Ender's Game Response Part 1

“Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card, is a story about a futuristic life where aliens have invaded Earth and due to the fear that they might come back, the I.F. scouted boys to be part of a ‘game’. The boys will be monitored when they are three and if they have the qualities to become a commander, they will go to space where they train. Their training is a game where competition is the only thing. Ender is a young boy, six years old, who went to space to train and the book talks about his experience.

            In my group discussion, we mainly focused on government and Peter. The government is recruiting children who are six years old. This is cruel because they should be playing around, trying to discover their identities rather than being sent up to space, secluded from Earth and their families. I think that the government in this book doesn’t see their people as humans but as tools that they can easily use and throw away. From how I see it, the government used the invasion to get people to fear and be paranoid and use that to train an army of abnormally talented kids.

            Peter is Ender’s older brother and the eldest of the three children. He is considered dangerous and he despises Ender. He would beat Ender and torture him. He has nothing nice to say about Ender or to Ender. Peter invited Ender to a game, and the result was that, “He lifted his foot, took a step, and then knelt on Ender, his knee pressing into Ender’s belly just below the breastbone,” (12).  Peter didn’t hesitate to fight Ender and he attacked Ender as if they were truly enemies. Peter is a murderer and he is willing to show it. While reading, I thought that Peter is fifteen, but he is actually ten at that time. It surprised me how he is smart enough to deceive adults and to have such murderous intent. But the reason why we discuss about Peter is because of what he told to the pretend sleeping Ender, “‘Ender, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I know how it feels, I’m sorry, I’m your brother, I love you,’”(15). This part is surprising to me yet I knew that it will happen. My group members said that even if a person hates their siblings and wants to kill them, they would still love their siblings. We all agree that our sisters or brothers can be a pain in the ass and would make us go crazy, but despite that, we still love them a lot. I think that Peter is proud of his brother, but at the same time he is jealous. He’s the oldest and it is an embarrassment if the youngest is better than the oldest. Ender is the living proof of what Peter can’t become. I think that Peter is proud so he acts mean toward Ender out of jealousy but is trying to help Ender as well. Peter is intelligent so he must understand Ender’s position. He might be trying to protect Ender by being the cruelest person so that Ender is prepares for any kind of obstacle. I think that this is how Peter shows his love toward Ender, his little brother.