Riddley Walker and Ender's Game - Essay Example

"Riddley Walker" and "Enders Game" Enders Game The year is 2070. Forty years have passed since the devastating alien invasion of earth, and the world is in search of soldiers to lead them to victory when the "Buggers" return. Now they are drafting young children, who must first pass a test, to a Battle School orbiting the Earth. This is where they are trained to be soldiers. One of those who are drafted is young Ender (Andrew Wiggin),only six years old, who has made many new enemies and rivals upon his arrival. He must now study and work hard to become what is wanted of him, a no-mercy commander, to take on the "Buggers". His strength and genius pull him to the top of the list of the extremely competitive games in the Battle Room. The Battle Room is a combat area in which armies of soldiers, the children, engage in fake wars. This is easy for Ender. The only problem he has is the dangerous older boy who is determined to kill ender, the teachers who are pushing him too hard, and struggling with himself, as he is trying to be a decent human being rather than be like the "Buggers", which he sees himself turning into. (Easton 180-181) The subplot in this novel is the part when the author goes back to the Earth where Peter and Valentine are trying to gain power through the net boards online so that they can rule the world. Voice: Omniscient narrator. The narrator is mostly first person from enders point of view but occasionally , we are given insight on other characters also. (Green 458) Theme: One theme of this novel is the role of children in this world. We underestimate the power and impact children can have on this world and we should start to use children to make this world a better place and not see them as inferior to adults because some children are smarter and can think quicker than adults. Characters Ender - Ender is the main character in the story and he is six years old when the story begins. He is the younger brother of Peter and Valentine, at age six Ender is chosen by Colonel Graff and the International Fleet to help save mankind from the buggers. Ender is afraid of his brother and loves his sister. Wherever he goes, Ender makes things happen, and by age nine he is given his own army to command. Ender is angry at the various people who manipulate him throughout the novel. Valentine - Enders older sister is the only person in the world who truly loves him. She protects him from Peter, their cruel older brother. Along with Peter, Valentine takes an active interest in the worlds political situation, and writing under the false name Demosthenes, she begins to exert influence over the growing situation. Valentine also writes a letter to Ender at one point that helps him get control of himself. At the end of the book, Valentine convinces Ender to go with her to colonize the bugger worlds, and she works on a history of the world on the way there. Later she travels with Ender as he searches for a new world for the buggers. Peter - Enders older brother Peter is a cruel and evil child, gifted in manipulation. He has the same ruthlessness that his siblings contain but without any of their compassion. Valentine is able to protect Ender as best she can from Peter until Ender goes away. Peter then decides to take an active role in world affairs and convinces Valentine to help him. Under the false name Locke he begins to gather power, working through the communication nets. After Enders victory Peter obtains total control of earth and becomes Hegemon, the ruler of the world. His ambition is satisfied and he actually makes for a good ruler, although he is as immoral as he ever was. Colonel Graff - Graff has unerring faith in Ender and, although he manipulates Ender, he also loves him. Graff is the head of the Battle School until Ender leaves, at which time he accompanies him until he passes off the training of Ender to Mazer Rackham. He is one of the few characters who at various times allows Ender to act like the child he is, although Graff also demands much of Ender. He is put on trial after the war because of the deaths of Stilson and Bonzo but acquitted. Bean - Enders last friend at Battle School, Bean is very inspired by Ender when he first arrived. Bold and brilliant, Bean helps Ender with Dragon Army and also helps him hold on to his humanity. He is one of Enders commanders against the buggers. Alai - A member of Enders launch group, Alai becomes Enders best friend and helps him gain acceptance with the other recruits. Several times his friendship is enough to keep Ender from falling into despair. Later on he is one of Enders commanders in the battles against the buggers. Riddley Walker Peter Carey once said of Riddley Walker that it looks like Chaucer in need of a spell-check, but that by the second page you will be reading it like a native. Carey may have nailed it in a few paragraphs but it took me several chapters (I was too busy concentrating to count how many) to understand what Hoban was banging on about. This is because the novel, set 2,000 years into a post-apocalyptic future, is written in a phonetically mutated English rich in ambiguity: for example, "Prime Minister" becomes "Pry Mincer" and "trial and error" becomes "tryl narrer". Its eponymous hero is a 12-year-old boy from a primitive culture who inherits from his father the role of "connexion man". He must interpret the "Eusa show", a Punch and Judy-style entertainment depicting the catastrophic consequences of "cleverness" -the technological knowhow that led to the nuclear holocaust. When Riddley learns of the Pry Mincers aim to recover the lost cleverness, he is forced to go on the run, and the forbidden knowledge he uncovers has repercussions for the future of mankind. (Hoban 1-3) Despite rave reviews when it came out in 1980, Hobans masterpiece went out of print for years and was later reissued -with a glossary -in 1998 and again in 2002. But while the glossary ("A Short Guide to Riddleyspeak") is useful it rather spoils the fun of the puzzle, and I suspect that Hoban included it grudgingly. In the Afterword to the new edition, he declares: "I was a good speller before I wrote that book; I no longer am." English teachers and proofreaders: read it at your peril. I really havent read...Russell Hobans books for children. His Frances the Badger stories are considered classics, apparently. Hoban is playing with the creative process (of writing, remembering, loving) in such a swift manner that we must clutch at clues to the underlying form of the novel. In this novel of search and "research" - the latter is a chapter title - he gives us such disparate names as Barry Manilow, Doris Day, Apasmara (an Indian deity), Schubert, the Hanged Man, Jasper Johns, Ursa Major. He forces us to confront different cultural icons and values. Perhaps Hoban manipulates us so that we must help create a world in which what we know may require us to know more than we know. The thrilling, musical, cinematic novel teaches us the peace beyond understanding: "Lola hears the music not voicing what is in it that wants to speak and she shakes her head and starts again. Memory! Sometimes the widening ripples of dark waters, sometimes flecks of gold in the bed of a stream.... Changing lights and changing shadows always, images dim and deep or sticking up sharp and dangerous." Lolas music, like this apparently sparkling novel, requires effort. It is an offbeat, charming, inventive, and philosophical creation, unlike any recent novel I have read. Works Cited Easton, Tom, review of Enders Game, in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, Vol. CV, No. 7, July, 1985, pp. 180-181. Green, Roland, review of Enders Game, in Booklist, Vol. 81, No. 7, December 1, 1984, p. 458. Hoban, Russell. The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz. 1973. 1-3 Read More