It's all in the Name

Ender's Game. Ender. Oh Card, you master of subtlety, you. I think it's funny that nobody brought up Ender's name in class. It's almost too obvious to point out, but I think it's worth mentioning. So let's see, the main character is named Ender. What does he do? He ends things. He ends Stilson. He ends Bonzo. He ends the buggers. He doesn't try to win. Here's an exchange with Valentine that sums it all up:

"You beat them."
"No, you don't understand. I destroy them. I make it impossible for them to ever hurt me again. I grind them and grind them until they don't exist." (238)

Amanda brought up The Wire in class, the idea of "the game." In one episode, a character is told, "You can't lose if you don't play the game." In Ender's case, the game is thrust upon him. The key is that Ender doesn't give in. Once he realizes that the game can't be won, he does the next best thing, he ends it. He acts out of the existing parameters, inventing his own, and pulls the plug.

Towards the end of the book, Ender becomes aware of his tendency to annihilate. He seems fed up with the way it always ends up, especially when human lives are at stake. Graff and the IF recognize this, and therefore they trick him into playing one more game, one more simulation. This turns out to be the game he's been training for all his life, and once again, he ends it, destroying the bugger homeworld.

The trouble is, one game always leads to another, or is revealed to be part of a bigger plot. The Giant's Drink led to the tower at the end of the world. Battle school became command school, became the destruction of the buggers. The end of the bugger wars will lead to a political game back on Earth, but Ender finally gets the chance to abstain. With Val's help, Ender takes a break from playing games, from ending games, and helps start things instead.