77 pages • 2 hours read
Orson Scott CardA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Ender Wiggin is the novel’s protagonist and, according to the I.F., humanity’s last chance for survival. He is a sharp, solemn, well-intentioned child when Graff recruits him for Battle School, where the adults isolate and harden him into a commander—or, as Ender sees it, a destroyer. As one Battle School student notes early on, the name “Ender” indicates that he finishes things. Unfortunately for Ender, who has no desire to hurt anyone, he applies his need to “end” things to his opponents. He doesn’t just win battles, he must eliminate the threat altogether, making “it impossible for them to ever hurt [him] again” (168). This is the psychology that makes Ender the chosen one in Graff’s eyes: kind, but does what is necessary to survive.
Even while mercilessly victorious, Ender never shakes his good nature, which makes him a commander who others loyally follow. He defies bullies in his own understated way, manipulating their emotions and situations so others see their true colors. Though he often speaks harshly to his army during practices, he mentors individuals patiently and gently. Ender has the gift to inspire; he gives his soldiers a heartening speech before sending his exhausted army to yet another battle: “After that, if he had asked them to follow him to the moon without space suits, they would have done it” (131).
By Orson Scott Card
Action & Adventure
View Collection
Appearance Versus Reality
View Collection
Brothers & Sisters
View Collection
Fantasy
View Collection
Guilt
View Collection
Memorial Day Reads
View Collection
Military Reads
View Collection
Science Fiction & Dystopian Fiction
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection
Teams & Gangs
View Collection
War
View Collection
YA & Middle-Grade Books on Bullying
View Collection