Ender’s ability to defeat an entire alien race was not done by himself. The people that he was surrounded by had a substantial impact on his intelligence and overall personality. Colonel Graff’s out of the box thinking laid down the stepping-stones that would allow Ender to become the great military leader and strategist that helped him defeat the buggers. Graff made many difficult decisions that seemed irrelevant at the time but proved very critical to Ender’s success. Mazer Rackham didn’t have much time to mould Ender into what the world needed, however he used the time that was given to him very effectively. Mazer modeled Ender after himself because he himself had once defeated the buggers single headedly just like Ender was born to do. The person of utmost importance to Ender is his sister Valentine. She not only shaped him into a great leader but her opinion was also the only other opinion that Ender listened to other than his own. She was the only person that could convince Ender to use his talents to save human kind from the bugger’s

As the earth became overly populated, a rule was put in place that one family could have no more than two kids. The Wiggin family was an exception to that rule due to the overlying potential of their two previous children in Peter and Valentine. Although Peter and Valentine both showed signs of incredible intelligence, Peter was deemed to be too violent and Valentine too empathic. The International Fleet hoped that by the Wiggin family giving birth to a third child he could be the balance between both Peter and Valentine. Ender Wiggin was that third child and was born to be the leader of the International Fleet. Colonel Graff knew even before Ender was born that he was going to be the one to defeat the buggers. There relationship started off rough when Graff toke away Ender’s monitor and made him believe that he had failed just like his two siblings. After Ender’s monitor was taken out, the school bully confronted him. Ender’s “Peter” side came out and he not only beat up the bully but also hit him while he was down so that the bully would never want to attack him again. Ender knew that since he no longer had the monitor in him that there would be nobody watching over him all the time. The only way to get the bully to leave him alone was to show the bully that he was not to be messed with. Hitting the bully while he was down was not only done out of anger but also by strategy. The decision to take out Ender’s monitor was one of the many tough decision made by Colonel Graff in the hopes to turn Ender into a military genius. Graff also made the decision to try to isolate Ender from everyone else in the hopes that Ender would never trust anyone but himself. The first thing that Graff said on the space shuttle about Ender was how smart he was and how everyone else should be learning from him. That instantly made the rest of the boys on the shuttle resent Ender because he was smarter than they were. Graff also made Ender the youngest commander, isolating him even more than he already was. All of these decisions looked dumb and pointless when they were made but the decisions by Graff laid down the stepping-stones for Ender’s success. And even though their relationship didn’t start out very well, in the end Colonel Graff’s relationship with Ender prove to be vital to Ender success and to the rest of the world.

Although Mazer Rackham and Ender were only with each other for a very short period of time, Mazer relationship with Ender was very substantial. Mazer Rackham had a positive relationship with Ender and spent a lot of time with Ender improving his military strategy. He showed Ender how he was able to defeat the buggers in the first war. Since nobody other than high-ranking International Fleet officers even knew that Mazer Rackham was alive, let alone how he was able to defeat the buggers, Mazer Rackham gained Ender’s trust right away. Mazer Rackham showed Ender how the buggers think and communicate to each other. They don’t communicate by talking but through their queen bugger. If she is destroyed than the rest of the buggers don’t know what to do. They think as a unit and cannot think for themselves. It is both their strength and weakness. Mazer Rackham taught Ender everything that he knew and shaped him into a military genius. Ender not only listened to Mazer Rackham’s advice and teachings but he put them to use in the simulations and battles. He learned how the buggers would attack and using Mazer Rackham’s teachings, defended them to absolute perfection. Eventually Mazer’s teachings would prove to very important and influential to Ender because they helped Ender and the International Fleet defeat the buggers for the last time.

Ender’s heroics would have never happened if it weren’t for his older sister Valentine. She is the only person that could convince Ender that he had to go to battle school and help save the world. When he didn’t want to go and leave his family she was the one that convince him that if he didn’t go than the world would be attacked by the buggers and eventually taken over by the buggers. This relationship is based on trust and love towards each other from a very young age. Valentine is the only person that Ender truly loves and Valentine is the only person that truly loves Ender. You can tell how much of an influence Valentine has on Ender because Colonel Graff uses Valentine as inspiration for Ender to continue his studies. She not only loves him deeply but also protects him from Peter. When Ender’s monitor is taken out Peter puts the bugger mask on Ender and demands to play buggers and astronauts. While this is happening Valentine is trying to appeal to Peter nicer side to get him to stop hurting Ender. That cemented how much Valentine and Ender care for each other. Their relationship stays the same throughout the entire book with them both caring and listening to each other’s advice. Out of every person that Ender gets to meet and build a relationship with, the one that means the most to him is that between Valentine and himself.

In conclusion, Ender Wiggin got lots of help from many different people throughout the book. Colonel Graff is the one that paved the way to Ender’s military success. Although their relationship starts off as a tough one, with Graff isolating Ender from all the other boys, it turns around towards the end of the book. Ender eventually realizes that Colonel Graff did everything that he did for a reason and without him he would not of had the military success that he did. Mazer Rackham was one of the most influential people in Ender Wiggin’s life. He wasn’t involved with Ender’s life until it came close to the second war but he taught Ender every military strategy that he knew. Since Mazer Rackham was the one that won the first war, Ender listened closely to Mazer’s words and used them on the battlefield and won the war with them. The relationship with the utmost importance the Ender was the one he had with his older sister Valentine. She was the only one that he had ever loved and she was the only one that ever loved him. She was the one that had convinced Ender to go to battle school and even Colonel Graff uses his love for her to get him to continue with his studies at Battle School. In the end all these people that Ender surrounded himself helped him on his pathway to defeating the buggers and saving the world.