The Heart of a Murderer

The novel, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, taught the lesson that being the commander of an army- managing attacks and vicious traps to kill, is rather a complicated and difficult task. The job of a murderer is strenuous; he is constantly agitated with his morals. A murderer, opposed to the stereotypes, is a gentle soul. Ender Wiggins was never willing to kill, but in order to save Earth, he had to study about his enemies to the extent where he understands them and loves them. At the end- he still had to murder reluctantly.

Ender Wiggins suffered from physical and mental abuse from home and school ever since he was born. Ender’s first error was to be born as a third child, which was forbidden by the government. Classmates, teachers, and even his own brother, Peter, despised him for this. Most of all, Ender suffered from Peter’s tortuous nature because Battleschool had accepted Ender and disregarded Peter. Ender was chosen as the genius with enough abilities to fight in the anticipated war, The Third Invasion, between humans and the buggers- otherwise known as alien enemies. Only Ender and Valentine, Ender’s older sister, knew of Peter’s murderous character. During a game of fighting, Peter whispered to Ender as he weighted down more and more heavily on Ender, “I could kill you like this. Just press and press until you’re dead. And I could say that I didn’t know it would hurt you, that we were just playing, and they’d believe me...” (12). Ender always tried to soothe Peter by guessing his emotions and shielded away from him. In Ender’s eyes, Peter stood as a murder icon; he had never shown any affection towards Ender or Valentine. Ironically, Peter held great importance to Ender. Ender wants to love Peter and seek the same love in return. Also, the negativity lead Ender to become cautious of ever showing any similarities as Peter. In Battleschool, Ender experienced more hatred and envy, just the same, until love had turned into a mere memory. Ender was persuaded to leave behind his beloved sister and parents and “help save the world”. In Battleschool, the principal, Graff, planned and controlled every aspect of Ender’s life- signaling him as the genius to stir jealousy and stimulate enemies. By forming gangs of enemies around Ender, Graff believed the isolation and negativity would expose Ender’s full potential as a soldier. At first, Ender saw this system as only another form of torture.

Ender was forced into many fights during Battleschool; enemies surrounded him more and more as he grew into one of the best commanders. But Ender realized that the real enemies are the teachers because even though they’re training the students into good soldier, they’re using hatred to fuel student’s energies to treat the practice battles as real and become fully determined to win. Furthermore, Graff broke rules in order to create obstacles for Ender. Ender’s armies were consisted of mostly non-experienced soldiers, but Ender managed to train them into a team that was able to work together unpredictably. His armies were told to battle six months earlier than the usual date and the schedules of battles came as fast as ten minutes before the battle. He still did not lose any games and people hated him more than ever. The drive to harm Ender heightened- there was even a death due to one fight. Ender found himself taking the form of Peter unwillingly. He feared and hated himself. When Ender refused to battle any longer in the school, Command School, Graff brought him to Earth to visit Valentine. Ender explains to Valentine, “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that moment I also love him, I think its impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them-... I destroy them” (238). Ender’s actions do not reflect his heart. He is not a murder, and he is only capable of killing his enemies after he had loved them. Instead, Ender wants to love others and be loved. Ender is not one to willingly murder, but he has been engaged in so much violence, that one might think he enjoys killing. He begins to question the reason for killing, even ponders that he does not want to be a hero and kill the buggers- the most dangerous enemies to Earth. At the end, Ender decides to return to training to kill the buggers for one single reason, to protect Earth and Valentine.

The ultimate realization of the truth, the reason for manipulation of the teachers is exposed and his fear of becoming a harmful being is finally resolved. In Command School, there were rigorous trainings where Ender was the head of the flights and he has to direct his ships into battle- all ships always working in coordination but each ship with its own individual independence- forming an overall benefit over the Buggers. Ender suffered more and more dreams of himself killing and of Peter as well. He would do nothing but study weapons, study buggers movements and skills, and he even lived in a Bugger built home. Ender became extremely sick and agitated, and was given some days for break. Afterwards, he would sleep in between battles. On Ender’s last battle, the teachers say this battle would decide whether he should continue to move on to the next level or not, Ender defeated the game and he was told the truth that he has not been playing the teachers at Command School and these were not games! He was the commander of a real army and is now the victor of the Third Invasion. Ender was stroke with the reality that he had, once again, destroyed thousand of lives- mothers, children and all. He screamed at the teachers for tricking him. Graff replied, “We had to have a commander with so much empathy that he would think like the buggers, understand them and anticipate them. So much compassion that he could win the love of his underlings and work with them like a perfect machine... But somebody with that much compassion could never be the killer we needed. Could never go into battle willing to win at all costs. If you knew, you couldn’t do it even if you knew, you could never have understood the buggers well enough.” (298) For the sake of the Earth, Ender killed a whole race, that he later found was not threatening at all, but just had miscommunication. It is apparent that Ender was not meant to be a murder, that Peter would have done a greater job than Ender. But, as Graff explained, nobody with a murderous heart could ever be willing to sacrifice as much as Ender did. The murderer would not be fighting to protect Earth, but rather fighting to be a tyrant. And never could this type of murderer become as skilled as Ender because Ender exerted patience and effort to learn and understand the Buggers. The teachers, who Ender once thought were the true enemies, were training him for the real battle after all. Ender was the only possible person able to kill the buggers, but only if he was lead into it without revealing the truth.

A murderous heart is not needed to become a successful killer of an entire race. Instead, a caring mind who is willing to concern himself with others wholeheartedly is the key. But deception is an essential part as well. Overall, Ender Wiggins’ magnanimous traits were the perfect tools to manipulate him into a killer. This is also a big injustice to Ender. He had to endure isolation- with no friends and family to understand him. He was constantly the target for attacks and violence. Most of all, not only was his good virtues not praised, but they lead to a stream of painful dreams and inner conflicts. He constantly questioned his own morality. He could not help but begin feel self-hatred and he does not deserve to feel this way.

My Peer Review Comments

Here are some comments for my group mates:

For Rahni:

There are some grammar problems like run-on sentences or punctuation misplacements.Also, I got a little confused with the wording of this sentence "Marilee goes on a few more dates with Quinn but she doesn't count them as dates and that hurts him because he later finds out that her and randy went on a date when Randy got rejected by Carly and Marilee counted that as a date". Furthermore, adding some sentence variety would be great. Overall, the lesson was very straightforward and it is clear that you learned from it. Your background information helped really well.


For Eric:
Perhaps you can add your opinion of the topic of abortion and join this debate the author is promoting to readers. I like your concise way of writing- it is easier to understand and not clutered with unnecessary words. Also, you should give us more information on the content of the book. After I read about the topic, I wanted to know more about how the story developed and resolved. It would be interesting if you incorporate what you think the author's opinion is towards abortion and expand on that with evidences from the book.

For Vincent:
Your book review expanded greatly on your view of the importance of friendship, which I think is very nice because it adds voice to the piece and I can distinguish it from the others. Perhaps you can analyze the character Reynie Muldoon more. You started off describing him very well and you should explain to the readers the incredible things that you mentioned he did.

Rough Draft

The novel, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, taught the lesson that being the commander of an army- managing attacks and vicious traps to kill, is rather a complicated and difficult task. The job of a murderer is difficult; he is constantly agitated with his morals. A murderer, opposed to the stereotypes, is a gentle soul. Ender Wiggins was never willing to kill, but in order to save the Earth, he had to study about his enemies to the extent where he understands them and loves them, but at the end- he still had to murder reluctantly.

Ender Wiggin suffered from physical and mental abuse from home and school ever since he was born. Ender’s first error was to be born as a third child, which was forbidden by the government. Classmates, teachers, and even his own brother, Peter, despised him for this. But, most of all, Ender suffered from Peter’s tortuous nature because Battleschool had accepted Ender and regarded Peter. Ender was chosen as a genius with enough abilities to fight in the anticipated war, The Third Invasion, between humans and the buggers- otherwise known as alien enemies. Only Ender and Valentine, Ender’s older sister, knew of Peter’s murderous nature. During a game of fighting, Peter whispered as he weight more and more down on Ender, “I could kill you like this. Just press and press until you’re dead. And I could say that I didn’t know it would hurt you, that we were just playing, and they’d believe me...” (12). Ender is always trying to soothe Peter by guessing his emotions and shielding away from him. In Ender’s eyes, Peter stands as a murder icon; he has never shown any affection to Ender or Valentine. Nonetheless, Peter held great importance to Ender, and the negativity lead Ender to become cautious of ever showing any similarities as him. Still, Ender wants to love Peter and seek love in return. In Battleschool, Ender experienced more hatred and envy. Ender was persuaded to leave behind his beloved sister and parents and “help save the world”. In Battleschool, the principal, Graff, planned and controlled every aspect of Ender’s life- signaling him as the genius to stir jealousy and stimulate enemies. By forming more and more enemies around Ender, Graff believed the isolation and negativity would expose Ender’s full potential as a soldier. At first, Ender saw this system as only another form of torture.

Ender was forced into many fights during Battleschool; enemies surrounded him more and more as he grew into one of the best commanders. But Ender realized that the real enemies are the teachers because even though they’re training the students into good soldier, they’re using hatred to fuel student’s energies to treat the practice battles as real. Furthermore, Graff broke rules in order to create obstacles for Ender. Ender’s armies were consisted of mostly non-experienced soldiers, but Ender managed to train them into a team that was able to work together unpredictably. His armies were told to battle six months earlier than the usual date and the schedules of battles came as fast as ten minutes before the battle. He still did not lose any games and people hated him more than ever. The drive to harm Ender heightened- there was even a death due to one fight. Ender found himself taking the form of Peter unwillingly. He feared and hated himself. When Ender refused to battle in Command School, Graff brought him to Earth to visit Valentine. Ender explains to Valentine, “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that moment I also love him, I think its impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them-... I destroy them” (238). Ender’s actions do not reflect his heart. He is not a murder, and he is only capable of killing his enemies after he had loved them. Instead, Ender wants to love others and be loved. Ender is not one to willingly murder, but he has been engaged in so much violence. He begins to question the reason for killing, even deciding that he does not want to be a hero and kill the buggers, the most dangerous enemies to Earth. At the end, Ender decides to return to training to kill the buggers for one single reason, to protect the Earth and Valentine.

The ultimate realization of the truth, the reason for manipulation of the teachers is exposed and his fear of becoming a harmful being is finally resolved. In Command School, there were rigorous trainings where Ender was the head of the flights and he has to direct his ships into battle- all ships always working in coordination but each ship with its own individual independence- forming an overall benefit over the Buggers. Ender suffered more and more dreams of himself killing and of Peter as well. He would do nothing but study weapons, study buggers movements and skills, and he even lived in a Bugger built home. Ender became extremely sick and agitated, and was given some days for break. Afterwards, he would sleep in between battles. On Ender’s last battle, the teachers say this battle would decide whether he should continue to move on to the next level or not, Ender defeated the game and he was told the truth that he has not been playing the teachers at Command School and these were not games! He was the commander of a real army and is now the victor of the Third Invasion. Ender was stroke with the reality that he had, once again, destroyed thousand of lives- mothers, children and all. He screamed at the teachers for tricking him. Graff replied, “We had to have a commander with so much empathy that he would think like the buggers, understand them and anticipate them. So much compassion that he could win the love of his underlings and work with them like a perfect machine... But somebody with that much compassion could never be the killer we needed. Could never go into battle willing to win at all costs. If you knew, you couldn’t do it even if you knew, you could never have understood the buggers well enough.” (298) For the sake of the Earth, Ender killed a whole race, that he later found was not threatening at all, but just had miscommunications. It is apparent that Ender was not meant to be a murder, that Peter would have done a greater job than Ender. But, as Graff explained, nobody with a murderous heart could ever be willing to sacrifice as much as Ender did. The murderer would not be fighting to protect Earth, but rather be come a tyrant. And never would this type of murderer become as skilled as Ender because Ender exerted patience and effort to learn and understand the Buggers. Ender was the only possible person to kill, only if he was lead into it without revealing the truth.

A murderous heart is not needed to become a successful killer of an entire race. Instead, a caring mind who is willing to concern himself with others full heartedly is the key. But deception is an essential part as well. Overall, Ender Wiggins’ magnanimous traits were the perfect tools to manipulate him into a killer. This is also a big injustice to Ender. He had to endure isolation- with no friends and family to understand him. He was constantly the target for attacks and violence. Most of all, not only was his good virtues not praised, but they lead a stream of painful dreams and inner conflicts. He constantly questioned his own morality. He could not help but begin feel self-hatred. Ender did not deserve to endure all this.

Second Analysis Of Ender:

Ender Wiggins have changed a lot since the first part of the book. From where I left off on the first post, Ender’s internal conflict, which involves isolation and the fear of becoming a harmful being, slowly left him. His small group of launchies had become closer and people began to respect him instead of making fun of him. 

But Ender was not given this peace for long. Graff continued to direct hatred or jealousy towards him. Graff broke up his group and turned Ender into the enemy by disowning anyone who is practicing with Ender. Ender was promoted into the position of toon leader and eventually the commander of his own army, Dragon Army. He was promoted in order to stimulate enemies and resume to isolation again.

During this period, I believe Ender had found the core of his enemies, which are teachers, not the Armies. Graff broke rules in order to create obstacles for Ender. Ender’s armies were consisted of mostly non-experienced soldiers, but Ender managed to train them into a team that are able to work together unpredictably. His armies were told to battle 6 months earlier than the usual date and the schedules of battles came as fast as 10 minutes before the battle. He still did not lose any games and people hated him more than ever.

In order to overcome this injustice, Ender had to think fast and develop techniques at the top of his head. He decided to watch videos of the buggers during battle in order to learn from them. At this point, he was stricken with the realization that, “...it was the buggers, not the humans, that Ender learned strategy. He felt ashamed learning from them, since they were the most terrible enemy...But they were always very good at what they did. Discipline was apparently very tight” (188). I believe this realization strengthened his inner doubt of becoming a murderer. The inner conflict is aroused once again. This event led me to think, Is it the brain or the murderous heart that is needed to succeed in battle? In relation to the training in battle school, I believe both are needed. Ender is successful because of his brains, but  he does not have a heart for murder. However, Graff is trying to train Ender into the best soldier by making him excel to his full potential. His manipulation of putting the hatred of others on Ender refers that negative feeling is needed to succeed. 

Overall, by the analysis of this event, I can conclude that Battle school is training human beings into insensitive machines that feed off of others’ failures. I believe the author Orson Scott Card, wrote this book to connect this negative affect to soldiers training for war in real life- the change and pain soldiers have to go through in war.

My Analysis of Ender Wiggins:

Ender Wiggin, the main character, suffers from conflicts between people ever since he was born. This conflict lead to a internal war within himself. Ender’s first error was to be born as a third child, which was forbidden by the government. Classmates, teachers, and even his own brother, Peter, dispised him for this. But, most of all, Ender suffered from Peter’s tortuous nature because he had not yet been regarded to enter Battleschool. Every child, since they were born are required to have a monitor-like device attached on their neck that allows Battleschool authorities to listen to their thoughts along with seeing their reactions to events, and the authorities determine whether they were geniuses that should enter into Battleschool to fight against the anticipated war between humans and buggers- also known as alien enemies. This was an opportunity to help save the world. Most of the children’s monitor were taken off at the age of 4, which meant they are not qualified. Ender still had his monitor at age 6.


Ender was the victim of physical and mental abuse at school and at home. Children were jealous of him at school, but Ender never fought back because the monitor was there to look after him. Peter, who was older than him, “...was a murderer at heart, and nobody knew it but Valentine and Ender” (p.14  ) Eventually, the Battleschool authorities planned to pretend to refuse Ender; they allowed the monitor to be removed and waited for Ender’s reactions to his surroundings with the mindset of being “free”. To Ender, he was finally like other children. But Peter continued with his violent ways, leaving Ender helpless, hopeless, and scared each night. Only his older sister, Valentine, ceased his anger. Worst than the torture, was the influence of Peter. After the monitor was taken off, Peter found himself indulged in a fight with the leader of the school gang that always picked on him. He figured that violence would discourage others from messing with him, now that the monitor can no longer protect him. Isolation with the secret of his malicious brother brought isolation and unhappiness to his life. But when the news of the gang leaders serious injury was heard, Ender found himself taking the form of Peter- unwillingly.


The next day, the Battleschool principal, Colonel Graff, came to announce Ender’s acceptance into Battleschool, he persuaded Ender to leave behind his beloved sister and “help save the world”. In Battleschool, behind the scene, Graff was planning and controlling every aspect of Ender’s life- singaling him as the genius to stir jealouy and stimulate enemies was his first manipulation. By forming more and more enemies around Ender, Graff believed the isolation and negativity would expose Ender’s full potential as a soldier. Eventually, Ender’s inner conflict of "becoming Peter" slowly ceased when he followed up on the Battleschool’s manipulation. He was left with no family, no friends- only a genius that felt unaccepted in the world.

Similarities in family histories?

In the family histories of Crystal and Pedro, I found the feelings about my own family history within theirs. What our families have passed on to us depicts a picture of hard work and immense strength to hold on. In Crytal’s story, her great great grandmother did not surrender to the Japanese invaders in World War I when they raided her home and killed her neighbors, Crystal says: “The soldier brought the end of the gun to her grandmother's back and began to hit her with it. He also slapped her a few times across the face, my great great grandmother was unable to defend herself. After a few blows, he brought the gun in front of her grandmother with a loud donk. At that moment, my grandmother saw that her grandmother was shaking with fear with a pale face and cold sweat was dripping off the sides of her face. “ The courage to endure is admiring and makes me reflect on my own life to follow these footsteps. This stimulated the memory of my great grandpa’s agony when he was punished by Mao’s men every night to an extent where his life had no more meaning to him, and he even wanted to commit suicide. But he didn’t, he endured the suffering- although it is unfair, by moving on, he showed me that you can make life better and more enjoyable even though horrible things are occurring.

In Pedro’s story, I sensed a realization and fascination that I too had toward my family’s history. Pedro says, “It made me feel like everyone is capable of doing anything. I am not trying to say my grandpa is weak and no one but he started something with a friend. He was just one ordinary person who wanted to have fun and go explore, next thing you know the place he loved to play in and spent good times with him and his friend came to become his home.”When one creates or did something great, I often idolize them and think of them as less of a human being. When my great grandpa and my Uncle, who lost his leg through an accident at age twenty, found their way back to life- it seems impossible if it were me, just as Pedro felt when he was told of his grandpa’s creation. However, while our stories differ in physical innovation and mental innovation, both places us in the point of recognizing that our ancestors were people just like us, so we can too succeed as they have.

A cycle of stories hidden from the daughters

When I flipped through the stories in front of each section, it gave me an idea of the larger cycles that are occurring in the book. I discovered that there is a traditional cycle of generations between American and Chinese cultures, closely intertwined with rebellious mother-daughter relationships. They begin with the mothers’ exposure to America, then the daughters’ exposure to America, following the conflict of the mothers’ teachings and the desire for freedom, but in the end, the daughters become like their mother, or at last come to a peace. This giant cycle is the basis of the whole book- it can be seen in all the sections of the book: Feathers From a Thousand Li Away, The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, American Translation, and Queen Mother of the Western Skies. An interesting cycle repeated in the Joy Luck Club is that the mothers are reluctant to retell the stories of their histories to their daughters.

In the chapter, Waiting Between the Trees, Ying Ying St. Clair has the ability to foresee activities before they happen. Ever since she was a girl, she was known as the tiger girl, always having the fierce spirit. But this spirit was taken away from her when her first husband, the one she loved so much, cheated on her. Ying Ying even killed the baby boy in her womb because of the vengeance she felt towards her husband. Eventually, in America she married Saint but loved him differently- she compares this love to a ghost’s love, having a lover’s gratitude, but no desire or appetite in the relationship. All this was not told to her daughter; finally she decides, “Now Saint is a ghost. He and I can now love equally. He knows the things I have been hiding all these years. Now I must tell my daughter everything. That she is the daughter of a ghost. She has no chi. This is my greatest shame. How can I leave this world without leaving her my spirit?” (p.252). Ying ying’s secret is her past, her shame of loosing her chi- or her ferocious spirit, that had changed her from a tiger to a ghost. After her husband’s death, she realized that she needs to tell her daughter this secret in order to leave her daughter her own spirit, so Lena can become successful in her relationship. Shame prevented Ying Ying from teaching her daughter her own past and an important lesson on confidence and strength.

Suyuan, Jing-Mei’s mother, refused to tell her past not because of shame, but because of the love for her family. In the first chapter, The Joy Luck Club, the four mothers of the club always brags to one another about the great virtues in their daughters. They pray that the joy, luck, and hope they had brought to America are passed on from their daughters and down the generations. Suyuan did not tell her daughter about her two abandoned babies in Kweilin, until she used it as a lesson to teach her daughter to be grateful of what she has currently. After Suyuan’s death and when the babies were found, Auntie Ying Ying tells Jing-Mei briefly about her mother, “Your mother was a very strong woman, a good mother. She loved you very much, more than her own life. And that’s why you can understand why a mother like this could never forget her other daughters. She knew they were alive, and before she died she wanted to find her daughters in China” (p. 39). I believe Suyuan desired to keep her story from her family only temporarily to possibly attempt to protect her daughter. She is unsure of both her daughter’s and husband’s reaction so she hides it from them. The Chinese mothers all hid their past before they migrated to America because they are unsure how their children will view them since they’re in a different environment.