In this chapter we first see Ender interacting with his brother, Peter, and his sister, Valentine, and how his brother bullies him. It's interesting to see that Ender actually has empathy with the Buggers (the alien enemies) because they are seen less than human and Ender being a third child is seen as unusual, strange and a little less human.
The salient thing about this chapter is the bullying. When Card describes Ender watching Peter like someone watching the sky from bad weather it felt very familiar. I think this part really draws readers in and gives them something to relate to very early in the book. Peter treats Ender as a reminder of Peter's previous potential and eventual failure. In this chapter we see Peter dwelling on these failures and Ender reflects this by his own insecurities about failing even though everyone had high hopes for him. There's this weird pairing of Peter being jealous of Ender's achievements and Ender not having any.
We also learn that the experiment isn't over and when Peter apologizes to Ender, who he thinks is sleeping, we suspect that Peter is part of the experiment. I enjoyed how Peter tells Ender that he loves him, it gives Peter depth and makes him not a flat character.
Bonus: First mention of Mazer Rackham. Peter's ambition for public office
No comments:
Post a Comment