Enders Game Anticipation guide

1. Lying is justifiable if it's for the greater good:
        I strongly agree with that.  I think that if it is for the greater good then  lying is beyond exceptionable.  Sometimes there will be times when the truth isn't what someone wants to here and a lie, if not something extreme, is the only solution. This is very controversial topic because at the beginning (page 22), Ender's parents lie to him, but if the they hadn't, then he wouldn't  have gone to battle school.  Although, if Graff hadn't tricked him into killing the Buggers that war would still be unresolved in the humans minds.   Before Ender killed the Buggers the queen Bugger had decided that killing the humans wasn't the right thing to do.  I think that overall, my opinion has changed, because even though there all times when lying seems like the only alternative, it's really never a good thing because there will be consequences.


2. Sometimes violence is the only way to solve a problem:
       I strongly agree with this because sometimes words aren't going to help you in a situation when someone doesn't really care what you have to say to them, and if you don't fight back, then the odds are against you.  My opinion has changed because after Mazer informed him that he had killed stilson and Bonzo after beating them, he then began to think of himself as a killer and it definitely wasn't good for his reputation, or how he thought about himself anymore. 

3. It is okay to kill someone in self-defense:
       If you just happen to kill someone well defending yourself then so be it.  They knew what they were getting into threatening you or trying to kill you. Sometimes killing someone when there coming at you will be the only way for you to protect yourself.  Honestly, I think that my opinion on this is reasonable.  What I said before exactly relates to what happened between Ender and Bonzo.  Bonzo came at Ender threatening him, and Ender felt that in that situation that self defense was the only  way to save himself.  After Ender had realized that he had actually killed Bonzo (page 308), I think that he had thought more about it, and that if a similar situation like that were to come up like that again he would respond differently.

4.Words are stronger than fist:
     I don't really agree with this because if someone is about to shoot you then you saying "Wait! No!" isn't going to stop them like it does in movies, if someone really wants to kill you and they have the opportunity to then there not going to hold back just cause you don't want them to, or have a silly excuse for them not to.  I guess that what i said before wasn't necessarily true.  Because in Enders Game, if he humans and the buggers had communicated more then maybe they would have had more understanding of each other and saw that there was no reason to battle.  Although, if the humans didn't attack the buggers in the end then there might still be some unsettled tension between them leaving the humans unsatisfied.

 5. Bullies hurt others because they have low self esteem:
    I think that this is often the case why bullies are how they are.  Mostly I think it's because they have family problems or insecurities and bringing other people as low as them makes them feel better.  Although, in real life situations  this may usually be the case, that's not always how it is.  For example,  when Bonzo was bullying Ender the reason was because I think that he felt that Ender was becoming more successful then him, and he was always used to being at the top of the food chain, always getting good grades and achieving his goals, but Ender kind of came in and began to overthrow his accomplishments. 

6. Only the best and brightest students should receive the best education to become a nation's leader 
  I don't think that this is far at all, there for I strongly disagree.  You can not judge a person by there interpretation of  the work your giving them.  Several of the smartest people today weren't bright from the beginning.  Just because someone doesn't do the best in elementary school doesn't mean that they should be handed a lower education for high school and college.  Ender being the third child, he has always been different, he was the perfect combination, he had killer instincts, but the perfect amount of sympathy as well.  Although Ender hadn't been as bright in his academics before battle school, they saw that he had potential, therefore I agree with my earlier state meant, that it is not far to only allow the brighter children higher eduction, because Ender ended up saving the world.


7. Revenge is never justified:
     I entirely agree with this because revenge is never okay or necessary.  There is never a good enough reason to get back at someone after something already happened.  If you try to get revenge on someone who has changed and is no longer the person they were before then it will bring no good, because someone may regret something they did a long time ago.  When someone does something to you the best revenge is to forget about it to show that your a bigger person.  What I said before may vary, because in the end I think that Ender felt obligated attack buggers even though they decided to go back to their home planet.   I think  this is all because Ender knew that the humans were seeking revenge on the buggers, since that was what had started the constant battling between them in the first place.  However I still believe that the buggers didn't deserve to be attacked because after they realized that there was no point in attacking the humans they retreated.

   


 8. Crying is evidence of weakness:
     Crying is always evidence of weakness, but it doesn't mean that it's not okay to do so.  Crying shows weakness because it's pain leaving your body.  Crying solves nothing and if you cry when your in a fight it's only going to make you look more vulnerable.  Once you cry your just giving into your enemy, making them feel better, like they've succeeded.  There for this statement is 100% accurate. At the begining when all the boys are in their dorm rooms before they're launched and they begin to cry in there sleep, I honestly don't think there showing necessarily weakness, i mean,  you would be crazy not to cry if you going to battle school, knowing that you never going to see you family again and probably going to die.  That being said, I don't think that it was fair for me to say that crying is evidence of weakness.


 9. .Any action is acceptable in war:
     When you go to war I believe that any action is acceptable.  There are no rules and people will go to extremes to in order to stay alive.   I think that really the battle had started when Ender had just begun battle school because the other kids didn't necessarily like him since he was above all else.  Therefor there were a lot of broad moves that he had to make in order to stay on top.   I strongly disagree with this after reading the book because how Bonzo attacked Ender since he had kind of over thrown his success, and Ii don't think that was a really acceptable move for Bonzo to make.


 10. Teenagers need discipline and rules because they can't control themselves:
      Teenagers definitely do need to discipline to teach them what's okay and keep them in line.  Imagine if we had no boundaries or rules,  it would be complete chaos.  Teenagers can't control themselves because there just learning what it's like in the real world and so they need discipline and rules to teach them what's okay and what's not.  I still strongly agree with what i said before because i mean imagine what it would have been like if there were no adults at battle school, the children would be totally out of line.  Even when Ender first arrives at battle school, he brakes a kids arm, and that's with Graff present.  If Graff wouldn't have been their it would have been even worse.

 11. Only though personal sacrifice can someone create positive change:
     This is definitely true because in order to get positive change there's always something that needs to be sacrificed.  If you notice is movies there's always some kind of obstacle that they need to pass and something that they need to leave behind in order to get positive change, most of all the thing that they leave behind is something that's been holding them 
When Ender sacrificed his childhood by going to battle school I think that technically he was making a positive change.  He knew that he wouldn't be able to see his family again and that he could no longer go on living normally  that Ender was the chosen one to become a leader and save the human race.  If he hadn't made those sacrifices at the beginning then something positive probably wouldn't come out of it.


 12. Generating compassion for your enemies is the only way to create peace:
        I disagree with this probably because that's never been how I've solved my issues with people.  Most of the time I'll just ignore someone who I'm having problems with or just be normal acquaintances with them but I'm afraid that if I'm nice to them then they'll think it's a joke and get even more angry.  I'm not sure how I feel about this now even after reading the book.  I probably agree with this because when Ender is attacking the buggers at the very End, the had never really tried to understand each others race, therefor not generating any compassion  but if they would have then maybe the story would have ended differently.