin him. If he had found out earlier than he did, he wouldn’t have been able to be a successful commander. As an adult says “At least they had the good sense not to tell Ender that the boy died” (226). They are hiding the truth for the benefit of the general people.

Sometimes violence is the only way to solve a problem.

I ranked this one as a 4 also, but now I think that it is more of a 3. Although it still seems true, and there are situations where violence has to be a part, I think it is awful how true this is after seeing to what extent violence can go. When I originally read this, I thought that the statement was referencing being punched in the face or kicked in the shin, not one kid killing another in the bathroom. Also, there were places in the book that Ender hurt others where he didn’t need to, such as when he hurt all of the mean boys ganging up on him and his friends in the battle room. It is described “Ender threw the boy with the bleeding nose at one of them; they entangled, and Ender’s leg came free” (116). Those kids couldn't have done anything that bad to him so he shouldn’t have hurt them like that. I still agree with this statement, but only to a certain extent.

It is okay to kill someone in self-defense.

I now agree more with this statement than I did before, because of Ender's problems with Bonzo and Stilson. At first I said that was a 3, but now I would say a 4. Ender was trying to keep himself alive when he was fighting with Bonzo and Stilson, and in the process he killed his opponent, but that is not his fault and I think that what he did was fine. However, Ender killed them accidentally not intentionally, and I don’t think I would be as accepting of that statement if death was his original goal. The adults think it's bad too “...those videos of Bonzo’s and Stilson’s deaths were pretty gruesome. To watch one child do that to another” (305). Ender did a bad thing, but in his situation it was necessary.

Words are stronger than fists.

I now really believe in this statement because of what Peter and Valentine accomplished through Locke and Demosthenes. I ranked this as a 2 originally because I thought that sometimes war and violent methods had to be used, but now it seems like more control comes from other ways. Peter never hurt anyone physically as Locke, yet he had incredible success, arguably more than Ender. Also, one of Ender’s greatest triumphs was when he wrote as Speaker for the Dead and was able to share the story of the buggers with everyone else. “On Earth, the book was published quietly, and quietly it was passed from hand to hand, until it was hard to believe that anyone on Earth might not have read it” (322). Ender was able to speak to everyone through that book, and he couldn’t do that by winning a war.

Bullies hurt others because they have low self esteem.

Before reading Ender’s Game I said this was a 4 because I thought that was the main reason for bullying, but I also said sometimes there are people that are bad in their core. Now, I would still say 4, but I think there are other reasons than bad people or self esteem issues. Bonzo had those problems but he also had issues with his honor and his family life. Those problems fed into the other problems and he started hurting others. Ender provoked him by bringing up those issues, talking of his father, “He would love to see you now, come to fight a naked boy in a shower, smaller than you, and you brought six friends” (208). Ender embarrassed Bonzo, and Bonzo retaliated.

Only the best and brightest students should receive the best education to become a nation's leaders.

Originally, I did not support this idea, but I see the sense in it now. My first opinion was a 2 but now I would say a 4. If every child went to Battle School as Ender did, society would be ruined. All kids can’t end up scarred like Ender because they had to see and do bad things, and if they did all the adults that grew out of those kids would be messed up. Sometimes there must be things that only the elite get to see and experience, and Battle School is only for those who can take the pressure. As Ender says later on another planet “I’ve lived too long with pain. I won’t know who I am without it” (323). If I was Ender I would have gone crazy by then, as would many other normal kids that couldn't handle the intense lifestyle.

Revenge is never justified.

I now disagree with this idea much more than the 4 I gave it originally shows. At first I said that getting even isn't necessary, but sometimes it has to happen. Now I see that if people couldn't get even they would just have a bunch of pent up anger that would lead to issues later; without a little bit of revenge more bad things could happen from someone lashing out at the general populace as opposed to settling the score with the one who deserves the punishment . Most of the time, people need to deal with their opinions and resolve them. For example, Bonzo hit Ender and wouldn’t let him fight and was mean to him in every way, and Ender needed to get even so the bullying would stop. Ender may have gone too far by killing Bonzo, but the idea is the same.

Crying is evidence of weakness.

I ranked this statement as a 2 originally, having said “I think it does show weakness, but that is a good thing” and I still agree with that. I think crying could also be applied to the saying about pain, the one that claims pain is weakness leaving the body. In a lot of ways crying is like that, and though it is an act of weakness, in the long run in can make you stronger. When Ender first gets to Battle School, “And his tears could fall unwanted on his sheet, but his sobs were so gentle that they did not shake the bed, so quiet they could not be heard” (44). Once Ender had that release and he got over his homesickness, he was a stronger and better warrior.

Any action is acceptable in war.

This statement I wholeheartedly agreed with originally, and I still agree with it, but not as much. When I first thought of this statement I was thinking about two sides battling each other for the upper hand, each giving it their best shot and trying to harm their opponent. I thought they meant a normal, human war, where people fight but eventually it is resolved without an entire species almost going instinct. The act in the book that I don’t think was acceptable was how the humans sent out spacecrafts to completely destroy the buggers, without knowing that the buggers were innocent. Humans are too afraid of what might happen, and as Graff says “Would you bet the human race on the chance of them giving up and leaving us alone?” (250). People aren’t sure of what’s going to happen, so they just go ahead and strike out blindly without thinking that it is unnecessary to cause so much destruction. I don’t think that what they did was OK, even though it was an act in war.

Teenagers need discipline and rules because they can't control themselves.

Originally I said this was a 3, and I still believe that, but the teenagers in Ender’s Game are different than the kind I was thinking of. When I said it was a 3, of was thinking of average, ordinary teenagers, not the kind who are in control of the fate of the world. Ender, his siblings, and his peers all have exceptional mind power and self control, so I don’t think that teenagers like them need many guidelines on how to act and what to do. However, there are some very bright teens in the book that could do better by having some rules to follow. For example, Peter needs to be taught not to harm things just for fun early in the book “She pictured Peter trapping it, staking it, then carefully parting and  peeling back the skin without breaking into the abdomen, watching the muscles twist and ripple” (123). Peter would do better with more supervision and guidelines so he wouldn’t end up doing things like killing squirrels in his free time.

Only through personal sacrifice can someone create positive change.

Before, I barely agreed with that, giving it a 2, but now it seems so true to me. The best way to make things better is to do something that helps others. Selfless acts of kindness, or facing our fears to protect someone else, or many other things like that would pay off well in the end. In Ender's case, he had to give up his childhood and a lot of happiness, but he lead the human race to victory. Without him, the buggers would have won and the human race would have discontinued existence. When talking to Alai he knows, “I want to go home, thought Ender, but I don’t know where it is” (302). He gave up having a place to call his own where he is safe and comfortable, all so other people could be happy.

Generating compassion for your enemies is the only way to create peace.

I agreed with this originally, but now I do much more than before. At first I thought this was one of the primary ways to create peace, but now I see that it really is the only thing we can do. The way Ender took the bugger pupa and plans to remake the bugger world is what convinced me, “And always Ender carried with him a dry white cocoon, looking for the world where the hive-queen could awaken and thrive in peace” (324).  I could never have done that, and I think it shows great things about him that he could; it amazed me the way that he was so helpful and understanding for their lives. Of all the anticipation guide statements, I think my opinion was impacted the most about this one. I would never have expected the book to end that way, but I think it's a good lesson that it did.