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How would you feel if you were tricked into committing genocide of an alien race for the sake of humans? In the book, Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, Ender Wiggins character was duped into doing exactly that because he was born with the perfect balance of empathy and killer instinct. Bred for his temperament, only ruthless when threatened, he dedicated himself to reestablishing the alien race he had destroyed.
The story starts with Enders home life on earth. Early on, its evident that his birth was not welcome as a third child in a society that only allowed two per family. His parents were commissioned by the military to have a child genius with the qualities of his older siblings combined. Children were inserted with a monitor from birth to distinguish the traits that would make them acceptable for battle school. His older brother, Peter, had an innate killer instinct but was rejected for being too aggressive. His sister, Valentine, possessed the sensitivity the military sought, but was considered too mild for the job of commander. Ender was deemed to possess both qualities and chosen as the next military genius for battle school in space.
Ender was ruthless only when threatened. The two bullying situations he faced ended fatally for both of his opponents. On earth and in battle school, he was bullied by groups of kids wanting to fight him because he was a third or overshadowed others. He was purposely left defenseless by adults so his actions could be monitored. Ender sought to end all possible future fights by mercilessly beating the leader of each group to instill fear in the other kids. He strategically fought only the leaders of the groups so it would be easier for him to win the battle and also spare the others. He did not intentionally kill Stiltson, the first bully, however, he was extremely remorseful after killing Bonzo who was a much larger, more deadly opponent.
After the final battle in the war, it was revealed to Ender that war game was real. He felt so much remorse that he stormed out of the command center. When Mazer Rackham tried to congratulate him, Ender said, I didn’t want to kill them all. I didn’t want to kill them! Im not a killer! (297), he said this because he was forced into all of his battles with bullies and was just defending himself. In the war he was tricked into killing all of the buggers when he did not want to, and he was upset that he had sent real people to die in suicide missions in what he thought was just training exercises. The story ends with Ender promising that he would find a world for the alien race to be reborn, since he blew up their planet.
In essence, Enders sensitivity is what enabled him to be such an effective commander and killer of the aliens. He was remorseful after fights even though he was forced and outnumbered. After Ender defeated the aliens, he ironically promised to find a new home planet for the alien race he destroyed. Bred and trained to be the perfect tool to save humanity, he delivered at the cost of his own morality. Ender sums up his own ability perfectly:
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