The Giant's Drink Symbolism
The Significance of the Giant’s Drink In Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, the “mind game” is a constantly changing computer game made for the students and is used by the commanders of the battle school as a tool to monitor and analyze how the students are feeling. Ender Wiggin becomes increasingly obsessed with the game, specifically after he becomes stuck at the “Giant’s Drink”. At this point, the game seems to hit a dead end, with none of the options for the player to take being the right one and all of them ending in their “death”. The game would then reset itself so that the player might try again, and fail again. The Giant’s Drink is symbolic to many parts of Ender’s life; he sees, in the battle school, that following orders will barely
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get him anywhere, and that unconventional thinking is the only escape from the pattern. The game emphasizes that the only way that he will be able to win or get ahead is by bending or breaking the rules. Further with this point, it could represent Colonel Graff and the relationship that Ender has with him, in the sense that both Graff and the Giant expect Ender to be able to think more creatively in order to solve problems. This part of the game also highlights the struggle that Ender has with his position, torn between his ambitions and his morals. People are always told that one must stand out in order to be noticed, and this still applies to the battle school. All of the students there are expected to follow all orders, but Ender is constantly put into situations where he can only get ahead by thinking abstractly and breaking the rules. The Giant in the game is teasing Ender with the idea of a magical “Fairyland”; a perfect world as a reward for solving his impossible puzzle. However, no matter how many attempts Ender makes to get past the Giant by following his orders, he always fails. Being frustrated after many, many attempts to get past the Giant fairly, Ender has a makes the decision to attack the Giant. Only after this point is the Giant’s promise of Fairyland fulfilled and Ender is allowed to continue in the game. Even though the Giant didn’t say it, it is made clear that [tackling a problem head-on will not always be the most efficient / right way to solve it].
By extension of this, the Giant could also represent Graff and Ender’s relationship with him. Graff “teases” Ender with the promise of good things in exchange for his continuation in the school program. Graff, himself, seems to blur the lines of what is ethical and what is necessary when trying to get a specific result out of Ender. What Ender doesn’t know at the beginning, however – parallel to what happens with the Giant – is that Graff expects him to do horrific things in order to achieve his goal and, ultimately, “win”. Towards the end of the novel, Ender discovers he has, essentially, caused the extinction of an entire species. Graff understood that, had Ender known the true impact of what he was doing, that he would abandon the task, so he simply presented it to Ender as a game that he could win, unaware of the real consequences. Alternatively, the Giant’s Drink can be seen as a symbol of the struggle that Ender has between his ambitions and his morals. Ender’s ambitions are amplified once he reaches the battle school, partly because the expectations of him are held so high by others, and partly because he has always felt that he is the smartest and wants to prove it. At this specific part of the novel, Ender is obsessed with the mind game – more importantly that he, the smartest child at the battle school, is unable to get past a seemingly simple task. But these kind of motivations, such as becoming a fleet commander, can come with a heavy price. Ender arrives at the beginning of the novel with a particular set of morals which he continually tries to address and stay true to throughout the story, referring to anything that falls outside of his scope of morality as “Peter”. The Giant’s Drink causes him to focus on and deal with how these morals of his might affect his ambitions; he expresses that he would never want to kill anyone, but events inside and out of the game cause him to become a killer – often unintentionally – to achieve his goal. This is not just represented by his attack on the Giant but also his fight with Stilson, in which he breaks the rules of combat – kicking an opponent when they are on the ground. Even though Ender acknowledges that that was something that “only an animal would do” (7), he knew that he had to win the fight enough that he would win all of the next ones too. Following the fight with Stilson, even though he broke the rules, Ender is offered a place at the battle school; to parallel, after killing the Giant Ender is rewarded by finally getting access to Fairyland. At neither of these points does Ender feel relieved or triumphant, but instead has a crisis of whether he is even himself or if he is “Peter”. Peter, not as a name but as a verb, means to slowly diminish or dwindle, which is the effect that this game (and his commanders) has on Ender’s moral compass. He must erode it away in order to achieve his objective; he must become Peter. Ender expresses a massive amount of discomfort with having to become a killer to win the game, having to peter his morals away in order to succeed. This also addresses his struggle with the idea of pain, death and dying and his ultimate role in the matter – or, more importantly, whether he believes that he should have one. “He hadn’t meant to kill the Giant. This was supposed to be a game. Not a choice between his own grisly death and an even worse murder.” (65)
Ender is an intelligent child; he understands that, if something is threatening another, some form of action must be taken. He understands this, yes, but he struggles with the idea of himself, a child, being the one to deal with these problems. He wanted the situation with Bonzo to be dealt with, but he did not necessarily want to settle it himself. When Bonzo approached him in the shower, Ender knew he had to win this battle so that there would be no more battles, but he did not intend to kill him. Ender also knew that the commanders at the school monitored his every move; they knew he, if threatened, would fight hard and dirty so that he never had to fight again, and they knew what he was capable but did not try to stop him. Even though he understands that the mind game is, in fact, just a game, he is still uneasy with the idea of causing harm to anyone or anything. Ender understands that he will be unable to get ahead or “win” unless he is willing to become a brutal image of himself – what he sees as “Peter”.
He becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that he is getting rewarded for committing horrific acts, such as (unknowingly) killing Stilson and being accepted at the battle school, and killing the Giant and being allowed access to Fairyland. It is possible that he sees the Giant as an image of Graff – a looming figure watching his every move, offering rewards if Ender can meet their secretly gruesome demands, and offering more chances if he cannot. Ender’s morals – while helping him to stay true to himself and what he believes is right – prevent him from seeing the rewards of his actions and keep him focused on the consequences. While this is not necessarily a bad quality, especially in Ender’s case when he is subject to some horrible things, it is simply worth it to note that Ender became distressed after beating the Giant’s Drink, where other students of the school would likely feel a sense of triumph for achieving this. Ender’s ambitions to be the best should have brought this sense of pride in him for doing something that no one else ever had in the game, however his morals caused him to, instead, address the fact that he does not think it is right to be a murderer and he does not see it as his place to deal
death.
Works Cited:
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game. New York: Tor, 1991. Print.
get him anywhere, and that unconventional thinking is the only escape from the pattern. The game emphasizes that the only way that he will be able to win or get ahead is by bending or breaking the rules. Further with this point, it could represent Colonel Graff and the relationship that Ender has with him, in the sense that both Graff and the Giant expect Ender to be able to think more creatively in order to solve problems. This part of the game also highlights the struggle that Ender has with his position, torn between his ambitions and his morals. People are always told that one must stand out in order to be noticed, and this still applies to the battle school. All of the students there are expected to follow all orders, but Ender is constantly put into situations where he can only get ahead by thinking abstractly and breaking the rules. The Giant in the game is teasing Ender with the idea of a magical “Fairyland”; a perfect world as a reward for solving his impossible puzzle. However, no matter how many attempts Ender makes to get past the Giant by following his orders, he always fails. Being frustrated after many, many attempts to get past the Giant fairly, Ender has a makes the decision to attack the Giant. Only after this point is the Giant’s promise of Fairyland fulfilled and Ender is allowed to continue in the game. Even though the Giant didn’t say it, it is made clear that [tackling a problem head-on will not always be the most efficient / right way to solve it].
By extension of this, the Giant could also represent Graff and Ender’s relationship with him. Graff “teases” Ender with the promise of good things in exchange for his continuation in the school program. Graff, himself, seems to blur the lines of what is ethical and what is necessary when trying to get a specific result out of Ender. What Ender doesn’t know at the beginning, however – parallel to what happens with the Giant – is that Graff expects him to do horrific things in order to achieve his goal and, ultimately, “win”. Towards the end of the novel, Ender discovers he has, essentially, caused the extinction of an entire species. Graff understood that, had Ender known the true impact of what he was doing, that he would abandon the task, so he simply presented it to Ender as a game that he could win, unaware of the real consequences. Alternatively, the Giant’s Drink can be seen as a symbol of the struggle that Ender has between his ambitions and his morals. Ender’s ambitions are amplified once he reaches the battle school, partly because the expectations of him are held so high by others, and partly because he has always felt that he is the smartest and wants to prove it. At this specific part of the novel, Ender is obsessed with the mind game – more importantly that he, the smartest child at the battle school, is unable to get past a seemingly simple task. But these kind of motivations, such as becoming a fleet commander, can come with a heavy price. Ender arrives at the beginning of the novel with a particular set of morals which he continually tries to address and stay true to throughout the story, referring to anything that falls outside of his scope of morality as “Peter”. The Giant’s Drink causes him to focus on and deal with how these morals of his might affect his ambitions; he expresses that he would never want to kill anyone, but events inside and out of the game cause him to become a killer – often unintentionally – to achieve his goal. This is not just represented by his attack on the Giant but also his fight with Stilson, in which he breaks the rules of combat – kicking an opponent when they are on the ground. Even though Ender acknowledges that that was something that “only an animal would do” (7), he knew that he had to win the fight enough that he would win all of the next ones too. Following the fight with Stilson, even though he broke the rules, Ender is offered a place at the battle school; to parallel, after killing the Giant Ender is rewarded by finally getting access to Fairyland. At neither of these points does Ender feel relieved or triumphant, but instead has a crisis of whether he is even himself or if he is “Peter”. Peter, not as a name but as a verb, means to slowly diminish or dwindle, which is the effect that this game (and his commanders) has on Ender’s moral compass. He must erode it away in order to achieve his objective; he must become Peter. Ender expresses a massive amount of discomfort with having to become a killer to win the game, having to peter his morals away in order to succeed. This also addresses his struggle with the idea of pain, death and dying and his ultimate role in the matter – or, more importantly, whether he believes that he should have one. “He hadn’t meant to kill the Giant. This was supposed to be a game. Not a choice between his own grisly death and an even worse murder.” (65)
Ender is an intelligent child; he understands that, if something is threatening another, some form of action must be taken. He understands this, yes, but he struggles with the idea of himself, a child, being the one to deal with these problems. He wanted the situation with Bonzo to be dealt with, but he did not necessarily want to settle it himself. When Bonzo approached him in the shower, Ender knew he had to win this battle so that there would be no more battles, but he did not intend to kill him. Ender also knew that the commanders at the school monitored his every move; they knew he, if threatened, would fight hard and dirty so that he never had to fight again, and they knew what he was capable but did not try to stop him. Even though he understands that the mind game is, in fact, just a game, he is still uneasy with the idea of causing harm to anyone or anything. Ender understands that he will be unable to get ahead or “win” unless he is willing to become a brutal image of himself – what he sees as “Peter”.
He becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that he is getting rewarded for committing horrific acts, such as (unknowingly) killing Stilson and being accepted at the battle school, and killing the Giant and being allowed access to Fairyland. It is possible that he sees the Giant as an image of Graff – a looming figure watching his every move, offering rewards if Ender can meet their secretly gruesome demands, and offering more chances if he cannot. Ender’s morals – while helping him to stay true to himself and what he believes is right – prevent him from seeing the rewards of his actions and keep him focused on the consequences. While this is not necessarily a bad quality, especially in Ender’s case when he is subject to some horrible things, it is simply worth it to note that Ender became distressed after beating the Giant’s Drink, where other students of the school would likely feel a sense of triumph for achieving this. Ender’s ambitions to be the best should have brought this sense of pride in him for doing something that no one else ever had in the game, however his morals caused him to, instead, address the fact that he does not think it is right to be a murderer and he does not see it as his place to deal
death.
Works Cited:
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game. New York: Tor, 1991. Print.