Preview

Leadership In Ender's Game

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1005 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Leadership In Ender's Game
From the dawn of time to the end of the world as humanity knows it, where there is sentience, there will always be leaders. In Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, leadership is displayed by numerous characters, children, and adults, almost all of which displayed some forms of eloquence, empathy, and organization. Eloquence is needed for a leader to secure the trust and loyalty of their followers, after all, would one follow a leader they could not trust? In order to be on the cutting edge of strategy and innovation, one must be empathetic and able to understand the desires of both their peers and their enemies. To maintain leadership, a leader has to be organized, each of their decisions must be calculated, their resources should be set out in front of them for them to know all of their options at any time.

In Ender’s Game, characters showing leadership often display eloquence in their speech and writing. The ability to use words in such an elegant fashion allows the user nearly unlimited potential. Ender convinces Bonzo to fight him alone by taking what he already knew about Bonzo’s history and using the information to verbally attack him, claiming that Bonzo had no honor. This event shows that Ender, the best example of a leader in the book, knows how to use words as weapons. Colonel Graff displays his persuasive side when convincing
…show more content…
Empathetic leaders have the ability to understand their enemies, they can know how their enemies feel. Organized leaders have everything laid out for them to see, they know what they can do and thus, know what they will do. Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game displays leadership in a different way than most books, showing the abilities of a child unlike anything before it. The children in this novel show eloquence, empathy and organizational skills, commanding armies more efficiently than their superiors. Ender, Valentine, Peter. Graff and Mazer are true

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ender’s Game is a book richly filled with interesting and complex characters. Many of the characters share the same characteristics but are each unique in their own way. Among the characters, there is a common tendency of combativity and aggressiveness.…

    • 141 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first characteristic that was seen was how Ender was valiant. His bravery was seen first in the book when he decided he wanted to go to Battle school. He said, “‘I'm afraid,”said Ender quietly. “But I'll go with you.’” (Scott 26). This was the first sign of this trait, he made himself leave on behalf of the war. Since he was so young, he did not know that he would become the next big general, but since…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The study of leadership has been a debated topic for centuries. The leader influences others, has followers, and leaders will come to the forefront during a crisis. “Leaders are people with a clear idea of what they want, why they want it and are able to think and act creatively in non-routine situations” (infed.org, 2012).…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    How does a civilization attain the most effective leadership? More importantly what is considered effective leadership and who developed the theories surrounding it? These questions are debated through the ages of postmodern and modern civilization. Bass (1974) wrote that, "from its infancy, the study of history has been the study of leaders" (Wren, 1995, p. 50). Four of the godfathers of what is considered modern leadership theory are Plato, Aristotle, Lao-Tzu and Machiavelli. Over the course of this analysis, the leadership theories of each of these titans will be evaluated. Each view contains commonalities and disparities which offer conflicting perspectives on the complex topic of leadership throughout the ages of modern society. The goal is to broaden these views with critical evaluation, vetted scholarly sources and well-reasoned judgments. The conclusion arrived at will offer heighten awareness at the age old highly debated question; what is effective leadership?…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    However these gifted children are being used for unjust things like war and battling. Children within this age group should remain innocent and lives without feeling constant fear of the consequences of war and battle. Ominous music and dark lighting is used in almost every scene of Enders game, symbolic of the grief that the children have to experience daily at battle school. Ender in particular, throughout the entirety of the film is in constant state of fear and often faced with having to make decisions about the most excruciating of circumstances. In the second scene in Enders game we see a low angle shot of his face before his monitor is removed in conjunction with strong facial expressions of fear and anguish. His emotion are used by the producers to foreshadow what comes next, we hear screams and he is clearly in agonizing pain, raising the issue of how unethical this treatment is. Colonel Graff has no empathy or care towards children like Ender; his only focus is on the results of what these brainwashed children do for…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Analysis Of Ender's Game

    • 1985 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In both the book and movie Ender undergoes a tough recruitment process to join the International Fleet’s battle school. To get into the battle school Ender must wear a monitor for several years that transmits all of his thoughts and feelings to the International Fleet so that they can understand everything about him. While he wears the monitor Ender undergoes torment from other children because they fear him due to his intelligence and superiority on all levels. Ender also undergoes worse physical and emotional torment from other children and his brother after he gets his monitor taken out because that projected that he had been denied which allowed other children to believe that they were as good as or better than Ender. This added depth to the story by showing what Ender had to go through to begin his journey. Another similarity between the book and the movie was the fact that the children believed and sometimes acted in the belief that the teachers were the enemy. Throughout the book and movie Ender is faced with tough challenges that are specially brought upon him by the teachers in order to test his limits. He starts to believe and understand that they are only trying to make him the best soldier possible regardless of his emotional state. "And with that anger, he decided he was strong enough to defeat them-the teachers, his enemies" (Card, 172). This shows Ender had built…

    • 1985 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel's opening, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin has a device removed from his neck which was used to monitor his thoughts and activities. No longer under Government surveillance, another boy, Stilson, attacks him. Ender severely injures the boy, believing that this will prevent his friends from attempting to continue bullying him. Because of the logic behind his decisionmaking, he is selected for training at the elite Battle School. After some deliberation, Ender accepts out of a sense of duty and a desire to escape from the torment he suffers at the hands of his sociopathic older brother Peter. At Battle School, the commander Hyrum Graff publicly recognizes Ender as the most intelligent attendee. This acknowledgment causes other students to resent Ender, isolating him from most of the other children. Ender soon ranks among the school's elite child soldiers, eventually achieving the school's top rank. Even after his success the other children continue to ostracize him. Ender attempts to escape his isolation and frustration in various ways, but experiences little comfort until he receives a letter from his older sister Valentine, reminding him of his reasons for…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ender's Game

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ender’s empathetic understandings help him overcome a hateful enemy. After being transferred to an army, Ender is immediately disliked by the leader of the army, Bonzo Madrid. Bonzo always leaves Ender out of a battle against another army. While sitting out, he observes Bonzo’s strategies he used against the enemies. He also observes that he leads his army so poorly. Ender tries to understand why Bonzo hates him and the reason for his lousy leadership. “How did Bonzo get to be a commander, if he didn’t know better than that?” (Card 81) Later in the story, Bonzo challenges Ender to a physical fight. From Ender’s observations, he remembers Bonzo’s actions and strategies and uses them to defeat him. He also tries to observe Bonzo’s movements during the fight. “Ender noticed the shifting weight and stooped lower, so that Bonzo would be more off-balance when he tried to grab Ender and throw…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Humanity In Ender's Game

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the book, Ender's Game, a science-fiction novel by Orson Scott Card, the protagonist, Ender Wiggin displays intelligence and mercy which enables him to better understand his enemy and demonstrate the concept that we are all human. Ender is the youngest child of the Wiggin family, however, he is also a Third. This means that he was born to be used by the government. As a Third, Ender is merely seen as a project rather than a brilliant and talented child. In this scene, Ender is telling Valentine, his sister, about his relationship with his enemies, he confides " - when he truly understand [his] enemy, understand them well enough to defeat them, then in that very moment [he] also love[s] them. [he] think[s] it’s impossible to really understand somebody... And then, in that very moment when [he]…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Accordingly, Graff is always manipulating Ender into being separate others, and his doing so almost always exposes the higher qualities Ender posses. The two fights mentioned earlier did not merely happen by accident, they were intentionally composed for the very purpose of bringing out Ender’s best. Not only did Graff manipulate Ender into fighting Stillson and Bonzo, but he also lengthened the divide between Ender and his classmates by pointing him out as superior to all of his peers during the trip to Battle School from Earth. However, despite him being initially an outcast, Ender proves his ability to attain loyalty by gradually gaining the friendship, trust and respect of those around him through clever means. Once more Graff isolates Ender, but by separating him from his peers, rather Graff forces him into new situations that he alone must explore where he must lead Dragon Army through battles that no other commander has ever experienced, where the odds are against him and almost no one…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ender Qualities

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The qualities that make Ender a successful leader is that he was hard working, he had empathy for others, and he was a decent person who was respected. One of the reasons Ender was a successful leader was that he worked hard to prove himself and become a good leader. Ender was chosen by Colonel Graff to become a commander but Colonel Graff also isolated Ender from the other boys by praising him and because of what Graff did Ender had to work hard to prove he could succeed by himself. When Ender was moved to the command school he was once again isolated and worked hard there because of that so he could become a person who could lead. ’…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Ender's Game

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages

    All in all, Ender’s Game is a moving story about the results from pushing children too far and the importance of learning about other cultures. Ender Wiggin is a remarkable character who projects far more understanding towards others than any eleven year old does, despite the extended pressure put upon him. Hopefully no eleven year old today will ever have to deal with the pressure of leading an army, unless that army is comprised of other eleven year olds campaigning for more…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Leaders that are defined by these characteristics alone represent a disturbed view of what a leader should be, know and do. Take for instance Fidel Castro the standing president of Cuba, viewed as a great leader and praised as a champion of anti-imperialism, humanitarianism, socialism and environmentalism by his followers. His ability to provide economic growth to his stagnant country built him a popularity base among his followers as a great leader. While positive correlations to his efforts do reflect elements of a good leadership a full spectrum view of his character clearly shows how far he falls short from being a great leader. Great leaders are not just those that provide actions with results but those that can empathize and humble themselves for a greater good. Fidel’s long run dictatorship-like system and abuse of multiple human rights have labeled him as a leader by title only. The structured growth of an empathetic leader is rooted from one’s personal values. The Army Values directly influence in building empathetic leaders in its ranks. When defining competent and empathetic leaders the Army defines the actions of taking care of Soldiers by giving them the training, equipment, and all the support they need to keep them alive in combat and accomplish the mission. During wartime and difficult operations, empathetic Army leaders share the hardships with their Soldiers to gauge if their plans and decisions are realistic. Competent and empathetic leaders also recognize the need to provide their Soldiers with reasonable comforts and rest periods to maintain good morale and mission effectiveness (Odierno, 2012). Developing empathy requires that leaders demonstrate some level of vulnerability, heart and genuine care for his or her subordinates. Self-awareness, experience and patience serve vital in developing this trait as a habit. By…

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Term Paper

    • 3701 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Bibliography: Goleman, Daniel; Boyatzis, Richard E.; McKee, Annie. (2004). Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead With Emotional Intelligence. Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.…

    • 3701 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    If there has been one thing that the book Ender’s Game has told me is this. Ender has made me a better reader by showing me my likes in science fiction, tactical decisions, and overall how to be a leader and the benefits of being one. This has always been a part of me but this book and character has truly spoken to me in a way no other has done before.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays