Ender Wiggin

Ender was put in quite the predicaments. The first struggle that he encountered was when he was born a third. When problems arose they were most of the time physical opposition for academics and such were not obstacles for him. When these problems arose, he always solved them to they wouldn’t happen again (except when he played buggers with Peter). Take for example his encounter with the group that confronted him at school. Clearly it would be an unfair fight, _?_ to one. Ender went right for the Achilles heel, the leader. Nailing him once was not enough because Ender knew they would be back. To prevent that from happening, he kicked him when he was down, though “it was forbidden to strike the opponent who lay helpless on the ground, only an animal would do that” (Card 7). He started with a kick to the ribs, then to the crotch, and then ending it with a good blow to the head that made blood splatter. “Geez. Look at him. He’s wasted” (Card 8). So Ender ended it “for all time” (Card 7). He won and he would never have to face this again.

Even though Ender got his man down, Ender broke “the unspoken rules of warfare” and made sure he stayed down (Card 7). Since Ender intentionally caused great harm, this could be defined as an evil act. Does this make Ender evil? Throughout the book we see Ender either harming or killing someone/something. These are just actions that happen to be classified as evil. Where evil lies for one to be truly evil is in the heart. Ender’s acts were from his mind. After he did something considered cruel, he broke his own heart. He was in fear of being like his brother, Peter, who he viewed as being truly heartless and evil. Like when he beat up that kid after school, “Ender leaned his head against the wall and cried till the bus came. I am just like Peter” (Card 8). His actions distressed him so much that he cried. He was in remorse. Yet there was always a purpose behind what he did, and it never included for the fun of it.

It is hard for me to classify someone as being truly evil because I always look for and find the good in people and try to make the best of bad situations. No one in the book Ender’s Game is truly evil for something always disproved it. Peter for example, he totally has his own gender and he even thought of ways to kill his own brother. Yet deep down he loved him and felt bad for the struggles that Ender had to go through. He uttered, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I know how it feels, I’m sorry, I’m your brother, I love you” (Card 15) when he came back from the bathroom in the middle of the night one night thinking that Ender was asleep.