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 Ender’s Game “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. Ender’s Game,14).
This shows love as a part of femininity when Valentine protects Ender from his brother because she loves him. Also, Ender’s mother shows love to Ender. When he decides to go to the battle school, she crys, hugs and says “I love you” to him (Ender’s Game,26).
The Essay on Ill Always Love You Short Story
Good night mom and dad; I'll see you in the morning, and I'm really sorry." Tiffany said as she trudged up the stairs. It was just a couple days before Christmas, and ever since Tiffany and Megan had goten out of school for Christmas break, Megan had spent every night with her boyfriend, Derrick. "I always have to be home by 10:00 no matter what. It's not fair; I'm 15 years old, I'm not a child ...
We can see from this scene how Ender’s 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 Ender’s Game (Ender’s Game,7).
This scene emphasizes the violent nature of masculinity because the physical fight is considered a masculine characteristic for the majority of the cultures in the world including the author’s 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 (Ender’s Game,12).
In addition, Peter shows joulesy in different chapters. For instance, when Graff comes to Ender’s house to take him to The Battle School, Peter envied Ender hoping that he can join the battle school instead of Ender (Ender’s 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 (Ender’s 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 people’s fears to get them to do what he wants (Ender’s Game,127).
Ender’s Game Critical Essay Paper
Henry Truong Mr. Wilk English 2 10 May 2013 Hidden Dangers Before 13 “Because never in my entire childhood did I feel like a child. I felt like a person all along—the same person that I am today. ” (Card xvii) In Orson Scott Card’s novel, Ender’s Game, Ender Wiggin, a little 6 year old boy, is recruited into Battle School by Colonel Graff and the International Fleet to save mankind from an alien ...
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, Ender’s 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 “salaam” to him (Ender’s 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 (Ender’s 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 (Ender’s 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 (Ender’s 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 “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 (Ender’s 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 (Ender’s Game,321).
She acts like Peter in terms of manipulating the others by using other people’s fears.
The Dissertation on Masculinity And Femininity In Sports
The media today portrays a culture as well as a way of life. It not only brings us entertainment, it also is a means of today to keep in touch with the outside world. My discussion will be about sport and media and how this is related to the views of masculinity and femininity. I will use this topic to discuss how meaning structures are used and how people apply 'meaning systems'. I will also ...
Specifically, being emotional is one of Ender’s 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.
