• Ender’s Game
– Author
– Writing Influence and Style
• Orson Scott Card
– Born 1951
• Focuses on the
positive impact
leadership makes in
lives and, more
specifically, the
difference in a military
operation’s success.
• Ender’s Game • In debt for his college
– Inspiration
education, he decided to
try to incorporate the
Battle Room idea into a
story (which ultimately
became Ender’s Game)
– Background
Information
• Originally written as a
short story
• Later was expanded the
short story into a novel in
order to set up its sequel,
Speaker of the Dead
– Awards
• Ender’s game was
awarded both Nebula
and Hugo awards.
• Its sequel Speaker for
the Dead duplicated
the sweep the
following year
– Film
• A movie adaptation of
the novel is in
development
• Overview
• Ender, a 6 year old, is
monitored by the
government because he
is thought to have the
potential to be a great
leader
• Showing a combination of
his sister Valentine’s
caring nature and his
brother Peter’s violent
nature, he is the perfect
balance to create the
ultimate general
• Overview
• The government comes
to take him from his
family and sends him into
space to attend battle
school
• The battle school is
supposed to develop
leaders for the struggle
against an alien nation
called the “Buggers”
• Being younger than his
classmates, but smarter
than any, Ender must
battle for his place in the
school
• Overview
• Ender learns lessons
about survival while make
friends who are loyal to
him
• As he progresses his
success, cunning and
ingenuity shatter the rules
of regulations of the
school and make him the
greatest leader in the
school’s history
• Ender is successful in the
class, but there are still
lingering doubts whether
or not he will crack under
pressure when facing the
menace of the “Buggers”
• Ender’s Game
– Published
– Genre
– Climax
– 1975
– Science Fiction
– Ender must face an
impossible test at battle
school—will he be able to
accomplish the impossible and
become the leader needed to
defeat the buggers?
– Protagonist
– Ender Wiggin
– Antagonist
– Peter, School Administration,
Buggers
• Literary Focus
– Themes and Conflicts
• Alienation
• Growth through
Isolation
• Cruelty of Children
• Survival of the Fittest
• Violence versus
Control
• The Value of
Intelligence
• Leadership
• The Ethics of Man
• Abuse
• Point of View
• Uses a limited point of
view, focusing solely on
Ender's character
– This is useful because
psychology is such an
important part of the novel
– The novel’s point of view
will sometimes shift to
allow readers insight into
what the government is
trying to do to Ender
– The Point of View then
shifts back to Ender, and
the reader can see how the
various games that are
being played at his
expense are affecting his
mind.
• Setting (time)
• Set on Earth sometime in
the future
• The future in Ender’s
society has several key
differences:
– There are population laws
that restrict the number of
children in a family
– space travel a
– an alien civilization
• Setting (place)
• Earth, Battle School,
Space
• Irony
• Ender is a combination of
two people: his brother
and his sister
– He is constantly in fear of
becoming like his violent
brother, Peter
– His violent tendencies,
however, are balanced by
Sister’s ability to empathize
with people and care for
them
– Ironically it is the
combination of both that
make him the perfect killing
machine and military
leader: he sees inside the
minds of his enemies,
knows what makes them
tick, and then destroys
them
• Characters
– Ender
• Genius level intelligence
• A “third”
• Highly sensitive but also
possesses a violent
streak that he uses
throughout the novel
• A combination of his two
siblings:
– He has his brother Peter’s
ability to manipulate and
destroy
– He has his sister
Valentine’s ability to be
caring and persuasive
• Peter Wiggin
• Ender’s older brother
• Extremely jealous of
Ender
• Extremely angry at
Ender because he
has to have a brother
who is a “third
• Violent nature and fits
of rage haunt Ender
even after he has left
for battle school
• Valentine Wiggin
• Ender’s source of
support and caring
• Fends off Peter’s
attacks on Ender
• The only person that
Ender truly loves
• Caring and loving
almost to a fault