...different parts of the world, Gilgamesh and Sunjata have many similarities within being an epic character. First, the two stories share the fundamental aspects, intrinsic upon epics. Both tales are told in a poetic format. In addition, the two tales both involve a hero who embarks on some sort of journey. For example, after witnessing the death of his good friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh has trouble coming to terms with his own mortality. In turn, he leaves Uruk hoping to find the secret to eternal life. This is comparable to Sunjata's obstacles in his quest to become king. Sunjata had to come to terms with being a lame child unable to walk properly. Furthermore, Sunjata was forced to travel to foreign kingdoms in exile while he waited for the appropriate time to regain control over his kingdom as prophesied. Both characters face their journey immediately after a tragic death; Gilgamesh witnesses his best friend Enkidu die of illness and Sunjata discovers his mother passed away prior to fighting the Sosso. Moreover, Gilgamesh and Enkido's battle with Humbaba is paralleled with Sunjata's large fight against the Sosso leader Sumaworo. Both these illustrate the similarities in the hero confronting and defeating a great enemy while navigating through treacherous obstacles along the way. Also, by the end of the tales Gilgamesh and Sunjata proved both to themselves and their to their constituents that they were worthy of leading their people. Although Gilgamesh and Sunjata are both popular...
Words: 627 - Pages: 3
... As I previously stated, Campbell’s monomyth works best with the traditional form of the quest such as in folk and fairy tales, myths, legends, and other fantasies. However, it can be applied to many different genres or types of stories. A quest does not have to include swords and monsters. It can just as easily occur in the real world. The monomyth is ageless and universal, and exists anywhere and everywhere. During the first half of this semester, we have read a number of stories from our class text, which involves and relates to the hero’s journey. There were two stories and characters that particularly stood out to me and which I found the most comparisons between although they were two types of heroes. Those characters were Gilgamesh, from The Epic Of...
Words: 1692 - Pages: 7
...Ender’s Game Ender Wiggin is a special six year old boy sent to a special military school simply for the honor of the way he handles himself. The Government sees the great potential in Ender and sees the possibility of him being the one to save the world from the buggers (huge alien insects who almost wiped out all of humankind once upon a time). Everyone selected to go to this military school is to never contact their family ever again until they are eighteen. His brother Peter was jealous of the fact that Ender became a third longer than he did and punished him all the time by beating on Ender whenever the chance arose. Ender has a sister named Valentine who by her name you could guess she was the love and good in Ender’s life. Their bond was of the strongest thing that Ender had to remembering the outside world. His brother Peter talks Valentine into using her special skills of persuasion to help him get the audience of the people to recognize his intelligence in order to try and gain a seat of power to run the world. They are all VERY gifted children; in fact most of these kids are not your ordinary six, seven, and eight year olds in this novel. The government is searching for that one leader who will help them be prepared and ready to win a war against a fearsome opponent (buggers). In that, the ones who actually make it to battle school are put in battles against each other in order for the government to test the potential in every kid that is attending in...
Words: 1120 - Pages: 5
...Economic opportunity, social equality and personal freedom are societal ideals desired by nearly every individual, and such is no different for those who lived the Cuban Revolution. Poet and political activist Nicolás Guillén well documents these widely sought after ideals in Cuban society by expressing the newfound liberties of post-revolutionary Cuba in his 1964 poem “I Have.” Through anaphoric repetition of the poem’s titular phrase, Guillén emphatically depicts a vibrant Cuban nation teeming with natural beauty, societal peace and equality, and individual liberties by poetically listing the newfound personal freedoms and opportunities of post-revolutionary Cuban society. Guillén illustrates the dissipation of racial and class divisions by establishing himself, “being Black,” as a firsthand authority in witnessing the changing social climate of Cuba (29). By specifically referring to his skin color as a source of his authority on the subject, Guillén establishes ethos in his firsthand accounts of how racial and class boundaries are deteriorating. To evidence his assertion of a positively transformed social climate, Guillén illustrates a new Cuban society devoid of racist mentalities and remarks by calling upon specific examples of how no one can “stop [him] at the door” or “on the rug of a hotel” and how no one can “scream at [him] that there are no rooms” (30-32). Guillén’s illustration of dissipating racial tensions is accompanied his personal account of how he “learned...
Words: 633 - Pages: 3
... Picture this: a game that you have been playing for one year has just been revealed to you as being real. Everything that you did in that “game” has also happened in real life. That is exactly what happened to Ender in Chapter 14 of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. In Ender’s “simulator”, he had destroyed an entire species, known in the book as “buggers”. Immediately after this revelation, Ender felt regret that he had killed the buggers, and also anger that he was manipulated into doing something against his will by his superiors, the adults. The way that Command School authorities handled Ender’s situation was wrong because they had manipulated Ender into fighting their battle against his own free will. Moreover, Colonel Graff and the IF hurt other, innocent and uninvolved students to achieve their ends. In modern society, we sometimes take for granted the abundance of freedom that we have. Ender’s world had no such concept. The idea of free will is one of the central themes in Ender’s Game. From the very beggining of the book, free will is absent in Ender’s life. For example, all children are required to wear a monitor until the IF decides if they should be sent to battle school. Starting from here, its not surprising to see how easily he was manipulated. Ender’s superiors gave him no illusion of freedom; they argued that Ender needed to kill the buggers because he was “needed”. As shown later in the book, killing the buggers wasn’t needed at all; they were friendly and...
Words: 588 - Pages: 3
...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...
Words: 1187 - Pages: 5
...h Have you ever wondered what it's like to be separated from your family, and being a world hero at the age of 12 Jesus to some and Hitler to others? In the book The Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card ,Ender Wiggen, the protagonist of the book, a six year young boy who was separated from his family, taken away to battle school out in space in order to be trained to become a military commander to thwart the enemies, the Buggers, from destroying the human kind. He is betrayed, manipulated and tricked into `destroying an entire species experiencing all of this he attains maturity at a very young age following makes a very important decision towards the end of the book. Although, the book and the movie were both great, I prefer the book over the movie for the sake of details. The role of children is very essential in the book. The kids are the ones who save the humans from Bugger invasions, Ender leads the army that destroys them. If it was not for the kids they would have never had a victory against the buggers, the kids were the soldiers, the brains and everything they needed in order to destroy the buggers. Therefore, the adults were just there to boss around the kids, the kids did not need anybody they were stronger than all. Since the movie is an adaptation of the book we see many similarities Both the movie and the book are about Ender, a young boy fighting the buggers. In both the text and the film we see Towards the end of the movie Ender finds a bugger queen at that...
Words: 633 - Pages: 3
...Andrew or Ender Wiggin was the third in a family of child geniuses and was picked by a special military group to save the world from aliens or what they call in the book buggers. Before Ender was chosen, he had to wear a monitor that allowed people from the military to see what he was doing and that monitor was taken out when he was chosen but Ender thought that the military didn’t want him anymore just like his siblings. Ender’s older siblings also wore the same monitor but neither of them was chosen and that made one of his siblings mad and the name of that sibling was Peter and when the monitor was taken out of Ender Peter’s anger didn’t even decrease by a bit. But it’s also the same with Ender’s schoolmates because they tried to beat him up, but Ender stood up for himself and beat the leader of his schoolmates which scared the people who were following the leader. After that Colonel Graff saved him from all the violence and takes him away to Battle School and the Battle School is located somewhere in space but it’s close to Earth. During the trip to Battle School Colonel Graff made everyone on the trip hate him because of a joke that wasn’t even funny and people started hitting him in the head and when Ender couldn’t take it no more he predicted a hit to the head and broke the person’s arm who was about to hit him and Ender felt bad because he only meant to catch the person’s arm not break it. When Ender arrives at Battle School with recruits or what they call in the...
Words: 649 - Pages: 3
...Ender is a monster because he killed the bugger planet without completely understanding them. He also killed other kids unknowingly but still should’ve stopped fighting them once they were on the ground. Ender should have listened to his voice inside that told him to stop fighting his opponent once they are in the ground. A six year old should not be killing other six year olds. One reason why Ender is a monster because he killed one of his piers, Stilson. After Peter stops Ender from breathing, “Ender stood there watching him laugh and thought of Stilson, thought of how it felt to crunch into his body. This is who needed it. This is who should have got it” (14). Even after Ender kills Stilson, he is still considering getting into a fight again,...
Words: 298 - Pages: 2
...Colonel Graff is a good mentor in Ender’s Game only because he was trying to prepare Ender to save the world for a greater good. According to the text, Graff told Ender, “Maybe you’ll break down under the pressure, maybe it’ll ruin your life, maybe you’ll hate me for coming here to your house today. But if there’s a chance that because you’re with the fleet, mankind might survive and the buggers might leave us alone forever---then I’m going to ask you to do it. To come with me” (Card 25). This shows that Colonel Graff has really good intentions, and that even if it might put Ender in a lot of pressure, it’s to save mankind from the buggers. Additionally, in chapter 4, after Ender demonstrates the realization “that in null gravity directions...
Words: 274 - Pages: 2
...Cayla Rosenbaum English II – 2 10/7/14 Ender Wiggin: The Boy Who Could. When thinking of a powerful commander with the correct intellect and skill to save the world, I doubt anyone pictures an eleven year old. However, Ender Wiggin from Orson Scott Cards novel Ender’s Game is not your typical, brainless eleven year old. In fact, he shows more courage, capability, and adaptability than most middle-aged adults. Using these raw skills Ender Wiggin saves the world at the fresh age of eleven. Ender shows multiple examples of courage throughout the book specifically in chapter fourteen when Ender makes the ruthless yet courageous decision to blow the bugger home planet to pieces. “Then he whispered a command and the ships dropped like rocks toward the planet’s surface…. Almost from the moment they began to drop they were focusing their Little Doctors on one thing only. The Planet itself” (294). Young Ender wasn’t expected to go so far as to blow the planet itself up, but because of his courage he went above and beyond all expectations. Because of Ender’s courageous personality he is completely capable of the task at hand. In fact Ender had been showing signs of capability since he was six. “Ender knew the unspoken rules of manly warfare, even though he was six.” (7). Ender unknowingly used his “knowledge of manly warfare” to show his capability of being the next commander and saving the world five years later by literally beating the young boy into a pulp, to show the others...
Words: 573 - Pages: 3
...In Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, unfortunatley Enders contract and the fact that he was the third child made his relationship with his family rather unusal and strained. The governent strongly proposed that Enders parents have a third child. The military and Colonel Graff was really desperate and hopeful that Ender would have what it takes to become a brilliant military leader that would contribute to their victory over the buggers! The reason why they were desperate to have someone capeable of leading the war was because they did not know when the aliens would decide to strike. It was extremely important to Ender's parents that they had a compliant family that had followed the law of having two kids. Having Ender as a third child created a enormous amount of conflict due to the sacrifices they have made. A example of how it created conflict was explained by Colonel Graff. He said that they did not want to reveal their religons since they did not follow the law because the father's family had nine kids when they are only suppose to have two kids. Also, the mother's family had more than two kids. Another example of conflict is Peter, brother of Ender, is very jealous and proud because he also wanted to be a military leader. The father of Ender strongly disagrees with Colonel Graff in furious balls of rage. This situation carried unusual feelings towards Enders choice of going to military school, also known as boot camp. Just as Ender was departing, the unusual amount...
Words: 454 - Pages: 2
... “‘I’ll carry you,’ said Ender, ‘I’ll go from world to world until I find a time and a place where you can come awake in safety. And I’ll tell your story to my people, so that perhaps in time, they can forgive you, too. The way that you’ve forgiven me’” (Card 321). Ender’s words encompass the themes that are shown throughout Ender’s Game. Ender’s Game is a story centered around a child by the name of Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, and his ability to command the Earth’s Military and defeat the aliens that once attacked the Earth, the Buggers. Through redemption and strength, Ender trains and fights to become their leader, and perhaps the Earth’s only savior. There are two forms of the Ender’s Game story, the original novel, Written by Orson Scott Card, and the movie directed by Gavin Hood. After experiencing both, there is one story that shines far brighter than the other. Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game encompasses the story line that makes it worth reading, and is the better telling of the same story. There are many themes in the story Ender’s Game, but there are three that, without them, the story could be properly portrayed. The first necessary element is the manipulation of Ender Wiggin, as seen when Ender committed a mass genocide of the Bugger Species. During this moment, Ender was deceived into believing that the conflicts were only simulations, when, in reality, they were real battles. Manipulation was used in order to ensure that Ender would continue the International Fleet’s(IF’s)...
Words: 1074 - Pages: 5
...Step 3: The Hero's Way Isn't Always Direct or Clear to Him/Her Ender Wiggin did not expect to be chosen as a recruit for Battle School. Ender's father says, "It's not very kind of you, to let us think you didn't want him, and then take him after all" (Card, 20). This shows that the administrators of Battle School are toying with Ender's mind and confidence. As readers though, only we know that this evidence also shows that pretending to not want Ender was only a cover so the administrators can see what he would do without his monitor as protection. Colonel Graff replies, "For the two of you, the choice was made when Ender was conceived. But for Ender, the choice has not been made at all" (Card, 20). This evidence shows that Ender originally had no choice in the matter, nor did he expect the Battle School might want him. This also proves that Ender did not have adequate time to think about his decision, resulting in a life of pressure and loneliness. Ender's decision was made on impulse and the desire to make a difference and save mankind. He was not completely sure of the path ahead and did not know what severe conditions came with his choice. Promoted at an unusually early age, Ender Wiggin was unclear as to why he would be promoted so soon. "Ender shook his head. It was the stupidest thing he could think of, to promote him now. Nobody ever got promoted before eight years old" (Card, 69). Ender's thoughts prove that his road was already planned out for him, even though he...
Words: 591 - Pages: 3
...identity. Identity is how a person sees themselves and those that are not at the same class or level of knowledge as them. This starts the theme of oppression. Oppression is when someone has control or power over someone or a group of people and controls their actions and way of life. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the city of Uruk is ruled by Gilgamesh, who is part god and part human that was created by the gods. With his power as a ruler of Uruk, he created his own set of rules for the people of Uruk to follow that may not have been a part of their everyday lives before Gilgamesh arrived in their city. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, a townsperson tells Enkidu “Gilgamesh the king is about to celebrate marriage with the Queen of Love, and he still demands to be first with the bride, the king to be first, and the husband to follow”(6). This is one example of how Gilgamesh uses his power to oppress the lives of the people of Uruk to do as he says. Gilgamesh also takes the young sons of the townspeople to use as he sees fit. The fact that the men of Uruk complain about the rules that Gilgamesh has in place, proves that they are not happy with how most things are within their city. Since Gilgamesh knows he is part god, he uses this as an advantage and thinks it gives him the right to have authority and power over the people of Uruk to have them do anything he says. The...
Words: 1210 - Pages: 5
