Enders Game Response free essay sample

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 Enders Game â€Å"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. Enders Game,14). This shows love as a part of femininity when Valentine protects Ender from his brother because she loves him. Also, Enders mother shows love to Ender. When he decides to go to the battle school, she crys, hugs and says â€Å"I love you† to him (Enders Game,26). We can see from this scene how Enders mother symbolizes femininity with passion and love. hen 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 Stilson symbolizes the violence that is attached to the male characters in Enders Game (Enders Game,7). This scene emphasizes the vi olent nature of masculinity because the physical fight is considered a masculine characteristic for the majority of the cultures in the world including the authors culture. By showing that, the author expresses that masculinity is very different and almost opposite to the sweetness femininity. In case of Peter, it is a complex character. Sometimes, he symbolizes hatred when he says that he will eventually kill Peter for instance (Enders Game,12). In addition, Peter shows joulesy in different chapters. For instance, when Graff comes to Enders house to take him to The Battle School, Peter envied Ender hoping that he can join the Battle School instead of Ender (Enders Game,26). The author presents harsh and violent masculinity by showing that Peter is hateful and jealous of Ender because he believes that hatred and jelousy are characteristic of pure masculinity. The femininity and masculinity gets closer to each other as the story goes on. The female characters are becoming tougher, colder, and stronger. Petra is the only girl whom we know in the battle school which means she is tough and strong enough to be in this place where the vast majority are males. Also, she has played an important role in helping Ender to win the last battle. She fights in the battle kills many of them until she loses all her ships (Enders Game,301). Here, Petra shows the violence and toughness of masculinity when she fights and trains in the battle school which requires to be strong and tough. Moreover, Valentine becomes like Peter. She has the power to manipulate the others just like Peter. Her own way of manipulation is making other people do what she wants by convincing them. Unlike Valentine, Peter uses peoples fears to get them to do what he wants (Enders Game,127). This demonstrates that Valentine becomes colder in the sense of emotions because she is using the emotions instead of feeling them. On the other hand, masculinity becomes more soft and emotional. Alai, Enders new and one of his best friends, shows respect and sweetness when he knows that Ender is transferred to salamander army. Then, he kisses Ender on the cheek and says â€Å"salaam† to him (Enders Game,69). This shows that masculinity starts showing respect and kindness and less roughness . Also, when Ender visits his sister and both have a conversation, he tells her that he learns about his enemies until he loves them (Enders Game,237). This shows that masculinity becomes more emotional in the story which is considered a characteristic of femininity in a lot of cultures. Finally, the femininity and masculinity becomes closer than the beginning, as the story reaches the end. In the end, masculinity becomes more emotional and delicate. For example, Graff admits that he loves Ender and he cares about him (Enders Game,290). This demonstrates that masculinity is becoming more soft and emotional. Also, Ender regrets when he kills all the buggers which leads him to cry more than any time and see himself like Peter (Enders Game,297). This shows that the becomes more emotional and sensitive which are considered as parts of femininity. On the other hand, femininity becomes more solid and stronger towards the end. Valentine becomes tougher toward her brother. She used â€Å"tough love† to encourage Ender to go back and complete his training by telling him to stop whining when she was with him on Earth (Enders Game,238). Also, the hive-queen manipulated Ender by using sympathy. she uses thoughts to communicate with Ender pictures of the invasions and the killings (Enders Game,321). She acts like Peter in terms of manipulating the others by using other peoples fears. Specifically, being emotional is one of Enders weak points, so she manipulates him by using his fear of being harsh. In conclusion, this novel represents different ideas about femininity and masculinity. The main idea is the relationship between masculinity and femininity. At the beginning, the author characterizes men and women as we know them. Women are filled with emotions, and men are cold-hearted. During the story, we can observe that women changed to be cold-hearted while men turned to be emotional.