Ender Vs. Ender
Internal, Person Vs. Self
"Ender leaned his head against the wall of the corridor and cried until the bus came. I am just like Peter. Take my monitor away and I am just like Peter." (8)
Starting at the beginning of the book when his monitor is taken away and he is attacked by a boy named Stilson, Ender starts to believe that deep down, he is a violent killer like his brother Peter due to how brutally he fought back against Stilson. Later, this is repeated when he is attacked by a commander at battle school named Bonzo. Ender's inner struggle is the subject of many events throughout the book, especially the mind game that he often plays at battle school, in which he must kill enemies repeatedly to progress. On one occasion where he plays, he discovers that instead of killing the snake enemy, he can show it love, causing it to turn into his sister Valentine. After this, Ender begins to question his violent actions more and more. This leads up to when he unintentionally destroys the entire Bugger home planet. The thought that he has killed an entire species is almost unfathomable for him, and he lives with this guilt, until he finds the Bugger Queen's cocoon on one of their colony planets. With the help of the baby Bugger Queen, Ender becomes the Speaker of the Dead and preserves the memories of those he killed by telling them to anyone who will listen.
"Ender leaned his head against the wall of the corridor and cried until the bus came. I am just like Peter. Take my monitor away and I am just like Peter." (8)
Starting at the beginning of the book when his monitor is taken away and he is attacked by a boy named Stilson, Ender starts to believe that deep down, he is a violent killer like his brother Peter due to how brutally he fought back against Stilson. Later, this is repeated when he is attacked by a commander at battle school named Bonzo. Ender's inner struggle is the subject of many events throughout the book, especially the mind game that he often plays at battle school, in which he must kill enemies repeatedly to progress. On one occasion where he plays, he discovers that instead of killing the snake enemy, he can show it love, causing it to turn into his sister Valentine. After this, Ender begins to question his violent actions more and more. This leads up to when he unintentionally destroys the entire Bugger home planet. The thought that he has killed an entire species is almost unfathomable for him, and he lives with this guilt, until he finds the Bugger Queen's cocoon on one of their colony planets. With the help of the baby Bugger Queen, Ender becomes the Speaker of the Dead and preserves the memories of those he killed by telling them to anyone who will listen.
Ender Vs. The IF
External, Person Vs. Person
"Mazer's urgency was just another trick. Just another way to make me do what they want me to do." (292)
After a few years in Battle School, Ender is promoted to be the commander of Dragon Army. Throughout his time as a commander, he faces many unfair battles, his first one coming long before the end of the time usually given to a new army in order to prepare. He faces battles every day, sometimes two in one day, on very short notice, and then later he faces a battle against two armies at once. He then realizes that The IF, which runs the battle school, is doing this in order to shape him into what it wants, and control him. This theory is confirmed when he graduates from Battle School early and goes to Command School, where he is endlessly trained on the battle simulator by Mazer Rackham, a ruthless teacher. This goes on until he and his army can no longer function properly, and are essentially puppets of The IF. Upon their final battle, Ender snaps, and instead of fighting cautiously and intelligently as he usually does, he sacrifices many of his ships in order to take down the enemy, as well as their entire planet. He believes that he has beaten The IF by fighting his own way and that they can no longer control him as they had been doing. However, he quickly learns that the final battle had not been a simulation, but a real battle, and that The IF had tricked him into doing what they wanted him to do yet again. Through this, Ender learns that he cannot beat The IF, and that they will always have control over him.
"Mazer's urgency was just another trick. Just another way to make me do what they want me to do." (292)
After a few years in Battle School, Ender is promoted to be the commander of Dragon Army. Throughout his time as a commander, he faces many unfair battles, his first one coming long before the end of the time usually given to a new army in order to prepare. He faces battles every day, sometimes two in one day, on very short notice, and then later he faces a battle against two armies at once. He then realizes that The IF, which runs the battle school, is doing this in order to shape him into what it wants, and control him. This theory is confirmed when he graduates from Battle School early and goes to Command School, where he is endlessly trained on the battle simulator by Mazer Rackham, a ruthless teacher. This goes on until he and his army can no longer function properly, and are essentially puppets of The IF. Upon their final battle, Ender snaps, and instead of fighting cautiously and intelligently as he usually does, he sacrifices many of his ships in order to take down the enemy, as well as their entire planet. He believes that he has beaten The IF by fighting his own way and that they can no longer control him as they had been doing. However, he quickly learns that the final battle had not been a simulation, but a real battle, and that The IF had tricked him into doing what they wanted him to do yet again. Through this, Ender learns that he cannot beat The IF, and that they will always have control over him.