Entry No. 3

Entry No. 3
3. Who are the main characters in the novel? Do you like them? Why or why not? What is special about them? What do they reveal about the universal human experience?
The title of the book is “Ender’s Game” However, I would not say that Ender is the only main character in this novel. Valentine and Peter play a role in this book as much as Ender does. Although from the same womb, the Wiggins possess extremely different personalities. I personally like Peter’s personality the most. Even though Peter is portrayed as the “villain” in the eyes of Ender and Valentine, he later states with his own mouth that he still does love his siblings. His maturity tops even that of an adult. Every action he performs are all planned and calculated. In my opinion, he is a perfect man.The next favorite character is Valentine. She is, what one can call, an angel. In the midst of brutal persecution from Peter, Valentine was the only reason that Ender survived without revolting against it. She loved everyone from her dearest heart. She even gave love to Peter, the enemy. However, she had some flaws, in my opinion. She was often easily swept away by her own emotions. That made her make mistakes that Peter would have never allowed.My last favorite character is Ender. It might seem a bit ironic that Ender is my least favorite character. However, there are specific reasons to this. Ender is much like Peter in his appearance and his acts. Yet, he ceases to admit this crucial fact until the end of the book. He knows deep inside that he is like Peter, but he ignores that knowledge. That is what makes him a coward. He also regrets his acts after he commits the act. While on the other hand, Peter never ever seems to regret his acts. Why does Ender even commit something that he knows that he’s going to regret? I think that his decisions don’t match up to his smart and brilliant brain.The characters in this novel reveal many facts about the universal human experience. Even though these children in this novel are different in their personalities, they all end up loving each other in the end. I think this reveals a crucial universal experience. Even though siblings might hate each other for a certain amount of time, the bond among them will never be broken…

Entry No. 6

Entry No. 6

6. Entry of my own Choice
How did the characters end up being at the end of the story? How do their reactions reveal truth about the universal human experience?
Ender’s victory did not bring him his triumph that he deserved. Instead, he felt guilt over what he had done to destroy the buggers. His grief worsens when he finds out that buggers did not intend to kill the humans. However, when he finds the fully fertilized egg of the queen of the buggers, his grief lessens. He found a way to turn back what he had done. Valentine ends up helping Peter conquer the world. She works as Demosthenes, a fake name created by Peter and Valentine, to help Peter. She later is kicked out of Earth for her hegemonic ideas. Peter gets what he wants.
Ender’s action provokes a lot of truth, in my opinion, about the universal human experience. Even though he had taken victory over the enemies of humans, he does not take his glory to himself. In fact, he neglects to enjoy his victory. Yet, his actions made sense to me because he was the only one that knew that the humans have killed the buggers in an unfair way. And when Ender found the egg, it was the beginning of everything for him. Although for many other humans, it was the end, for Ender it was the beginning.
This reaction brought up many thoughts into my mind. I discovered how tricky a human’s mind could be. There was glory, honor, and triumph right in front of Ender, waiting for Ender to grasp it. Yet, Ender did not grasp it. He did not even care to take a look at it. And that was all because of the trouble going on in his mind… I saw how just a little change of a person’s mind can turn down infinite glory and honor. Therefore, I came up with a conclusion. True glory, honor, and triumph can be achieved only when our mind is ready to grasp it. After all, our mind is what makes the decisions.

Entry No. 5

Entry No. 5
5. Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? Or disturbing? Or memorable? Describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you.
In page 257, there is a scene where Ender enters the Eros, a command center. It describes Eros from Ender’s perspective. I think this is the reason I like this scene. I do not have to choose whether the scene is disturbing or memorable, it is already decided…

The Eros’s surface is flat. However, the surface is not suited for living because it has a different purpose, to absorb sunlight and converted to energy. Therefore the humans live on the walls of Eros. It is described here that the walls have a downward slope. Due to the lack of gravity in this center, people do not fall down from sleeping on there. Yet, the idea of sleeping on a slope in fear of falling down disturbs me. Ender shares a same opinion with me.
The setting was meaningful to me because of the sense of fear it brought out to me. Even though it was evident that people will not fall from the walls; Ender had a fear that held him uncomfortable. I think that holds true for many of the people living at this era. People know that there is a God. It cannot be denied that He actually exists. However, people just ignore that fact and live in fear of many things that obviously shouldn’t be feared. Just like this holds true for most of the people living in this world, this holds true for me. I, too, am sometimes feared of things that I should not fear.
I sometimes tend to think that God does not exist. I start to question my identity. Who am I? What am I doing here? Even though it’s stated directly in the Bible for my eyes to read, I tend to ignore it… Nevertheless, the fact exists. And the fact is that Go is truly living. Therefore, whenever I think of these terrible thoughts, I remind myself again and again. God is living, and therefore I should not fear or question my identity... God knows my identity.

Entry No. 4

Entry No. 4
4. Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you. Why is this passage meaningful? Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.
“Peace. It’s what salaam means. Peace be unto you.”
The words brought forth an echo from Ender’s memory. His mother’s voice reading to him softly, when he was very young. Think not that I am come to bring peace on earth. I came not to bring peace, but a sword. Ender had pictured his mother piercing Peter the Terrible with a bloody rapier, and the words had stayed in his mind along with the image.
In the silence, the bear died. It was a cute death, with funny music. Ender turned around. Alai was already gone. Ender felt as if part of himself had been taken away, an inward prop that was holding up his courage and confidence. With Alai, to a degree impossible even with Shen, Ender had come to feel a unity so strong that the word we came to his lips much more easily than I.
There are, in fact, many meaningful thoughts in this passage. Gaining a true friend is a very important stage of life in a person’s life. In this passage, it portrays how it feels like to have a real and true friend. It says here that gaining the friend is as familiar as a mother’s voice. I believe that it is true. I have friends, but amongst all of them, I have one true friend that I could really put all my hope on. When I gained him as my friend, it really did feel warm and familiar like my mother’s voice. It was of comfort and relaxation…
I think the fact that Ender enjoyed his moment of gaining his friend is also a crucial part in this passage. This passage shows the need of companionship for Ender. When Alai says “Salaam” to Ender, Ender has this nostalgic moment where he brings back his memories of his mother. He was replacing his empty companionship of his mother with Alai… I think this is just human nature, to desire and thirst for love and companionship. God made us like that, so that in the end, we will come back to Him, looking for love and companionship.
However, see how Ender thinks of Peter even in the moment of great happiness. I think this passage is trying to show that happiness and comfort cannot fade away the hatred in one’s mind. I think that this is also true. My hatred for Satan, for example, doesn’t go away just because I gained a true friend.
At the end of the passage, it talks about how lonely it feels to be away with the friend even for the slightest moment. And it is actually true. Thinking of absence of a true friend that you cared so deeply about leaving you is not a happy experience. It feels horrible. I sometimes wonder if I will feel this way if I ever thought of God leaving me. I will feel lonely and devastated. However, we all know that God will never leave us. Therefore, He provides me eternal comfort.

Entry No. 2

Entry No. 2
2. Are there any current situations in the world that relate to the novel? What are they, and how do they relate? Does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolves or “fixed”?

Many situations that are presented in this novel relate to the current situation in the world. In fact, I believe that almost the whole book is related the current world. The war between the buggers and the humans is somehow unpredictable. Humans live in fear of the buggers’ presence. Always unsure of whether they will attack the humans or not, the humans attack the buggers first. I think this is an identical portrayal of the war in Iraq. After the 9.11, Americans lived in fear of another terrorist assault. Thus, they sent troops of armies to Iraq to fight them off before they come and attack America again. They won, of course, but the result was not as triumphant as it was supposed to be. In the victory over buggers, every single person shouted out their freedom from their fear triumphantly. The victory was, unlike the Iraq war, certainly triumphant in this novel. However, for Ender it was not. He regretted that he had destroyed the home of the buggers. He regretted it even more when he finds out that humans misunderstood the buggers’ intentions. When he later finds the larva of the queen, he goes on a search for a habitat for this larva.
This part of this novel does actually shed light on how situations of this world can be fixed. Ender regretted that he had taken over the buggers by force. For Ender, the victory was not triumphant. Nor was the victory over Iraq triumphant to most Americans… Yet, Ender suggests a perfect victory in this novel. It is to pursue peace. Ender finally feels comfortable after he goes on a search for a new habitat for the queen. He was able to gain perfect victory through pursuing peace. It is not too late. The world should show love and kindness to countries they fought recently. Only then will they achieve a perfect victory.

Entry No. 1

Entry No. 1
1.What is the major theme of this novel? Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?
The theme is hard to determine in this particular novel for this novel is a science fiction. Science fiction novels are meant to entertain, not to deliver a deep message. However, a theme exists in every stories or novels. Therefore, the theme for this novel is that “Age is not an obstacle.” I was able to come up with this particular theme through many clues from the novel. All three of the Wiggins were perfect examples of this theme. Ender proved that this theme was true through gaining triumph over the buggers as a commander. Valentine and Peter proved their maturity through planning a brilliant plan to rule over the world and actually succeeding it soon after. All of these examples suggest that age is not an obstacle at all, to what one is trying to achieve.
This theme is important to many teenagers living in this world. Some teenagers think that they can be excused for certain wrongs they do just because they are yet too young. This is not an appropriate mindset for a healthy mental growth. However, this theme can and will change their mindset. As a young child, Ender shows tremendous maturity. He thinks and acts like an adult. He takes responsibility in all he does. And the teachers and directors respond accordingly to what he does. They treat him as an adult. Teenagers are never too young for anything. They can be treated as an adult if their acts match up to that of an adult. Teenagers should now realize that they cannot be excused for what wrongs they do…
I fit in the category of teenagers. And just like them, I think that I am too young for this and that. Yet, the theme in this novel says that this is not true. I am not young for anything. I know that God’s wants me to be someone. I may not be able to do certain things because I’m not old enough. However, that also doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t try to do anything. I should at least try my best in what I am capable of doing currently.