The Destruction of Himself

"Survival first, then happiness as we can manage it" (319).
Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (1985)



Points for Reflection

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (1985), pp.191-368

  1. does the battle school break anything inside Ender, or does he bend and stretch to accommodate everything he encounters?
  2. why is it important to the I.F. that Ender, a young child, not only be infinitely capable as a strategist and leader, but also willing to use lethal force without hesitation?
  3. does Ender employ on those he leads the same tactics used on himself by the I.F. leaders?
  4. with which friend does Ender share his strongest, most intimate tie?
  5. how successful are Ender’s attempts to push his compatriots as hard as Rackham is pushing him?
  6. is Ender wrong to question Dink’s friendship (221)?
  7. does Ender treat Bean more as friend or underling, confidant or minion?
  8. is Colonel Graff a static and two-dimensional caricature of military authority?
  9. does the I.F.’s shaping of Ender’s psyche and socialization have the desired impact?
  10. consider the I.F.’s strategy for protecting Earth, as explained by Graff.  Does it sound vengeful, pragmatic, pacific, or something else?
  11. what teacher finishes/perfects Ender’s education, and why is he so effective?
  12. at what point does Ender become complicit in a larger endgame of which he remains ignorant?
  13. does the dynamic between Peter and Ender ever change?
  14. what does Valentine want most?
  15. do Peter and Valentine choreograph a public, online debate under ancient aliases for kicks?  What do they anticipate will eventually happen on Earth, and what action do they take?
  16. do Peter and Valentine achieve their respective goals, post-war?
  17. Mazer Rackham notes that the I.F. went to great lengths to preserve him because no one understands the Buggers like himself.  Do he and Ender understand the Buggers equally well by the end of the novel?
  18. what is a “speaker for the dead,” and how does Ender’s creation and adoption of this role relate to his feelings follow humanity’s third violent encounter with the Bugger’s?


abstract image of sun in distant, its rays penetrating a bluish landscape in the foreground
Outfit for the Go Game (19th c.)
Kubo Shunman

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu