In Ender's Game, Ender Wiggins, the main character, faces many challenges in his journey through the Battle School. Ender is different than most other kids; he is a savant, he is small, and he is a third. Wiggins possesses tremendous knowledge and mental capabilities. He is able to process and think faster and more accurately than most other children in the world. Ender is smaller than most other children, he is supposedly defenseless, which makes him lesser than most of the other children who supposedly have superior rankings to him. Lastly, he is a third, the third born of a family, the title that all children fear and hate, the title of shame and rejection. These differences that Ender faces torments him through his childhood, but in the end, make him victorious in the challenges to come.
During the setting of Ender's Game, the world had been attacked by aliens called the Buggers. Through the first attack, Earth was heavily damaged and very vulnerable. However, a great man called Mazer Rackham, a savant, led the armies of Earth against the Buggers in the second attack, and defeated them. Since then, the government of planet Earth searched for children who were smart enough and capable enough to live up to Rackham's success and aid in the destruction of the Buggers. After many years, Ender was born, and he was the smartest that was ever born. He possessed the mental capabilities that most adults never even dreamed of reaching. But most of all, he was a true leader, the truest of them all. These qualities pushed Ender to the head of the fight, and gave him the ability win every situation he was confronted with.
Ender was different than most other children in stature as well. He was small, weak, and defenseless, which made him an easy target for bullying. However, even with his disadvantage, Ender used his assets to his benefit and conquers his fears and his tormentors. Through his experiences on earth, and his time in the battle school in outer space, Ender continued to fight his dreads, using his mental capabilities to stop his tormentors once and for all. This was strength more precious than any muscle in the world; it was the strength of knowledge, perseverance, and guts.
Though some of his differences were advantages, and some were disadvantages, one of Enders largest struggles was that he was an outcast. He was a third. In this time and age, the third born was shame of the family. Enders title as "third" provoked and antagonized him through his childhood, externally by peers, and internally by himself. Ender had to live with the title he was given, for it was one that could not be changed. The feeling that shame is the inevitable haunted Ender, and to some degree, depressed him. But Ender faced his fears, and worked his way through his shame to rise successful amongst all others. he differences that separate us from each other may sometimes encourage us, and sometimes torment us. Many are afraid to face their fears, and many are brave enough to stand up to their problems. Ender was different that other children in almost every way. His characteristics as a savant, his stature as a wimp, and his title as "third", were all hated by Ender. He did not want to be different; he wanted to be the same as all the other kids. When Ender was forced to kill, even though he was forced to do so protect himself, he did not want to. He hated himself for it. He wanted to be the same as everyone else. But Ender did not hide from these challenges, he faced and conquered them. He did not run from his problems, he stood up to them. This is courage that everyone should admire, the courage that every child should learn, the courage that every leader should possess.