Social Commentary In Ender's Game

Does individualizing outstanding people cause others to work harder to be just as good? In Orson Scott Card’s novel, Ender’s Game, imagery, figurative language, foreshadowing, and archetype are used to demonstrate the idea that singling out successful individuals helps those who are not as successful work harder.
Ender’s Game conveys the social commentary that singling out successful individuals will encourage others to work harder with the use of imagery. For example, when their first battle room practice is over, Ender thinks to himself “[w]hy had he gone for the smallest, weakest, and possibly the brightest of the boys?” (167). Card expresses this social commentary by explaining how Ender chose to praise only Bean. When Ender only praises Bean, the other boys in the army also wanted to succeed and get praised just as much, so they work harder. This shows that the best one out of a group is singled out to encourage others to work hard as well.
Figurative language, specifically hyperbole, implies the concept of how singling out certain individuals helps with the succession of others. For instance, during the launch to the Battle School, Graff says to the boys on the launch “[t]here’s only one boy on this launch with any brains at all, and that’s Ender Wiggin” (31-32). Colonel Graff tells
Specifically, after Dragon Army’s first battle, this scene is “Ender began to eat, slowly and carefully, pretending not to notice that he was the center of attention” (182). Dragon Army wins their first battle with Ender as commander and all the other commanders are astonished by Ender’s ability to win his first battle as a commander at his size and age. None of the commanders want to go congratulate Ender for being promoted to commander or winning his first battle. Here, archetype intensifies the view that commending only certain people will help with the succession of