Ender’s Game Critical Essay Review
Ender- the loved hero of the book Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, the commander of the I.F., the “Speaker for the Dead”, the bugger killer. Was Ender really a hero? John Kessel wrote an essay, “The Innocent Killer”, to prove that Ender isn’t as much of a hero as everyone thought. However, Ender is a hero, but he does have several faults that make him human, such as his need to finish fights, and his isolation of Bean.
In John Kessel’s essay, “The Innocent Killer”, Kessel claims that Ender is not a hero because he committed genocide and he killed his abusers. This is not solid evidence, as Ender was not informed when he committed genocide or when he killed Bonzo and Stilson. Since Ender didn’t even know …show more content…
Kessel claims that Card reasons that Ender is “the person being tortured.” (Kessel) and that Ender is “offering up the voluntary sacrifice.” (Kessel). Kessel does not take a solid stance on this issue, but leans toward disagreement. It is true that Card was wrong in allowing Ender to always be the victim, and therefore presented Ender and his enemies in black and white terms. Card used the technique of black and white reasoning, the reasoning that Ender was always pure and innocent, making the sacrifices but carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. On the other side, Card portrayed the enemy as all evil and bad. This just goes to show how Card employed a black and white argument to demonstrate Ender instead of showing Ender as a flawed human being. While the black and white technique was effective, Card had different options that would have created better results. Instead of becoming a one-sided story that puts Ender under the spotlight, Card would have been more successful showing the enemy and Ender and pointing out the flaws of each, and demonstrating quite clearly that Ender’s motives were ulterior to his
Ender- the loved hero of the book Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, the commander of the I.F., the “Speaker for the Dead”, the bugger killer. Was Ender really a hero? John Kessel wrote an essay, “The Innocent Killer”, to prove that Ender isn’t as much of a hero as everyone thought. However, Ender is a hero, but he does have several faults that make him human, such as his need to finish fights, and his isolation of Bean.
In John Kessel’s essay, “The Innocent Killer”, Kessel claims that Ender is not a hero because he committed genocide and he killed his abusers. This is not solid evidence, as Ender was not informed when he committed genocide or when he killed Bonzo and Stilson. Since Ender didn’t even know …show more content…
Kessel claims that Card reasons that Ender is “the person being tortured.” (Kessel) and that Ender is “offering up the voluntary sacrifice.” (Kessel). Kessel does not take a solid stance on this issue, but leans toward disagreement. It is true that Card was wrong in allowing Ender to always be the victim, and therefore presented Ender and his enemies in black and white terms. Card used the technique of black and white reasoning, the reasoning that Ender was always pure and innocent, making the sacrifices but carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. On the other side, Card portrayed the enemy as all evil and bad. This just goes to show how Card employed a black and white argument to demonstrate Ender instead of showing Ender as a flawed human being. While the black and white technique was effective, Card had different options that would have created better results. Instead of becoming a one-sided story that puts Ender under the spotlight, Card would have been more successful showing the enemy and Ender and pointing out the flaws of each, and demonstrating quite clearly that Ender’s motives were ulterior to his