Ender's Game Book Summary

Ender’s Game Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is about a boy named Andrew Wiggin, nicknamed Ender, a genius child who does the wrong things for the right reasons. The book was full of psychological thrills and requires a fair amount of intelligence to understand the decisions made in the story. The decisions made by Ender are crucial plot points in the book. Things as simple to defense against bullies to simulated attacks against the Formics, an alien race, could change the fate of everyone. The book starts as Ender is about to get his monitor taken out, a device that monitors Ender’s activity and surroundings and reports them to the International Fleet that watched over him at every moment. His monitor made him an outcast, but it also acted as a form of protection. But once it was removed, it left him vulnerable to his bully,
Stilson’s, attacks. Stilson confronts Ender, calling him a “Third” due to Ender being the exception of a two children per family law. Stilson’s friends hold Ender while he throws punches at him until Ender asks why it takes so many of them to fight him. After the question, they let him go and Ender suddenly kicks Stilson to the floor. Ender thinks ahead and decides to ward off the bullies forever by continuously kicking Stilson to show his ruthlessness and dominance. This is a major plot point in establishing a slight sense of Ender’s ability to think quickly and smartly. But on the other hand, it shows how he does the wrong thing for the right reasons. When Ender returned home, he was upset due to what he had done to Stilson because he didn’t want to be like his brother Peter. Peter was his older brother who was too cruel to pass Battle School, and Valentine was Ender’s older sister who was too “soft” to pass. Peter frequently bullied Ender even coming close to killing him while Valentine was Ender’s only friend. Ender’s guilt for what he did to Stilson showed that he did not want to be like his brother, inheriting his cruelty towards others. The morning after the encounter with Stilson, Colonel Graff visits the Wiggin family to speak with Ender. He asks about the fight that happened earlier and Ender replies that he fought not because he enjoyed it, but because he wanted to establish his dominance to avoid attacks in the future. Graff understands Ender’s decision and is very pleased, telling him that it was a test and that he passed. Graff convinces Ender to leave for Battle School by telling him about the persecution against third children and so on. He also explains that Valentine is the only person that would miss him. Ender’s decision to leave is also a crucial point in the plot.
Since Battle School is far from the planet Earth, Ender must take a shuttle to reach the destination. He enters noticing other children. Once they launch and are in space, Graff enters floating around causing Ender to laugh. Graff questions why he found it funny also asking if anyone else found it funny to which they responded no. Graff then insults them saying that Ender was the only genius on-board. A boy, angered by Graff’s insults, continuously hits Ender with the buckle from his seat. Using his genius ability, Ender times when the boy will hit next and grabs his arm, sending the boy flying into the wall, breaking his arm. This incident is one of the many times that Ender feels like Peter due to his cruel actions, while also demonstrating his superiority to the others.
In chapter three, Ender is introduced to a Mind Game, a sort of game that challenges its player’s knowledge of solving problems. Ender is faced with a giant with two drinks. He must choose the one that is not poisoned to continue, but after many failed attempts, he becomes frustrated with the game and chooses to knock over the drinks and to attack the giant instead. Ender is saddened because even in a game he feels like his brother. His actions show us that sometimes Ender wins by using his wit and breaking the rules.
Ender eats dinner with Alai and returns to the barracks, but when they return, Ender is transferred to the Salamander Army. He plays the Mind Game again until he reaches a door that he moves through when the screen turns black and displays a message telling him to report to his commander. Bonzo, the commander of the Salamanders immediately dislikes Ender. Ender befriends another outcast in the Army named Petra and she teaches him how to fight. During their battles Bonzo instructs Ender to do nothing because he believes that Ender would mess the battle up. But after a couple of battles, Ender instead chooses to fight, winning the game for them while disobeying Bonzo in the process, which causes Bonzo to trade Ender to the Rat Army. This again shows Ender’s sometimes unorthodox ways to win.
Ender is made a commander of a new army called the Dragon Army, where he has proven himself to be a great tactical leader.
After an incident with Bonzo in the bathroom, where a fight ensues causing Ender to accidentally kill Bonzo, Ender wants to go home. He meets with Valentine and she forces him to go to Command School to save mankind. He goes to Command School and learns that the Formic Wars could’ve occurred due to a misunderstanding. 
 It is now time for Ender’s final game against the Formics. He leads his crew through a tough fight, eventually winning the battle for the humans. After the game, it is revealed that it wasn’t a simulation, but instead a real fight where Ender and his crew actually destroyed the Formic race. His guilt gets to him again, and Ender realizes that the Mind Game was a sign from the Formic queen in order to communicate. He learns from her that when the Formics learned of the human race’s intelligence, they did not attack again. Before the queen dies, he is given a Formic egg and it becomes his job to find a place to rebuild the Formic civilization, which in turn reveals Ender’s hidden compassion towards
others.
Ender’s Game was a very thought provoking story. It shows the reader what misunderstanding can become. It also shows readers what can happen of the little decisions we all make. Ender’s Game is very enjoyable because it makes you think how the reader would do things differently if they were to be put in Ender’s situation. Overall, my favorite part of the book was the ending game. It shows how people deceive others to get what they want. This happens way too much in today’s society and the book shows a very good example of this. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card tells the story of Ender Wiggin, a boy whose decisions can change the fate of the world.