Ender’s Game: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

The chapter begins with another anonymous conversation, apparently between X and Y. X points out that “the sister” is the weak link, since “the subject” loves her. Y agrees, but says that he’ll be able to convince the subject to leave his sister behind. Y’s first strategy will be to lie to the subject—and if that fails, he’ll tell the truth.

The chapter resumes the morning after the events of the previous chapter. Ender is sitting at breakfast, wondering if he’ll have a tough day at school. Peter enters the room and teases Ender for being “slimy.” As Peter, Ender, Mother, and Father bicker, there is a ring at their front door. Father answers the door and finds a man wearing the military uniform of the International Fleet—“the only military uniform that meant anything anymore.” Father speaks quietly with the man for a few moments. While they talk, Peter whispers that Ender is being taken to jail—as a Third, he has no rights at all. Valentine walks into the room, and notices the military man standing in the hallway. Instinctively, she looks at Ender, not Peter, as she’s always thought that Ender will be recruited for the military one day. Peter notices Valentine’s eye contact—his feelings have clearly been hurt.

Father calls Ender to talk to the military man. Mother and Father tell Ender what the man has just told them—Ender seriously hurt Stilson, sending him to the hospital. The man in the uniform tells Ender, very sternly, that he could be severely punished for his act of violence. He demands to know what Ender was thinking. Shyly, Ender admits the truth: he hit Stilson once to win their fight—he kept hitting Stilson to win “all the next fights, too.” The man seems to find this interesting. He introduces himself as Colonel Hyrum Graff, the director of primary training at the Battle School. He explains that he’s come to invite Ender to go to Battle School. Mother and Father find this information horrifying—it’s as if Ender is being rewarded for his brutality. Graff explains that Ender has shown great leadership potential, and as a result, he is now the property of the IF (International Fleet). Mother and Father begin to weep. They point out that it was cruel of the government to remove the monitor, allowing them to think that Ender had failed his tests of military prowess, only to take Ender away in the end.

Graff turns his attention to Ender, and tells him that Ender has the choice to attend the school or not—a statement that Mother and Father find absurd. Undeterred, Graff tells Ender that he’ll be a great soldier at Battle School, and he’ll become a great commander one day. Ender is reluctant to agree to fight. He’s always hated those like Peter and Stilson who enjoy violence and conflict. Graff proposes that he and Ender speak privately, and adds that there’s nothing Mother and Father can do to stop him.

Ender and Graff speak privately outside Ender’s house. Graff explains the truth: if Ender goes to Battle School, he’ll be far from home for at least six years, and probably more. When he returns to Earth, his family will be different—even his beloved sister, Valentine. Graff adds that he knows Ender very well—in other words, he knows that Ender will miss Valentine, but won’t miss Mother and Father. Graff explains that Father was born Catholic, and had eight siblings—something that Ender finds appalling. At this time, the government was trying to use economic sanctions to compel people to have fewer children. Because Father wasn’t the oldest child in his family, he wasn’t given a good education. As an adult, he vowed to never have more than the legal two children, as he didn’t want his offspring to go through the same shame and persecution that he experienced growing up. Graff adds that Mother, who was raised in a large Mormon family, has similarly mixed feelings about Ender. Mother and Father love Ender, but feel ashamed of having more than two children—even though they only had a third child at the government’s request. In this way, Mother and Father, both of whom are still deeply religious, are proud of their Third, but also secretly want him out of the house.

Ender and Graff continue talking. Graff explains that Valentine loves Ender with all her heart. He also explains that Ender will be exposed to new information at Battle School: strategy, military history, etc. He’ll play war games in a structure called the battleroom. Most of the students at Battle School are boys, with a handful of exceptions. Graff explains that Peter was in serious consideration for Battle School, but ultimately, the IF decided that he was too brutal and sadistic. The same was true of Valentine, except that the IF ultimately rejected her for being too kind and peaceful.

Ender and Graff continue talking. Graff tells Ender that the human race needs another military commander who’s capable of destroying the Buggers once and for all. Ender thinks about the footage of Bugger invasions he’s seen in history classes. The Buggers invaded Earth years ago, destroying large chunks of the world’s population. It was only because of the brilliant Mazer Rackham, Ender has been told, that humans were able to destroy the Buggers’ powerful enemy ships. As Ender thinks about all this, he whispers to Graff, “I’ll go with you.”

Ender walks back into the house and says a quick goodbye to his family. He hugs his Father and Mother (who cries), and shakes hands with Peter. Valentine cries and kisses Ender. With this, Graff takes Ender to his car, and drives him away. As they drive away, Ender looks at his house. He sees Valentine run out and shout, “I love you forever!”