21 April 2013
Ender's Game has many deep thoughts the reader can conclude. One of the important themes that the story has is the relationship between masculinity and femininity. I like to call the relationship between masculinity and femininity in Ender's Game “the circulation of features”. This name derived from the description and changes in characters. At the beginning the story gives the typical features of men and women. Women are emotional, but men are cold-hearted. At the end, we can observe that the features are turned over. Men expressed their emotions and what they really feel. Plus, women take responsibility and become harsh and cold. In fact, I am going to express the circulation of features in the different phases of the story starting from the beginning to the last chapter.
The femininity and masculinity are represented in opposite ways in the beginning. The femininity is represented in a way that shows sweetness and love because females are considered generally emotional and passionate. We can see that from Valentine who takes care, protects, and encourages her brother. For example, when Peter says that he will kill Ender, Valentine protects Ender and says to Peter that he will not be successful in politics with such a social stigma in his past (Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game,14). This shows love as a part of femininity when Valentine protects Ender from his brother because she loves him. Also, Ender's mother shows love to Ender. When he decides to go to the battle school, she crys, hugs and says “I love you” to him (Ender's Game,26). We can see from this scene how Ender's mother symbolizes femininity with passion and love. when she knows that she is going to miss him, the reader can conclude that whether the relationship is close or not love still exists.. On the other hand, masculinity is represented in a contrast way by introducing the male characters hateful, violent and jealous. The fight between Ender and