English Essays (752 words) - Fiction, Film, Speculative Fiction

English 0ctober 22, 2017 A good Leader A leader, by definition, is a person who leads a group of people, organization or country. In the book "Ender's Game" by Oscar Scott Card, it explains a story of a six-year old boy, Ender Wiggins, who is expected to lead a group of kids in order to save the world from an alien race called the Buggers. Ender has to endure a lot of hard things so that it is possible to save the world. While going through his journey, Ender becomes a good leader. Some things that make him a good leader is that he is a hard worker, he is creative and cares for others. At the age of six, Ender is capable of understanding and working through complex things because he is a hard worker. He thinks farther into the future, plans things out and follows through. Ender says, "I have to win this now and for all time, or I will fight it every day and it will get worse and worse" (Card 7). This is important because it shows that he works through things efficiently. Ender also does his best when he does anything. The adults see that Ender doesn't just do the bare minimum. Graff, Ender's mentor, says "Ender Wiggins is not a killer he just wins thoroughly" (Card 226). His leadership skills are evident in his work ethic. Ender is creative and smart and he encourages others to be creative as well. Ender likes unique ideas. He tells Bean, one of his soldiers, "I need you to be clever Bean, I need you to think of solutions to problems we haven't seen yet. I want you to try things no one else has ever tried because they are absolutely stupid" (Card 198). Ender is very smart. He knows or figures out how to do just about everything. In the book, the author writes "all he had to do is watch the game and understand how things worked, and then he could use the system and even excel" (Card 118). This tells us that no matter what, Ender will figure out a way to succeed. Because of Ender's creativity people follow him and his new ideas. Caring for the people you are leading creates more interest in your goals since you are vested in the outcome of the situation. Ender truly cares about his friends, especially his friend Bean. He says "I'll be watching you more compassionately than you will know, and when the time is right you will find that I am your friend and you are the soldier that you want to be" (Card 168). Ender's capacity to care for people extends even to his enemies. He explains to his sister "In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him" (Card 238). Ender cares for people in a way that a lot of other leaders don't. He is forced to do hard things but never loses his humanity. Some people would argue that Endure isn't capable of being a good leader because he is only six years old. This might seem like a valid point but they live in a society that is dependent on grooming children for battle. Ender is a third, meaning the third child who has a combined personality of his two older siblings giving him traits that catapult him to leadership. Ender's friend from battle school explains the oddity of their situation "I've got a pretty good idea of what children are and we are not children. Children can lose sometimes and nobody cares. Children aren't in armies, they aren't commanders, they don't rule over forty other kids, it's more than anybody can take and not get crazy" (Card 108) . The demands put on them are so great that they're childhood is non-existent, they are forced into mature situations that have life or death outcomes, requiring maturity far more than is typical for their age. Ender endured a lot to become a good leader. Throughout the book he shows his incredible work ethic, creativity and compassion. He takes these characteristics to the next level, First when goes