When we look at figures and groups that exemplify effective leadership, such as the Roman Empire, Alexander the Great, and even the British in their prime, do we always see them concerned with ethics? No, in fact, we rarely do. This essay will prove how Orson Scott Card’s sci-fi novel “Ender’s Game” reveals that effective leadership is not always ethical or even concerned with ethics.
Throughout the beginning of each of the chapters, we read about two people talking. They remain unnamed, though it’s heavily implied that they are very powerful figures in the world of this novel. They constantly talk about Ender, speaking about what they have done to change and manipulate him, and what rules they had to break to get him there. They are constantly concerned with the outcome that Ender will be an amazing leader and eliminate all of the buggers, however they have no concern over what it takes to get there. Early on, the characters even made jokes about ruining Ender. This conversation on page 28 reads, “He’s even sweeter than he looks, but don’t worry, we’ll purge that in a hurry.” Furthermore, when this character is told by his supervisor that he is a …show more content…
However, two things that strongly contradict these claims are the facts that, on one hand, the only living Bugger left was a pupa, and there is no guarantee that it could replace the entire Bugger population. On the other hand, there should be no doubt just how malicious the leaders truly were. They put Ender in multiple situations where he killed other children, lied to him numerous times, and broke many, many rules just to simply move him up ranks. There is no reason a reader of this book should side with anyone but Ender and the
Throughout the beginning of each of the chapters, we read about two people talking. They remain unnamed, though it’s heavily implied that they are very powerful figures in the world of this novel. They constantly talk about Ender, speaking about what they have done to change and manipulate him, and what rules they had to break to get him there. They are constantly concerned with the outcome that Ender will be an amazing leader and eliminate all of the buggers, however they have no concern over what it takes to get there. Early on, the characters even made jokes about ruining Ender. This conversation on page 28 reads, “He’s even sweeter than he looks, but don’t worry, we’ll purge that in a hurry.” Furthermore, when this character is told by his supervisor that he is a …show more content…
However, two things that strongly contradict these claims are the facts that, on one hand, the only living Bugger left was a pupa, and there is no guarantee that it could replace the entire Bugger population. On the other hand, there should be no doubt just how malicious the leaders truly were. They put Ender in multiple situations where he killed other children, lied to him numerous times, and broke many, many rules just to simply move him up ranks. There is no reason a reader of this book should side with anyone but Ender and the