(Student’s Name)
(Instructor’s Name)
There are so many different settings and places throughout this novel that it is almost impossible to pinpoint just one. However, it is my opinion that the most important scene which portrays the theme of manipulation is the meeting of Valentine and Ender at Lake Brandt on earth. Manipulation is a very important theme within the text, Ender’s Game, since examples of manipulation are portrayed in at least two to three scenes of every chapter. Ender has just been transferred out of Battle School in record time, and is about to be attend Command School as a result of his brilliant performance which exceeds all the expectations of his ‘master puppeteers,’ who would later on become his commanders (172). Ender has a change of heart; he realizes that he is being manipulated (165, 170). Now he considers quitting which will prevent him from moving forward to the Command School (173). Taking no chances, ‘the higher ups,’ represented by Colonel Graff, decide to give Ender a vacation on earth for a couple of months (173). Of course they had no other card to play in this game of manipulation. Ender is the most important player in the game. The scene unfolds on earth when Graff contacts Valentine and recruits her to convince Ender to continue to go to Battle School. Lake Brandt becomes a part of the author's treatment of the thematic issue of manipulation. The narrator describes the setting of Lake Brandt and a mansion which overlooks it by stating the following: "They went to Lake Brandt Roaduntil they came to a white clapboard mansion that sprawled along the top of a hill. It looked over Lake Barndt on one side and a five-acre private lake on the other" (179). It is interesting to note that "the white clapboard mansion" overlooks Lake Brandt and the private lake. The setting almost becomes a part of the manipulation which Valentine and Colonel Graff who both “look over” or see to it that Ender continues to attend Battle School. Lake Brandt could represent an extension of the character of Colonel Graff, who acts on the behalf of the intentions of the superiors of the Battle School. Similarly, the five-acre private lake could also be an extension of the character of Valentine Wiggins, Ender's sister, who is persuaded by Graff to convince Ender to continue to go to Battle School. The mansion could also be an extension of the power structures which make up the Battle School, which insist that Ender continues to play the game so that the buggers will be prevented from destroying the human race. It is during this scene, Valentine’s true nature is exposed. If he does not go to Command School then there is a chance that someone else, who is not as intelligent as Ender would lead the battle and, ultimately, the buggers might win and that would put Valentine’s life in jeopardy. She convinces Ender to go to Command School by making him feel guilty. For instance, she states the following: “I’m talking about my life you self-centered little bastard” (186); Valentine continues by saying that Peter, Valentine’s and Ender’s brother used to torture Ender when he was little (186). Valentine continued her strategy of manipulation when she stated the following: “Do you know what Peter used to do to me because I stopped him from hurting you?” (186). The narrator noted that Valentine had found Ender’s “weakest place” and had “stabbed him there” (186). She added her final blow of manipulation when she added the following: “If you try and we lose then it isn’t your fault. But if you don’t try and we lose, then it’s all your fault. You killed us all” (186) .When Ender told her that he is a killer regardless of that fact then she said human beings “didn’t evolve brains in order to lie around on the lakes”; she added that killing was the first thing humans learned (186). Hence, the lakes become the focus of the scene again, and are used to solidify Valentine’s point and become a part of her strategy of manipulation. Ender later on gives in to Valentine’s manipulation, although with hesitation, when Valentine assured Ender of her love for her brother, after she dipped into the lake and pushed the raft onto the shore (187). Valentine was made aware of the fact that Ender was not interested in beating the game, but was more interested in gaining the love of his ruthless brother, who is devoid of compassion unlike himself and Valentine (187). Valentine knew that “Peter didn’t love anybody” (187). The lake is used as the backdrop to enable Valentine to use her profession of love for her brother to manipulate him to go back to Battle School where he would be immediately transferred to Command School. I think this scene portrays the prevalent theme of this book which is manipulation. Valentine reveals a flaw in her own character when she becomes no longer concerned with the welfare of her brother, but is ultimately concerned with the preservation her own life. Ender is then persuaded, or rather, manipulated to go back to Battle School. It can be argued that he was not only motivated by the love of his sister to do so, but also the love of the human race and his desire to preserve his own humanity by doing everything within his power to ensure the survival of his race against the attacks of the buggers. The Ender’s Game is about how manipulation is used as a necessary evil in ensuring the survival of the human race. Throughout history there are moments in the game of life in which a person’s character will be tested and their true character shown as a result of these tests. The meeting at the lake brought out the true nature of both Ender and Valentine.
Work Cited
Card, Orson Scott. "View the book." Ender's Game Complete Series 0D2CCC660C698C02737F4EABEAE7A21903D79FD1: Free Download & Streaming: Internet Archive. Internet Archive, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2013. <https://archive.org/details/EnderSGameCompleteSeries>.
