Ender's Universe

Wow, I sure didn't see that one coming! Card is pretty brilliant in my book. I was shocked when I found out that the final game was not a game, but real. It blew me away. I think I had to just stop reading and process it and then I had to reread the passage again! Again, wow. In a way it seems like such a cruel thing to do to a kid and yet it also was so smart. I thought the explanation from Graff and Mazer was particularly enlightening...

"Of course we tricked you into it. That's the whole point...It had to be a trick or you couldn't have done it. It's the bind we were in. 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, as perfect as the buggers. 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. If you were the kind of person who would do it even if you knew, you could never have understood the buggers well enough." (Graff in Chapter 14)

       "And it had to be a child, Ender...you were faster than me. Better than me. I was too old and cautious. Any decent person who knows what warfare is can never go into battle with a whole heart. But you didn't know. You were reckless and brilliant and young. It was what you were born for." (Mazer Rackham in Chapter 14)

That in my mind, is perhaps the most profound statement made in this book. It also shows that Ender is the best of himself and not the worst like Peter as he's feared. Whether or not what was done to him was right or fair (and arguably it wasn't) it was the perfect plan and makes so much sense when you read those paragraphs.

Chapter 14 was by far my favorite chapter. Of course it's when we get so many surprises and revelations that I suppose it isn't surprising. One of my favorite parts is when Ender gets onto the "game" and finds out all the squadron leaders he's commanding are his friends. I wanted to cheer and whoop that for once something happy had happened to him!!! The other thing I have to mention is that I can honestly say I anticipated Mazer Rackham. I don't know how I knew the old man, the teacher, was Mazer, especially since logically he should have been dead, but I just knew it from the moment he appeared in Ender's room.

The final chapter was a bit bizarre in my mind. I'm still processing it, not sure if I liked the ending or not. I'm hoping others will express their opinion on it and that the dialogue will help me solidify my thoughts.