[2] blog #4

Q. What is the climax of this novel? Do you find this novel sadden you in any way? Why?

The climax is obvious in this novel. The climax is when Ender finds out that the simulation is not actually a game, but reality and that he annihilated the buggers. The twist for the readers in this novel was particularly strong because Card intentionally built up the novel in events so that the readers wouldn't be able to easily predict his happening. Card first made "games" of killing buggers to make soldiers both confident and relaxed while they are "practicing." Therefore, when they are actually fighting the buggers, they won't freeze or have too much tension in themselves while they're fighting. However, Card skillfully used this stereotype of a "game" so that we, as readers, won't also be expecting too much from a simple game. Then, BOOM! It was actually real. I think the novel saddened me a little bit, not becuase the fact that Ender killed all the buggers, but because how Card described Ender's feelings afterwards. This also sent a sign of a melancholy mood in the novel. The author used Ender's feelings to portray moods.