Powerful and Understanding: The Development of Peter Wiggin David Alexander 9th Grade

In the best-selling novel Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, Peter Wiggin is the brother of the protagonist, Ender Wiggin. Peter is proud and violent with an inability to be likable, one of the primary reasons he was not selected for battle school. He continually hungers for world influence and a powerful ruling position, while also learning that blatant cruelty is not always the way to achieve a goal; sometimes empathy is necessary to understand and terrorize one’s enemies.

At the beginning of Ender’s Game, Peter is eleven years old. He is four years older than Ender, but despite the age difference, they look very similar: “Standing next to [Ender], [Peter] would look quite mature. And the physical resemblance is stronger than ever” (312). Peter uses his size to torment Ender, forcing him to play buggers and astronauts and other games which show Peter’s manipulative cruelty. Peter is unnecessarily harmful to Ender before Ender goes to Battle School. Afterward, he becomes smarter, only hurting and manipulating people when it would benefit himself. He flatters his parents and impresses his teachers in order to convince them he is a brilliant, curious student and not a semi-psychotic killer. He is a power-hungry control freak,...