Blade Taylor
February 16, 2014
ENGL 112
Makamson
Winning at the Cost of Morality Winning always comes at a cost. Sometimes the damages come in the form of materialistic objects. Other times the cost is one’s own soul. In the book Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, the main character, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin learns very quickly the detriments of his decisions. The choices he makes affect not only his own life, but the lives of his family, his friends, his adversaries, and the countless lives of the buggers. Winston Churchill once said that “A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.” Ender Wiggin is the epitome of this quote. Ender Wiggin was born to win. He was created in a lab by the government to have the ultimate genetic capacity—to have extreme intelligence, with just enough compassion and fury to save humanity. Being a third, which is a derogatory term used for a third child, implied that Ender was an ignominy to his family and to society. This title forced Ender to prove that he was better, that he could win when no one else could, including his own brother and sister. The first evidence of Ender’s intense need to win happened as soon as he had the monitor removed from his head. Upon his return from the infirmary, Ender’s nemesis, Stilson, approached him to torment him once again. Ender, who had received many beatings from this boy in the past, thought, “I have to win this now, and for all time, or I'll fight it every day and it will get worse and worse” (Card, 7). Even Blackmore believes that Ender represents an elite, powerful warrior class which is at heart pacific but often fights in order to prevent further battles (Blackmore 131). Ender is upset by his actions because he sees himself no different than his malicious brother Peter. Although Ender did win, Stilson paid the ultimate price for the encounter. The reader finds out near the end of the book that Ender did not only beat Stilson that day; he killed him.
When Colonel Graff appeared at Ender’s home, he was already aware of the fight with Stilson. He asked Ender why he did it and Ender replied, “Knocking him down won the first fight. I wanted to win all the next ones, too. So they’d leave me alone” (Card 14). At this point in the game, Graff knew that Ender would indeed have what it took for them to win, that he would not cower in a corner, that he would not be bullied by anyone, even the Buggers. Ender knew this too. Graff had to make sure that Ender kept this determination to win throughout his training program. The way he was able to do this was by breaking Ender down with isolation techniques and manipulating him.
Isolation is a technique often used by the military. Of the tools the military paradigm uses to manipulate individuals, isolation is the most powerful (Blackmore 127). Graph explains that Ender must be prevented from being "at home" or able to "adopt the system we have here," because as soon as Ender finds a surrogate family the military will lose their leverage on him (Card 28). Graff knows if Ender no longer feels isolated, he will lose the desire to win, and that simply is not an option. He begins isolating Ender from the other children as soon as he steps on the shuttle.

The need to not be controlled by anyone else is a driving force for Ender. Ender exclaims during his training at combat school, "If I'm to walk away from here, I have to win quickly, and permanently" (Card 229). According to Alice Miller, children learn early on to accept that their lives are controlled by the adults in charge of them, that they are defenseless, and that they must repress their feelings in situations in which they are coerced, hurt, or humiliated. (Miller, 1991).Throughout his six-year life, Ender had been controlled not only by adults, but also his older brother Peter. From the moment Colonel Graff entered Ender’s life, he coerced, hurt, and humiliated him. Ender knew this, even though he longed for Graff to be his friend. Graff counted on those repressed feelings to come out of Ender long before he became an adult.
Graff begins to see these repressed feelings emerge while Ender plays the video game. As Ender advances, his tactics become more and more gruesome. He stops choosing the options that the game offers and takes things into his own hands. In all essence, when he takes the rules into his own hands, he is cheating, but then again, he is only living by the military paradigm that has been instilled in him, that the ends overcome any and all means; human costs are unimportant. (Blackmore 125). Even in a virtual reality scenario, his desire to win intensifies. After he kills the giant by tearing through his eye, ender exclaims, “This was supposed to be a game. Not a choice between his own grisly death and an even worse murder. I’m a murderer, even when I play. Peter would be proud of me” (Card 65). In this statement, Ender shows that he realizes he is painstakingly losing his soul.
Ender’s snapping point comes when he is confronted by a bully names Bonzo in the showers. This fight mirrors his situation with Stilson. In the end, Ender once again causes harm to someone while protecting himself from future anguish. Ender himself tells Bean that he didn’t fight with honor, he fought to win (Card 243). Once again, Ender won the battle by killing Bonzo. In a later conversation, Major Anderson, who was a critic of Graff’s tactics articulates that, Ender isn’t a killer. He just wins—thoroughly (Card 247). This indicates yet again that Ender is ready to save the world even though he won’t be able to save his own soul.
Melissa Gross, in the article, “Prisoners of Childhood? Child Abuse and the Development of Heroes and Monsters in Ender’s Game,” describes Ender’s Game as a very true-to-life depiction of the effects of a pedagogy that demands children meet the needs of adults and ignore the cost to themselves (Gross 125). In a peaceful world that was not haunted by the eventual return of an alien race, Ender probably would have transitioned to adulthood fairly unscathed and with his morality intact. Unfortunately the adults in his life made sure that winning did take everything from that boy.

Works Cited
Blackmore, T. Ender's Beginning: Battling The Military In Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. Extrapolation (Kent State University Press) 32.2 (1991): 124-142. Humanities International Complete. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game. New York: Tor, 1991. Print
Gross, Melissa. Prisoners Of Childhood? Child Abuse And The Development Of Heroes And Monsters In Ender’S Game. Children's Literature In Education 38.2 (2007): 115-126. Academic Search Elite. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.