Ender’s Game: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

The chapter begins with a conversation between Graff and a colleague. Graff and the colleague discuss how Ender is capable of “the impossible”—defeating the Giant in the virtual reality game. They also agree that Ender handled the conflict with Bernard perfectly: he brought peace to his peers without any more fighting. Graff tells his colleague that he won’t hurt Ender any more than is necessary.

As the chapter begins, Alai tells Ender that he’s finally figured out how Ender hacked into the messaging system and humiliated Bernard: he added a “space” key after Bernard’s name, meaning that he could send messages under a new account. Alai also notes that he can send messages with everyone’s name in this way—except Ender’s. Somehow, Ender has established a security system. He offers to pass on his security system to Alai.

Ender and Alai go to their barracks to set up a security system on Alai’s desk. Inside, Ender finds a note on his bed, explaining that he’s been transferred to the Salamander Army, effective immediately. Alai is surprised with this sudden order—he admits that Ender is clever, but he doubts that Ender is coordinated enough to join a team and play the war game so early. Ender is heartbroken: just as he was beginning to make friends, he’s been isolated once again. Ender hugs Alai, and they promise that they’ll always be friends. Alai kisses Ender’s check and whispers “Salaam”—a gesture that Ender recognizes to be sacred and affectionate, even if he doesn’t exactly know what it means.

Ender goes to the game room to wait to join up with his new Salamander teammates. To pass time, he plays the Giant game, picking up where he left off, with the Giant’s death. He walks to a playground, where a group of children pushes him around. The children turn into wolves and attack him. No matter how hard Ender fights, he can’t defend himself from the vicious animals. Suddenly, a message flashes on the screen: Ender must report to his new commander immediately—he is late. Ender rushes out of the game room to join the Salamander Army barracks.

Ender rushes to the Salamander Army barracks, where he finds a group of boys who are much older than he is—between 8 and 11 years old. As he sees this, Ender’s heart sinks. He has nothing to offer these people—he has no military training, or battleroom training, to speak of. A tall, attractive boy approaches Ender and asks him for his name and combat experience. Ender explains that he’s young and inexperienced. The boy, whose name is Bonzo Madrid, explains that he is the commander of the Salamander Army, and won’t be using Ender in the teams. As Bonzo explains this, a girl—who introduces herself as Petra—makes a joke about Bonzo. Bonzo slaps Petra and orders her to be silent.

Ender walks with the other soldiers to his new barracks. Inside, he notices Petra, and joins her. Petra explains that she’s a talented soldier—the finest sharpshooter in Salamander—but hasn’t been given a suitable command position. Petra jokes about Bonzo, and offers to teach Ender how to be a soldier (how to shoot, maneuver in the battleroom, etc.). Ender grins and agrees.

For the rest of the day, Ender notices the way Bonzo runs his team. He orders everyone to wear their jumpsuits at all times, except for Petra. Ender finds this absurd, since it isolates Petra from the rest of the team. Ender also runs into a soldier named Dink who criticizes Ender for being short and weak. Another Salamander soldier tells Dink that Ender is the soldier who did well in the game room. Privately, Ender is proud of being recognized for his abilities. He plans to run an army one day—hopefully soon.

The next day, Ender proceeds with his practices with Petra, even though other soldiers have warned him that Bonzo doesn’t like other soldiers associating with her. In the battleroom, Petra teaches Ender how to shoot straight, passing on the lessons she’s learned over the years. In the coming weeks, Ender and Petra continue their practices. Ender neglects his schoolwork, recognizing that it’s more important for him to learn how to fight in the battleroom.

In the evening, Ender attends a mandatory practice with the other Salamander soldiers. Although Ender isn’t yet a good soldier, he notices ways that Bonzo could be a better commander. Bonzo insists on strict regimentation in all maneuvers—but this makes his soldiers bad at improvisation.

One evening, Petra leaves Ender to himself. Ender decides to return to his old barracks. There, he finds Bernard, along with Alai. He invites them to practice maneuvers in the battleroom. Together, Ender, Shen, Alai, and Bernard practice aiming, and Ender passes on some of the lessons that Petra taught him.

The next day, Bonzo confronts Ender about practicing with his old friends. Ender explains that the only way he’ll become a better soldier is by practicing. He adds that Bonzo doesn’t have the authority to control what Ender does in his free time. Bonzo is furious, but only says that Ender must obey him, “or else.” He grudgingly tells Ender that he’s allowed to continue practicing. Ender is privately disgusted by Bonzo because of his amateurish commanding abilities—a real commander, Ender thinks, controls his emotions instead of making foolish threats.

Four days after his run-in with Bonzo, Ender is preparing for his first battle with Salamander Army. The army is about to begin a game in the battleroom. They step out and notice that the room is full of large, brown boxes called “stars”—these will be important in the war games they’re about to play. Bonzo pulls Ender aside and orders him not to take his gun out during the battle.

The battle begins. The Salamander Army faces a tough opponent: the Condor Army. Ender notices that the Condor soldiers are good shooters, and freeze many Salamander soldiers. He decides to minimize his visible surface area by pointing his legs at Condor soldiers—this way, he’s a much smaller target. Ender sees Petra shooting many enemy soldiers. He feels himself being shot and frozen, and watches as the Condor soldiers quickly shoot the remaining Salamander soldiers. The Condor army wins the game by sending five soldiers through the Salamander army’s side of the battleroom. Ender notes that if he’d disobeyed Bonzo and shot even one soldier, the Condor army wouldn’t have been able to muster the five necessary soldiers.

After the battle, Ender expects Bonzo to tell him that it’s all right for him to shoot. Instead, Bonzo says nothing to him. The other Salamander soldiers ask Ender why he didn’t fire his weapon—he could have turned defeat into a draw. Ender calmly replies that he followed Bonzo’s orders. A few days later, the Salamander soldiers prepare for another battle. Bonzo pulls Ender aside and gives him the same order: Ender is not to fire his weapon for any reason.

Over the coming weeks, Ender practices shooting in his free time. He turns seven, but doesn’t celebrate his birthday with anyone. Soldiers don’t talk about their lives at home, and certainly don’t celebrate birthdays.

One day, Salamander Army faces a fight with the Leopard Army. Although the Leopard Army is new and weak, they have novel strategies, and use tactics that confuse Bonzo’s overly regimented troops. As Ender watches Leopard defeat Salamander, he decides to fight. He freezes his own legs, thereby creating a protection for the rest of his body, and pushes himself outward toward Leopard’s gate. Ender shoots five opponents before he’s frozen himself. As a result, the game is a draw: neither side has the minimum five troops needed to win.

After the game, Salamander troops mutter about how Ender turned defeat into a draw by disobeying Bonzo’s orders. The next day, Bonzo approaches Ender and tells him that he’s been traded to the Rat Army. Bonzo then hits Ender, hard, and yells at him for disobeying his order. Although Ender is in pain, he’s secretly happy—Bonzo has made himself look foolish by punishing a soldier for success in battle.

Ender says goodbye to Petra and thanks her for all her help. Then he leaves Salamander, is issued a new uniform, and goes to join Rat Army. He also registers for a self-defense class in his free time, so that nobody will be able to beat him up the way Bonzo did.