Defeated, Ender cannot escape.

[floria]

Title: Defeat
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Ender loses to the one he fears most.

In short - I was forced to read Ender's Game for school, and I must say, I absolutely despised every moment of it. Why? I happen to be latina, and Mr. Card's affinity with mocking and insulting every facet my culture sent me into such a rage that I tore the book to pieces the

Comments

[riverflame]

Ouch, violence. Good writing, though :)

I didn't get any anti-latin vibe from Ender's Game; of course, I'm not sensitized to it since I'm just another caucasian from the US, but I don't think he intended to insult the hispanic culture itself - the only thing I can think of is his unflattering description of Bonzo's character. Have you read the sequels? They actually take place in a Brazillian/Portugese area; they're also very cool.

[floria]

Yeah, the anti-latin thing Orson has going on is only obvious when you know about the culture. For example - the whole Spanish Honor thing. I can tell you for a fact that it is nothing like that idiot portrayed it to be. It's a code of behavior, not some ridiculous form of arrogance you can stick into a story so your perfect little American hero can take down the big bad brown kid -

-shuts up- Heheh, I get carried away. Thanks for the compliment. ^-^

[riverflame]

Ahh. Makes sense :) Yeah, the Spanish honor thing was made out to be pretty bad in Bonzo's case - but it would make sense that it could be twisted into something bad just by bad people. Like some people use religion to justify killing. You're right, though, OSC did manage to put the Latin culture in a bad light. It's too bad :/

[riverflame]

While I agree that Card isn't always fair to Spanish-speaking characters and communities in his novels, he isn't really fair to ANY of his characters, including caucasians. I'm especially interested in your accusation that Ender is the "perfect little American hero" considering that he is in NO way perfect at any point in this novel or its sequels. He is, in fact, a deeply flawed (in other words, real) character, as all of Card's characters are.

[lastcatastrophe]

my interpretation was always that bonzo was a warped individual who had warped the idea of spanish honor--and not that it was in itself faulty. i also think that, considering how many racial, religious, and ethnic groups are protrayed in this book, on both sides of the good/bad line, it's a little unfair to say he's setting up the 'perfect little american hero' to 'take down the big bad brown kid.' not to mention that bonzo, at least as i understood it, wasn't latino--he was spanish.

[floria]

I don't mean to be rude, but our dear Orson twisted Spanish Honor to suit his own agenda. It's obvious that the idiot has no godamned idea what he's talking about, especially since he overlooks the fundamental basics of the behavioral code. For example - according to Spanish Honor, hitting a woman is one of the worst things you can do, and by default makes you dishonorable. But Orson has Bonzo do this, showing that he has absolutely NO IDEA what he's talking about, and furthermore, is twisting a good and honorable tradition into a stereotype

[lastcatastrophe]

i'm not saying it's well researched or even well written. i leave that up to debate. just that a lack of knowledge, while unforgivable in a novel, doesn't necessarily denote racism. and again, the example of bonzo hitting petra only shows that he is a warped individual--which we know. i think to extrapolate that and assume card is saying something about all hispanics--which, again, bonzo isn't--is a little reactionary. of course, it's still entirely your right to do so.

i'd also point out that every character in this book is portrayed as warped in some way, culminating in peter. ender is certainly not the 'perfect little american'--he is emotionally mangled and at times even cruel. if you can name an undamaged character, you're looking much harder than i am.

and to see bonzo as simply a caricature ignores a lot that card presents about him--his intelligence, his natural leadership (even if abused), his beauty, etc.

just playing the devil's advocate. :)

[yehudi13]

incidently I had to read the book for school too, and incidently loved it to bits ^ ^ I didn't really notice the culture mocking... I don't know much about it though, though should since I live in Texas and am on the most part partically surrounded by it... alomst... yes, alomst ^ ^

to the actual review now ^ ^

the detail in this is amazing, it maps out everything that's happening perfectly!! The last line got me, thoughout the book, the Ender Bonso battle fancinated me.

This was great ^ ^ excellent job!!

[sorrowofashadow]

I love it o____o the bleeding butt was a a definate plus for me. And the way you made Ender act and stuff was just wow, and the way Bonzo acted too. The detail was wonderful too!

as for the anti-latin american thing.
^^;;; i didn't get that feeling, but it's probably due to me not knowing the culture.

[susurin_tree]

This was wonderful~~ and while it seems questionable for someone to call non-con wonderful...xD I mean it in the less deranged sense. The idea of Bonzo doing something like this is somehow very in character, and Ender's inability to fight back, his complete powerlessness when faced with this sort of violation seems characteristic of his social ineptitude and how he just wouldn't know how to fight back when being victimized in a way beyond just physical violence or..well..okay not making sense anymore. Shutting up now.

About the racism thing...i had to read it for school as well...and i totally agree with you whole-heartedly [ well okay maybe not 'cause i kind of liked it despite feeling terribly insulted though but that's because I'm stupid like that] but yess.....my goodness...the Chinese names/characters were incredibly embarassing and annoying