Ender's Game Literary Devices

The author Orson Scott Card uses language and literary devices to explore the characters in Ender’s Game, as well as to provide details and background to key relationships in the story. His word choice provides not only sight into the interaction and nature of the characters, but feeling. The passage focuses on the characterization of Peter Wiggin, Valentine Wiggin, and Ender, the protagonist of the novel, using allusion and metaphor. He also focuses on as Peter’s strong dislike and jealousy of his siblings - specifically his brother. The author demonstrates the relationships between the Wiggin siblings through repetition and dialogue. The purpose behind the passage and the author's diction is to provide evidence of how Peter’s pent up insecurities over his failures, inferiority to Ender, and rage translate to actions, as well as to demonstrate what Ender has to deal with on a day to day basis to make him a stronger person as well as protagonist.
Peter is good-looking and very skilled at putting on a front. “…the beautiful ten-year-old boy that grown-ups saw… a face that could have belonged to Alexander the Great.” (Scott Card) The allusion to Alexander the Great enhances the image of power, strength and beauty in his features. However, Peter is cruel …show more content…
Scott Card relies on dialogue to provide insight into the extent of how unconscionable and manipulative Peter is to his brother: "I can make you dance around like puppets… I could kill you like this, I could say that I didn't know it would hurt you....” (Scott Card). The author also utilizes strong repetition of the word bugger throughout the passage; Peter dehumanizes Ender and compares him to something subhuman. “Lie flat, bugger. We're gonna vivisect you, bugger… So you buggers can guess our names… you’re really a

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