NATURE VS. NURTURE: Ender's Game deals with characters failing to live up to our standards of morality, civility, or generosity. Does this novel truly reflect how people are, at their core? Are men and women born with evil in their hearts, or is it shaped by the environment in which they are born and raised? Due during the first 10 minutes of class.
Emily F- I think that everyone is nuetral at birth. They are ignorant and don't know right from wrong. obviously everyone makes mistakes. the way you are is usually shaped by the people who raised them or the society they live in.
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Deleter Anonymous: This comment illustrates beautifully how NOT to respond to the ideas and contributions of your peers. If you disagree, or wish to build upon this idea, then do so. Also, OWN your comments. Don't choose the cowardly 'Anonymous' as a signature. I am disappointed in this response.
DeleteDelaney Cavanaugh-
ReplyDeleteThis novel does not truly reflect how people are at their core because not all people have evil inside of them. There are some people who are genuinely nice and caring and don't want to do any harm to anything or anybody. Men and women are not born with evil in their hearts, but evil is shaped by the environment in which they are born and raised. If you are raised in an environment where you are limited on the number of children you can have and some of your kids are taken at the age of 6 to learn how to kill, evil can be shaped inside of you. Evil isn't something that you can be born with but is something that you shape inside yourself because of your situation or because of what you want in your life.
Jake Morris:
ReplyDeleteI think that most people aren't really born "evil", but more like being influenced to do what they wouldn't do. It's kind of like how Ender kept trying to tell himself that he's not a person that would purposely hurt other people (Peter), but the people in charge of him, like Graff or Mazer, kept manipulating his situation at the school to mold him into this guilt-free battle commander that they wanted him to be like by constantly telling him that he is or by tricking him. I think that if they didn't do this, Ender wouldn't ever have done some of the things he did, like you know, destroying the bugger's planet or beating up Bonzo like he did. So really, Ender was never evil, just made to believe that he is. And in the end, it did kind of make him the way that people are, easily made into what others wanted.
Derek Degnan:
ReplyDeleteIn the real world, no one is born with any source of "evil" within them. One's behavior is shaped by their interpretations of their environment from which they are raised. Ender's Game makes it sound like veryone is born with some evil in their core, but that is not true. You take after those you come in contact with, espicially parents or siblings. Thay have a great influence on the way you behave. School, I think, has the greatest influence of one's behavior. Our goal in life is to fit in with other people, and school is a place that can either make you feel normal, or very left out. It is the natural human way to do anything we can to fit in with the crowd, and that's where an environment can shape how you behave. Therefore, the environment in which you are raised influences the way you act and pretty much who you are.
Matthew Krawetz
ReplyDeleteI believe that all of us are born with a little bit of evil, no matter how nice we are. But, the more evil you bring out depends on who you are, and what goes on in your life. Ender was a shy boy in the beginning, but because of the way they treated him in battle school he naturally got more mean every year. By the time he got to be commander he realize that if you are not hard or tough on people, they are not going to respect you, or listen to you. Peter for example, was said to always have evil in his heart, but it grew when he wasn't accepted to battle school. Then when he had 2 other siblings, his anger grew even more. People no matter what have evil in their heart, whether it be a little or a lot, but it depends on your life and your experiences how much evil is in you.
In this novel, the main theme is good vs. evil. In my opinion, this story isn't an accurate presentation of how people are. Every person is born with only goodness, but how they're raised and what they chose to do with their lives define what they become. This could be proved through Ender. He was raised to be a killer, which he eventually became, but he chose to help the buggers, which showed the goodness in his heart. Men and women are created to be good and bring peace to the world, but if they are raised differently, then the evil overcomes them.
ReplyDeleteConnor Sheehan
ReplyDeleteIn the novel "Ender's Game", Orson Scott Card tries to reflect how people are at their core. She also tries to show that some people are born with evil in their hearts. As for me, I completely agree with these statements. For example, Peter Wiggin is evil not because of his surroundings but because it was his choice. We don't know for sure how Bonzo and Stilson got evil but we can assume they were born with it in their hearts. Card also tries to show what some of the character's true selves were. Most people thought Ender Wiggin was a murderer. But because she wrote in his perspective a lot, we clearly saw that he wasn't a murderer and that he was just following orders or protecting himself. At the end of the novel, we clearly see that Ender is a caring and understanding young man. I believe that Orson Scott Card did a very good job at showing these two ideas. People choose who they want to be and that's what Card's main lesson is in this novel
Anna Wahl
ReplyDeleteI believe all people are born good, but they change depending on the people and places around them. In the Ender's Game, Ender changed depending on his surroundings. When he was put in a place of authority, his attitude towards things changed. For example, when he moved to the Battle School he wanted Graff to be his friend and protect him, but when he was in Graff's position over Bean he wouldn't be a friend to him. As you can see, even the kindest of characters can change because of surroundings. I believe this novel does not truly reflect people at their core because they were in an unusual circumstance.
ReplyDeleteI believe that everyone is good from birth. If they are good or evil as they grow older depends on their surroundings. In the book Ender's Game I think everyone is evil. They would do anything to get what they wanted. Even Ender who was the kindest, changed when he was given a role of authority. This novel does not truly reflect how people are at their core. This is because in the book they were at war and in a very stressful situation. Not everyone is like this
Matthew Mardo-
ReplyDeleteI believe that this novel represents correctly that everyone has a true personality that they show the world throughout their life. Ender had surrounding negative influences that he had to fight throughout the novel in order to remain true to himself. Every person's core is the main part of their personality but I believe that people can change through the course of their life if they wish to. Some are good to their core and others are not which is reflected in the novel when some kids befriend Ender while others despise him.
I believe that a person's environmental influences can definitely shape one's personality and morality. In addition, I believe that people are not born with evil in their hearts because people have the ability to change if they wish to. For example, Ender had an aggressive trait due to growing up with a violent brother. However, as Ender grew up he realized that he did not want to be like his brother and he tried his best to be his own person and leave his aggression trait behind. When growing up, the influences around us shape our hearts and the rest of our lives we spend correcting ourselves to the shape that we desire.
Margaux Bessette
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe this novel does truly reflect how people are. In my opinion people are self centered and just bad people in general that are raised to be better. In this novel they are not raised to be better people therefore they turn out the way they were. Peter is not a good person and Ender recognizes this and pushes himself to be better than Peter, although he only has a little bit of help to achieve this from Valentine. So he does not turn out to be as good as he wants to be.
Jordan Delisle
ReplyDeleteI agree that “Ender’s Game” reflects how people are. Ender always compared himself to other people, like Peter and Mazer Rackham. But in our society, we do the exact same thing. We compare each other to our peers and to people around us. Also, I think that men and women aren't born with evil, but evil is shaped by our government in which we are born and raised. When you are a child, you don't know good from evil, unless you are raised to be a good citizen in society, or you are raised to demolish society. The person you are reflects who raised you and who had an impact your life. Peter was raised by a family that wants to be in a good and safe environment for children, but he wanted to rebel against the government because he felt rejected by the I.F. because his monitor was taken off early than Ender’s. Therefore, government can make or break an entire society and how people react to the government’s actions.
Tyler McCall:
ReplyDeleteI believe that when you are first born, you are born into purity, untouched by the evils and corruption of the world around you. People are shaped into evil and malicious creatures from their surroundings and the people who raise them. In Ender’s Game, I feel as if the novel truly does reflect who people are, at their core. For example, Ender Wiggin, was born pure, just as Valentine, and Peter. However, Ender wasn’t shaped into corruption and evil like Peter. It’s almost as if Ender defended himself from the evil that was Peter, because he never wanted to be like Peter. The same goes for Valentine as well. Ender’s core was pure from the start, and he managed to keep it that way, even though he went through all these troubles at such a young age, starting with Peter, then with accidental murders, and even defending him home planet from the alien race humans called “Buggers”. This novel perfectly explains that everyone starts pure, right to the core, and that you have to keep it that way, even though the society/environment around you may try to take that purity away from you.
Amelia H.
ReplyDeleteI believe that when we are born, we are innocent and unaware of the influences in the world. But as we grow older and more mature, we adapt to how our environment around us is. Ender was born, and was a normal child. But he begins to notice that he is becoming a little more like his older brother because of the games. He adapted to that environment. He also beat up the leader of a gang at school because he adapted to that situation and wanted to make his statement clear to Stilson.
Tyler Balon
ReplyDeleteI believe that all people have evil in them, and depending on the enviroment theyre raised in will dictate who they are. Ender had evil inside him all along but only chose to use it when confronted by enemies like the Buggers and Bonzo. This is what makes him different than Peter who didnt know when to surpress his evil, and Valentine who didnt know when to use it. Ender unfortunately was forced to use his evil and was rewarded when he did(Hurting Stilson and getting sent to battle school, killing Bonzo and being promoted to command school, and destroying millions of buggers and being labeled as a hero). None of these things wouldve had happened in my opinion if he wasnt sent to battle school. This is why I think enviroment will shape who you are, and the evil you decide to use.
Erika Jeffers
ReplyDeleteThe Ender's Game is an excellent demonstration of how the environment you are raised in affects who you really are at the core of your own heart. As much as Ender was always saying he was never going to be anything like Peter, Peter obviously had influenced Ender's ways through out their childhood together. As Ender received more promotions, the more he seemed to be embracing his "Peter side". Ender would pick on innocent students under his command, take control over everything, and even other commanders were talking about how Ender was beginning to act just like Peter. If it weren't for Ender being raised with Peter by his side and being exposed to and influenced by his aggressive ways, Ender would have handled his position as commander much differently. Not every man and woman are born with evil in their hearts, evil is developed over time by the influence of others. Such as Ender's influence by Peter.
Alexis Alexander
ReplyDeletePeople show who they are based on the circumstances. In a live or die type of situation like in Ender's game people tend to do what they have to to survive or "make it" in the type of society they are in. Human beings don't necessarily do something that is "wrong" to hurt others more of they do it because they are doing what is best for themselves. That doesn't mean they're an evil person. If you are never in a type of environment such as in Ender's Game then you don't have an opportunity to show your true colors as you would in an "eat or be eaten" way of living. I don't believe the majority of people considered "evil" based on their actions actually are, they are just self centered. To be evil you have to have an intent to hurt someone or have that be your only purpose. Ender's Game does show who people are at the core but that doesn't make them evil.
Jillian Anter
ReplyDeleteMen and women aren't born with evil in their hearts in most cases. It seems as though the environment forms the evil in people because people are born with no knowledge, and therefore they have no idea of what they will like or dislike about society. If somebody is evil from the start, they most likely got it from their parents who got their evil instinct from their own environment or where they grew up. It all depends on a persons take of the world around them. If they like what's going on then they will probably be good at heart and help out their environment, like Ender for example. But, if there is someone like Peter, who is evil at heart, then they most likely got their hatred for the people, or the environment from the place they were born and raised. People at their core are essentially all the same, it's just a matter of whether or not they eventually learn to cope with society.
Ender’s Game does reflect how people truly are at their core. Each and every person on Earth has something that annoys them, something that makes them tick. When this happens, there is always a natural urge as to a reaction and this urge is always evil. How the person deals with this urge is shaped by the environment and people around them. In the beginning of the story when Ender felt threatened by Peter, he always wanted to get revenge on Peter, but he never did. Why? Because the society Ender spent the first six years of his life in was a nurturing one, one that frowned upon violence. When he went to Battle School, he began to be taught that it was okay to eliminate your competition so-to-speak. The evil urges he got when annoyed began to take over and he began giving in to them. This was a result of two things- the society he was living in and his age. As he got older and was removed from this environment, his mental strength enabled him to overcome this urge. See, our natural and evil urges can either thrive or be suppressed depending on the environment in which a person lives and our strength and ability to overcome it.
ReplyDeleteSean Doris Period G
ReplyDeleteIn this book the main theme is good vs. evil. I believe that in this story is accurate because not everyone is born evil. For instants when Ender was brought to battle school and command school he was traded to be a killer. However after he found out that he wiped out the bugger species except for one bugger egg , he decided that he should help the bugger species reproduce themselves and make new colonies. Therefore it shows that even though they trained Ender to be evil to save humanity he was still nice and caring so trying to save the bugger after they were extinct.
Samantha Leal
ReplyDeleteI agree with both views because some of the characters in Ender's Game do appear to be born with evil in their heart while others are just going along with the way society is, they are brought up thinking a certain way rather than trying to change the way the world. For example, someone like the character Peter seems to be born with evil in his heart because right from the beginning he was very hateful and violent. Ender and his sister Valentine, however, were very kind and loving and since all three of them were raised together it must be that Peter was truly hateful and violent. On the other side some characters could’ve been seen as evil but only because that’s the way society is and how they were brought up and raised. One character that demonstrated this was Ender because although he knew in his heart that he was not evil or a murder like his brother he destroyed the Buggers and killed two boys because that was what society was pushing him into. His whole life was set up for him and he was raised into a cruel world.
Aidan Enright Period G
ReplyDeleteEvil is a part of society no matter if someone is born with it or if it becomes a part of them through the means of others. I feel that there are people that never have a chance to do the right thing because they have what they feel is an uncontrollable urge that makes them do the wrong thing. When the average person thinks of murder they think of street gangs that kill to protect their turf and the people they love but what people dont understand is that these people were born into the world where they had to kill in order to survive. By law what these people do is still murder buts it not because they want to but because they have to. Everyone is born with evil but the difference between the good people and the bad people is that the good people know how to control it while bad people fall victim to their urges.
Jenn Salvadore
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, different characters experienced themselves changing throughout the book, especially for Ender Wiggins. Every time Ender got promoted, he began to act more like Peter, which is what he claimed he was “scared of the most”. This begins to show when he killed both Stilson and Bonzo brutally. This shows that men and women are both shaped by the environments in which they are born and raised. For example, Ender grew up with his brother, Peter, always beating him up and bullying him. Ender then grew up with nothing but hatred toward Peter. Also, everyone is the same at birth. In other words, people aren’t automatically evil. They need to be effected by something that had happened in their life for them to have such anger. Throughout this book, Ender's hatred began to show, but the reason for this was how he had been affected by Peter Wiggins. This novel truly reflects how people are, especially by the way Ender Wiggins' attitude changed throughout the novel.
Rebecca Brierly
ReplyDeleteI believe that this novle does reflect how people are at their core. In the book the characters are forced to be higher than standered in order to be noticed in the community. In order to be seen highly in the community in the book, you had to be so advanced that you could be put into battle school to fight in the next invasion. I do believe that men and women were born evil or good. I think everyone has some evil in them, but ender doesnt choose to use in unless he has to, while peter does. It is really just how you choose to handle it.
Victoria Lane
ReplyDeleteI believe that this novel does reflect some what of how people are at their core. In this novel the people had to live up to standards of others,just like in the real world where we have to live up to our standers and take resposiblity.Like in the book Ender had to meet the standers of the IF offices to become eligible to get into battle school. In the end he metthe standers and got into battle school. I however think that you are not born with an evil heart.Everyone is born without knowing anything and with no personality yet. You are shapped as a person by your surrondings and I believe that if you are surronded by evil people that you will learn there traits. I think everyone is diffrent and the world makes who they are,you are natured by everything around. For example Ender was so innocent and once he entered the battle school things shapped him into a diffrent person. He didnt change that much but he changed becuase of what he was surronded by and the standereds he had to meet up to. In conclusion everyone in my mind is born without a past there for you are shapped into who you are but its how you let the world shape you that determines if you have an evil heart.