Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Ender's Game Anticipation Guide Revisitation

Lying is justifiable if it's for the greater good.
After reading Ender's game I would rank this as a 2. In the book Graff and all the adults lie to Ender. When Ender realizes he'd been lied to, he was really depressed. In the book lying did help them defeat the buggers but it is my personal opinion that big lies are never good. What if buggers were actually really good creatures that would someday do something great, and because Ender was lied to he killed them. In extreme cases lying may be okay and it may work out for the people that are lying but it might not be for the greater good of all the creatures in the universe.
Sometimes violence is the only way to solve a problem.
I would keep the same ranking because I don't think that violence is the answer. In Ender's Game Ender is forced to be violent when the boys attack him at Battle School, that really wasn't the solution to the problem but if he hadn't have been violent then who knows what would have happened. After Ender kills all the buggers he feels really bad. Ender wished he hadn't have killed them. Ender was controlled and played into participating in the annihilation of the buggers. I don't think that war was the only way to solve that problem.
 It is okay to kill someone in self-defense.
I think that I would rank this as a 3 because I feel that if the death can be avoided then you shouldn't kill them. However in dire situations it would be okay. I could see it being okay if you didn't mean to kill them. On page 211 Ender unintentionally killed Bonzo after he tried to kill Ender. The teachers and most officials agreed that it was an act of self defense. When Ender killed Stilson on page 7 the adults concluded the same thing. In Ender's game they send the message that it is okay to kill someone in self-defense but I think that this applies as a last case scenario.
Words are stronger than fists.
Now that I have read the book I would give this a 4 this because not only is it still my personal belief but it is also proven in Ender's Game. Valentine and Peter have a lot of power being Demosthenes and Locke while they use their words to control the world. In fact Valentine and Peter had gained so much strength from their words that they both had the power to get Ender back or keep him away from Earth. Valentines words of accusation kept Ender from coming back and being taken advantage by Peter. Although fist are useful in some situation I still think that words are stronger. However when Bonzo tried to beat up Ender it had come to a point where words would not really help the situation. 
Bullies hurt others because they have low self esteem.
I think that I would rate this as a 4 because after reading Ender's game I realize that some people can bully other unintentionally. Plus some people make think that it is just the right thing to do. When Ender got in a fight with Bonzo, Bonzo had low self esteem because his army had lost to the dragon army and Ender saying that he didn't have honor by picking on Ender. I think that in some cases this ins't true, the human race could be considered bullies by going to war with the buggers, maybe we do have low self esteem always trying to have what we can't and trying to be what we aren't. To some degree the human race had low self esteem because they felt like they weren't they only intelligent life form. 
Only the best and brightest students should receive the best education to become a nation's leaders.
I still strongly disagree with this, I think that anyone can become a leader if they have the right education. In Ender's game they agree with this sending the smartest kids to battle school. If the kids pass the mental test they get to go and learn to be a soldier perhaps even a commander. I think that that their idea that only the best students receive the best education is really not fair to all the other students who have just as much potential to become great leaders. For example Peter and Valentine weren't accepted to battle school but they still became important leader on Earth and other planets. Those best and brightest students are just the students that have the most potential to become killing machines obeying every order given without thinking for themselves. Except for a select few, Petra Dink, Alai, most of the students at battle school just follow orders instead of thinking for themselves.
Revenge is never justified.
I think that I would give this a 3 now because sometimes it could be necessary to get someone back but in the end revenge only leads to more revenge. Although revenge is not the first answer I would go to it is a possible option. In Ender's Game the human race seeks revenge from the first and second invasion. Although that didn't really work out if they hadn't have launched the third invasion, the human race would resent the buggers and always think of them as bad. I think that revenge can be justified but it should be avoided.
Crying is evidence of weakness.
To be honest I think that I would raise this ranking to a 2. It seems mean to say that crying is weak but in some situations crying can be overly dramatically  Although I think that everyone should cry if they need to, crying too much is really annoying and people should be able to hold in their emotions in really public places. That doesn't mean that if you cry you are weak, all I am saying is that crying when nothing happened is weak. In Ender's Game Ender thinks that crying will make him weak but all the other boys cry.
Any action is acceptable in war.
I still agree with my previous thoughts on this statement. No you have to stay true to your morals and treat others how you want to be treated. In war most of the actions you make are based on one core idea, winning, so some people will do anything they can to win. Some things that they do may be something that isn't morally right. In Ender's Game Ender killed the planet in the stimulation and after he killed all the buggers he regretted his actions in war. I might be totally wrong here but I think that in war the human race should look out for each other even if the other people are different.
Teenagers need discipline and rules because they can't control themselves.
After reading Ender's game I would rate this as a two because I think that a lot of teenagers can handle themselves. For example I wouldn't have a problem if I didn't have any rules. I think that in the situation of no rules some teenagers would just make up new rules. On the other hand other teenagers would go crazy without rules. In Ender's Game the kids made their own rules. The kids at Battle school were able to run an orderly battle without much help from the teachers. Yes sometimes rules are useful but in most situations I think that teenagers can rise to the challenge.
Only though personal sacrifice can someone create positive change.
Now that I have red Ender's Game I would rate this as a 3 because there is other ways to create positive change, but sometimes change can come from personal sacrifice. If that was the only way then people would have to give up a lot. In Ender's Game all the kids going to battle school had to give up their childhood to save the world. In chapter 13 Ender sacrifices his life on Earth to go to commander school and help defend Earth.
Generating compassion for your enemies is the only way to create peace. 
I agree with everything I said originally. You have to understand and generate compassion for your enemies to create peace. Understanding your enemy and having compassion for them lets you see their situation from another perspective. It can help you keep peace. I think that this is proven in Ender's Game when Ender finally learns about the buggers and comes to peace with them. By going into Ender's mind the buggers were able to create compassion for Ender and therefore forgiving him for killing the buggers. 

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