Independent Reading Project Analysis Paper:
Manipulation and Deception in Ender’s Game
2 major and reoccurring themes throughout Ender’s Game is manipulation and deception. Much of this novel is about how adults manipulate Ender into fulfilling their needs. They trick him, lie to him, and tell him just enough so that he can defeat the buggers. Ender pretty much sums this up when he says, “I've spent my life as someone's pawn" (Pg. 97). On one hand, it seems wrong to lie to and cheat a kid. On the other hand, the adults manipulate him to ensure the survival of the human race. Besides the manipulative relationship between the adults and Ender, there are a number of other relationships full of manipulation: Peter manipulates Valentine, Peter and Valentine manipulate the world, and Ender manipulates many other kids throughout the book. Manipulation may sounds negative, but it gets the job done.
Deception can involve being tricked by others, or tricking one's self. In Ender’s Game, trickery and false promises are parts of both games and deadly conflicts. Deception can be used to hurt or protect, depending on the intention of the deceptor. In Ender's Game, deception plays many roles. The main use of deception is the adults versus the children. Early on in the novel, it is clear that Ender already realizes adults lie when the subject of the monitor being removed is discussed. The adults are also deceptive when they remove the monitor and allow Ender to think he was not accepted into the program, when in fact they just wanted to see how he would behave without the monitor.
Most of the children know about this web of deceit and the manipulation, including Ender, who works around it because of his own beliefs of his own purpose. Although he is needed in the mission to save the world, from Ender's point of view he needs to do this for Valentine. Ender realizes that there