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Bewildered, pressure, pain and determination. Imagine having to deal with such emotions every second. In the award winning novel, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, a young exceptional intellectual is given the task and responsibility of taking the weight of the world. Andrew Wiggins, a 6 year old boy is called on by the government to attend battle school where he must learn how to fight, serve and protect. When an individual is referred to as mature, it also comes with the idea that the individual is an adult, but in the paperback Ender’s Game, the idea of maturity is a recurring theme in the novel while majority of the main protagonists presented in the novel are comprised of children. This idea brings readers to the conclusion that age cannot be a factor when judging one’s sense of maturity. Ender’s Game solemnly presents the idea that maturity is not something defined by age but as an attribute developed by one’s experiences as to than a characteristic that only develops within the beauty of aging.In the text, the protagonist known as Andrew Wiggins who we are informally introduced to as Ender is undeniably different from the rest of the other children. In spite of that, there is however one trait Ender and the rest of the children do share in common and that is none of them possess the negative quality of being childish. Readers are able to see this due to the way the characters in the book present and conquer a problem. The adolescents in the novel do not act like typical normal children, in fact there is nothing normal about each child as here they are as young as six fighting to save the world but each child is far more mature than what their age would expect their maturity level to be, especially Ender as this is evident through his use of problem solving skills. At the start of the book readers are introduced to a character by the name of Stilson who constantly feels the need to tease and provoke Ender. Stilson gangs up on Ender and plans to beat Ender up. Making the connection with Ender’s age and how a typical six year old would react in this type of situation would lend the reader to infer that Ender would cry and consult in an adult for help as he has not yet developed the mature tactics to resolve conflict. ‘Ender, you should ask a grown-up for help,’ (card,page number). Enders father even questions him as to why he did not confide in an adult who would have maturely solved the conflict. One that may infer that Ender would react to the fight using crying and other six year old stereotypes are quickly proven wrong as Ender beats Stilson up, which may not have been the best way to resolve the problem but it is what he does next that really defines Enders mature mindset. Ender fights back and ended up winning the fight with Stilson but instead of just walking away, he begins to threaten Stilson gang- which is a tactic to prevent them from going after him in the future. ‘Knocking him down won the first fight. I wanted to win all the next ones, too, right then, so they’d leave me alone.’ (card, page number) Ender knew the possible outcomes that would come with beating up Stilson and he wanted to prevent the major outcome that would be Stilson gang coming after him.’It isn’t what he did, Mrs. Wiggin. It’s why.’ (card, page number) This reaction and thinking is unexpected as an individual would not think someone of Enders age is capable of using such mature logic like thi

s. Ender’s problem solving skills shown throughout the book are all examples of the underlying tone of maturity that is present through children in the novel. Ender’s thought process goes to show the reader that he is advanced and made to seem more mature to the reader, even though he is just a young child. Ender may be the most dominant figure representing maturity that Card has presented in the novel, Enders siblings also take on an adult persona. One of these characters include Ender’s brother, Peter. Peter gives the impression of an evil genius and hardly gives any clue to readers through his mental that he is a child. As the reader is introduced to Peters charisma it is soon learned that he is without a doubt a very aggressive and extremely violent character. He shows little to no aspects of being a child. Peter is constantly touring his siblings but not in a childish and playful manner as a child would. He tortures them physically and mentally which is shown when Peter forces Ender to play buggers and astronauts Peter taunts Ender with remarks while kneeling on him to stop his breathing. I could kill you like this, Peter whispered. Just press and press until youre dead. And I could say that I didnt know it would hurt you, that we were just playing, and theyd believe me, and everything would be fine. And youd be dead. Everything would be fine. (card,2) Every move Peter makes is carefully thought out and planned to achieve his goal. Peters main goal in the novel was to gain control and power, while he is on top of Ender he is gaining his need for control as he states he could kill Ender in this position. Ender could not speak; the breath was being forced from his lungs. Peter might mean it. Probably didn’t mean it, but then he might. (card, page number) With Ender in this predicament he learns that Peter is sociopath and let’s Peters words get into his head which results in Peter gaining control. Peter is only ten and shows signs that he outsmarts the average adult as he uses tactics to get what he wants. Peter shows maturity in his violent ways and demonstrates that he is already an adult in every way logical besides his age. Ender and Peters sister, Valentine is also a proytral of the idea that maturity does not rely on age. The Wiggin Siblings all share the tool of calculating their every move. While Valentine and Peter decide to form an alliance and cooperate with one another in order to communicate their ideas to the world through the use of mass message over the internet, the only thing that is stopping them do so is their age. Adults have a tendency of not listening to adolescents because they are just children and have not yet matured making their opinions irrelevant. ‘Peter, you’re twelve years old. I’m ten. They have a word for people our age. They call us children and they treat us like mice.’ (card, page number) Valentine and Peter recognize their opinions are non valid because they are children and realize once they get on the internet, they are able to speak without being disputed because of their age and no one will be able to differentiate them from adults because their ideas are so complex. ‘But we don’t think like other children, do we, Val? We don’t talk like other children. And above all, we don’t write like other children.’ (card,page number) Peter recognizes that he is different from most typical children his age. He knows he matured faster than the rest.