If the mind game is meant to be something like therapy for trouble super-geniuses, then here we’re given a slightly different purpose for manipulation: the school administrators are messing with Ender in order to make him the best he can be. (This is probably Anderson speaking.) Note that here, the manipulation is not just for the benefit of humanity – it’s not just that Ender is a tool. The speaker also thinks “this is best for Ender.” So here we have a slight defense of manipulation.

This nicely contrasts two areas where Ender is at war: he’s at war in the battleroom (in the game) and he’s at war in the rest of his life (with the other kids). According to this quote, Ender is more vulnerable in the rest of his life than he is when he’s playing a war game. So in a strange way, Ender seems safer when he’s fighting a war…

This is Carn Carby, showing how to be gracious when you lose. Carby thinks the other captains are being jerks because they aren’t recognizing Ender’s win. What’s curious here is that Ender won the game, fair and square. As Carn notes, though, that win doesn’t translate into respect in real life, because life is unfair. (At least, that’s what people usually mean when they say “that’s life.”) So there’s some way in which the game is set apart from regular life.

Ender has just told Dragon Army that they can deal with anything – even with the administrators’ unfair schedules. This could be seen to be flattery, or maybe it’s just telling the truth. (After all, Dragon Army can handle anything as long as Ender’s in charge.) We’ve pulled this quote for how it seems to place Ender in a community (he’s totally trusted) but also puts him somewhat outside of it. After all, the way he wins over his army is almost like the way Dap wins over the Launchies (see 5.33) – and that’s clearly a case in which someone is standing outside (or above) the community. This issue will also come up between Ender and his friends: when you’re a commander, you’re not really just one of the guys.

This quote shows us a few forms of belonging. On one hand, there are the buggers, with their total commitment to the community. (In this case, we’re thinking of the fleet/hive as a community – although you could argue that the fleet/hive is really just one organism.) On the other hand, there’s the feeling that the videos of the bugger wars are trying to give the viewer – a sense of community for the entire human species. Does that work on Ender? Is there some way to make an entire species feel like one big, happy family?

Ender has basically this same moment with Dink, with Alai (10.175), and with Petra (11.104). In all these cases, Ender’s old friendship is damaged by the game and Battle School. This reminds us of how Ender’s friendships are complicated – by which we mean that Ender feels like he doesn’t have any friends. That's a bummer, no matter how smart Ender is. Now, all these kids do show up at Command School and Ender seems happy to see them. But since he lost these friends once, couldn't he could lose them again?

Now, we know that Ender thinks that he’s Bean’s secret friend.  But the end of Chapter 11 is the first time that Bean realizes that he’s Ender’s friend. What makes Bean realize this is that Ender shows his, ahem, softer side – that he’s not just an invulnerable commander, but he’s really a vulnerable kid. Also, they have a sleepover, which drives home the point that they’re friends. This is a bit odd, because Ender can’t be friends with any of this other soldiers, so why can he be friends with Bean? Why can he show Bean that he’s vulnerable?

This is like a one-two punch, reminding us how good Ender is at what he does. How good? Well, for one thing, he’s so good that he can no longer learn from humans. (Which is a fun line we suggest you try out in class: “Can I be excused from class – I can no longer learn from humans.”) For another thing, Ender is so good that he can pick out problems with the buggers’ strategy. For us, this is a reminder that Ender’s so good that he’ll win everything. But this does raise a question: if we’re so sure that Ender is going to win, why do we keep reading?

This is not the first time that the book makes the connection between something smart and something stupid. (See also 7.269.) See, if everyone uses the same strategy (which is the buggers’ method), then there’s not going to be <em>any</em> good way to win. Ender – who is so darn smart and skillful – sees that there might be some value in trying out new things that seem stupid. This shows us how smart Ender is. He can see potential value where others can’t, and he seems to realize that the games are a good place to experiment.