Ender's Game Revised Anticipation Guide.

I have re-read my anticipation guide and I am surprised to say that my views on some things have changed. When I first heard about this assignment I thought that I would go back and read mine and that my opinions would stay the same, but I can say it's quite the contrary. Enders Game has changed my views on many things now.

1) "Lying is justifiable for the greater good." When I first thought about this I didn't agree with it. I always thought lying caused more harm than good. But Enders Game has proved me wrong. For instance, when Mazer lies to Ender about the simulator games not being real. If Ender would have known he wouldn't have beat the buggers, for he feels to much empathy for his enemies. So lying proved to have helped the human race more than harm it."It had to be a trick or else you wouldn't have done it."(pg 298) Graff was explaining the adults reasoning for lying to Ender.

2)"Sometimes violence is the only solution to a problem." My first time on this guide I only gave it a 2. I thought that there was always a better solution than violence, but seeing the many positions that Ender has been in, violence may be the only solution that works. Like when Ender was giving mini battle room lessons to the ones who wanted to attend, and Bonzo and some of his goons didn't like that and tried to attack him. The only way Ender could get out of that was to throw a few punches. Also when Bonzo cornered Ender in the bathroom, talking obviously wasn't going to solve Enders dilemma. So in some cases violence may be the way to solve a problem." We didn't come to hear the little bastard talk"(209) Ender tried talking, and making Bonzo realize what he was doing wasn't honorable. But obviously he didn't want to let Ender walk out of their without fighting.

3)" It is okay to kill someone in self-defense." I'm sticking with the same answer I gave last time which was, I think it's okay to kill someone in self-defense. If your life is on the line you have to do what it takes to stay alive. Ender proves my point further when Stilson tried attacking him when he was six. He didn't know what he was doing, he just let his fighting instincts take over. All he wanted was to make sure that Stilson would never even think to bully him again. Bonzo was the same, he was in a life or death situation and he had no one to back him up."There are some boys who want to kill you."(pg 204) Petra was warning Ender about Bonzo and his goons wanting to kill him, so Ender knew it was actually serious and not just people spreading rumors.

4)"Words are stronger than fists." Instead of agreeing with this 100% I agree with this 70%. Words in my opinion are stronger than violence, but they may not always work. Some people can be thick headed and not listen to your reasoning. Sometimes not talking at all can also help a situation. If you don't have something nice to say then just bite your tongue because retaliating back will just make the situation 10 times worse. "Can't think of anything to answer. Anything I say will make it worse. So will say nothing."(pg 6) Ender was being smart when Stilson was first picking on him. He was trying to be the bigger person and not make the situation worse.

5)" Only the best and brightest students should receive the best education to become a nations leader."  Having thought about this one for a while, I decided to rethink my original answer and give it a 4. Now everyone is entitled to have a decent education, but not everyone could withstand the stress, and endurance it takes to become a nations leader. Take Ender for instance, in command school he started to fall apart. He wasn't getting enough sleep, so much so that he couldn't tell the difference between reality and dreamland. He was the best student in the entire school and he was going a bit crazy. It even went to extremes when he woke up to the taste of blood and he had been gnawing on his hand. If Ender nearly couldn't handle it, then most wouldn't be able to.

6) "Bullies hurt others because of low self-esteem." I still agree with my first answer. Bullies can have bad lives at home, or have been treated like that before, so it's the only way they know how to deal with things. But also it has to do with self esteem. Take Bonzo for instance, Ender is better than him at almost everything, so he feels degraded and pissed that someone so much smaller and younger can achieve better things than he ever could.

7) "Revenge is never justified." This I still disagree with, people should be held accountable for things they do that harm others. But I've realized that may not be the best answer. See I don't think Ender got revenge on Bonzo or Stilson but I think it could look that way. He beat them while they were down, but he did it to protect himself. But he felt so guilty afterwards that I couldn't imagine what it would feel like if he did that out of cold blood and just for revenge since they bullied them. So maybe revenge isn't the smartest way to go about things.

8)" Crying is evidence of weakness." I personally don't think crying is evidence of weakness, but after reading Enders Game I can see why some people think it is. At battle school if Ender would have cried and complained about how he missed his family, he would have been looked upon and treated very differently by teachers, and students. Some people might think that crying shows how you're not strong or capable of some things like others who don't cry. But I think it's fine to cry when needed. But being overly dramatic is a whole different story.

9)" Any action is acceptable in war." I'm sticking with my original answer on this one. When in battle you don't think about the greater outcome of what might happen by what you do. You think in the moment and in that moment all you're thinking about is winning. So you would do anything to win. When Ender was at the final simulator battle he put everything on the line. It was all or nothing, so having said that I think any action is acceptable in war.

10)"Teenagers need discipline and rules because they can't control themselves."  I have to admit I thought this question was a bit random and I didn't quite understand the purpose of it. But I'm answering anyways. I gave this a 3 like my original answer because of course we need rules and discipline, we're young we haven't gone through as many challenges as adults so we will make mistakes. But that doesn't mean we can't control ourselves. Take Valentine, she knows what she got herself into by helping Peter, but she can control herself and control what she wants to right and such on the nets. Also most of the kids at battle school are teenagers and they proved to control themselves just fine.

11)" Only through personal sacrifice can someone create positive change." I don't think that's the only way someone can create positive change but having read Enders Game it seemed that way. Ender sacrificed his childhood and the outcome was the survival of the human race. Actually many kids, Bean, Petra, Alia they all sacrificed their childhood for the sake of the human race. But that doesn't always have to be the cause. Someone could live a very satisfying life and still feel the need to give back."

12) "Generating compassion for your enemies is the only way to create peace." I agree with this. Having a feeling as to why your enemy does the things they do, or act the ways the act can give you a better perspective on them. It can change your feelings about them, maybe their not who you thought they were. I think Ender can prove my point fully. He needed empathy for the buggers in order to destroy them, because he needed to know how they think. But when he found the queen egg, he looked at them through a totally different perspective. He saw that they had innocence behind their reasoning, and he found a way to create peace with them, he was going to help them re-build their species. Creating passion between you and your enemies can help, maybe you aren't so different."I'll carry you. I'll go from world to world until I find a time and a place where you can come awake safely."(pg 320) Ender sees that the buggers forgive him for what he has done, and he hopes that one day the humans will forgive the buggers.