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  • Essay / Shifting Perspectives Between Games and Reality in "Ender's Game"

    Writers often change perspectives throughout a story to develop ideas, themes, perspectives, and plots. Although the changes from character to character or setting to setting are sometimes difficult to follow, they create a complex and intriguing story full of suspense. An example of this is Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, a science novel set hundreds of years in the future, in which Earth's population is so large that there is a limit of children and aliens have attacked Earth twice. Most of this story is written through the eyes of a young, lonely child, Ender Wiggin, who provides excellent examples of shifting perspectives in the context of games. The common theme of games shows the difference between games and reality. The story features examples of changing perspectives through Valentine and Peter, Ender's training at Battle School, and Ender's ties to the buggers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card Ender's brother Peter and his sister Valentine are portrayed as the devil and the angel. Peter presents himself as a crazed lunatic with the incarnation of the devil who inspires Ender to do evil. From his youngest child, Peter “has always been a husband, a man of sorrows, planting her, nourishing her, greedily devouring her when she was ripe.” On the other hand, their sister Valentine pushes Ender to do great things like an angel would do. However, the two characters shift perspectives and inadvertently play opposite roles. For example, Ender is afraid of being like Peter, so he uses his psychotic episodes to stay sane. Additionally, Valentine advises Ender to continue his training at the battle school without knowing that he would eliminate a peaceful alien race. Peter and Valentine also voluntarily switch roles. In a devious plan to arbitrate dangerous policies, Val and Peter play two political debaters. Peter plays Locke, who referees the proceedings, and Valentine plays Demosthenes, who calls for conflict. Valentine's character, Demosthenes, made her realize that "there is more of Peter in her than she could bear to admit" because of the conflict and war she instigated because of her debates. Locke's involvement with Demosthenes made Peter realize "he really is a monster." I don’t want to be a killer, but I can’t help it.” Throughout the novel, Ender faces many challenges, but the biggest challenges he faces are at Battle School. First, the fantasy game challenges him and adapts his mind as he solves complex puzzles until the giant drinks. The Giant's Drink is notorious for being impossible because the level simply cannot be solved legitimately. Ender played the game until he eventually cheated to win. Although Ender beats the Giant's game, perspectives slowly change and the games transform into reality, tormenting his mental state. The game makes him believe he is a murderer, Ender says, "I am a murderer, even when I play." Peter would be proud of me.” Later, Ender continues the game and finds himself facing even more challenges. The game involves Ender's immediate family, Peter and Valentine. This may sound good; however, this makes Ender even crazier. Ender believes: “This game knows too much about me. This game tells dirty lies. I am not Pierre. I don't have murder in my heart. And then a fear even worse, that he is a killer, but better than Peter has itnever been; that it was this very trait that appealed to the teachers. Ender changes perspective from one where the fighting school is a game, to one where he realizes that the school is using him. First, “Graff had deliberately separated him from the other boys, which prevented him from being close to him.” This was intended for Ender to slowly become empowered and become the school's ideal soldier, but it made it seem like Ender was enjoying privilege in the school and they were messing up. The privilege Ender receives from the Professor made him believe, “The Professor dragged me into this, they can keep me safe.” However, he did not know that the teachers would not protect him, because if they did, "he would never reach the peak of his abilities." Overall, the teachers and school manipulate and use Ender as a subject for their own good. At the beginning of the story, Ender and Peter are playing Buggers and Astronauts, which may seem like a simple game; however, this is an interpretation of reality. Although it seems like a harmless game, it becomes ruthless, Peter plans to hurt Ender. Peter's intentions to hurt Ender stem from his hatred and jealousy towards his brother. This game represents the reality and the idea that it is humans who hate bugs and want to destroy them. This idea represents the opposite of what humanity teaches, that Colorado beetles pose a threat to humans. Throughout the story, Ender shifts his perspective from hating the buggers to developing compassion for them. Ender's compassion for buggers was born from the fantasy game and his dreams. In an attempt to communicate with Earth after the damage caused by the invasions and frightened by a mass extinction, they manage to connect to Ender through the fantasy game. Ender sees that the buggers were trying to communicate with him on a bugger planet when he sees the giant and the castle from the fantasy game. During their training at the command school, the buggers also try to communicate with Ender through these dreams. Ender was having trouble dealing with his dreams and said to Mazer, "Mazer, I don't want to keep dreaming about these things. I'm afraid to sleep. I keep thinking about things I don't want to remember. My whole life goes by as if I were a recorder and someone else wanted to watch the most terrible moments of my life.” Mazer convinces Ender that the dreams were nothing, he tells him: “I'm putting a little pressure on you for the first time in your life. Your body finds ways to compensate, that's all. You're a big boy now. It’s time to stop being afraid of the night.” Ultimately, Ender's compassion for the buggers was stronger after he unknowingly defeated them. Ended was taken advantage of after saying, "The moment I truly understand my enemy, I understand him well enough to defeat him, and then in that moment, I love him too." I think it's impossible to truly understand someone, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. Ender's teachers told him he was training on a simulator, but in reality, every training session was a fight against the buggers. Ender didn't know he was destroying them until Mazer said to him, "Ender, for the past few months you have been the combat commander of our fleets. This was the third invasion. There were no games, the battles were real, and the only enemy you fought was the buggers. You won all the battles and today you finally fought on their homeworld, where the queen was, all the queens from all their colonies, they were all there and you completely destroyed them. They won't attack us..