Harry Potter and Ender's Game

[mervin180]

No: HPFGUIDX 128105


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "horridporrid03"
<horridporrid03 at y...> wrote:
> 
> Betsy:
> A breakdown of the characters in the Harry Potter books and their 
> equivilent from the book "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.  

Angela:
A character comparison from two of my favorite series.  How
delightful!!
  
Betsy: 
> Hermione Granger = Peter Wiggin
> A bit more controversial.  Hermione *does* have a tendency to fall 
> to pieces while in the midst of a crises (the Devil's Snare in
PS/SS 
> and the Centaurs in OotP), but she's got decent skills at figuring 
> out how to sway public opinion and undermine tyrannical powerheads 
> (OotP).  Peter and Hermione also share the same weakness in 
> garnering the personal loyalty of the people around them, something 
> that comes naturally to both Harry and Ender.  Hermione does a tiny 
> bit better than Peter but neither character would win a popularity 
> contest.

Angela:
Peter?  Really?  I agree both Peter and Hermione have enough intelligence and political 
savvy to undermine tyrannical powerheads, but that's where I see the similarities ending.  
As you point out, Hermione may not be winning any popurlarity contests with her over-
the-top desire to be right and to do right, but Peter was quite charismatic in a rather evil 
way. As a boy, he charmed his parents and teachers, and tortured his siblings.  As a 
teenager, he was able to sway the human populace into adopting a peace proposal that 
resulted in him having ultimate rule as Hegemon.  

If anything, I'd compare Peter to Voldemort.  Both are adept at drawing people to their 
cause through charisma and/or manipulation, but will use pain and humiliation to bend 
others to do their will if necessary.  Both characters can be ruthless killers.  Voldemort 
thinks nothing of AKing those who literally stand in his way (Frank Bryce).  Peter tortures 
squirrels for fun.  However, Peter redeemed himself in the end (sort of) and I don't foresee 
that happening to Voldemort.

I don't know if there is a character in the Ender series whose role in the storyline is similar 
to that of Hermione - to espout book-knowledge and provide a sense of conscience and 
of course be an incredibly loyal and good friend to the hero. Valentine may come close, as 
she was Ender's reason for saving earth, so that she could keep living.  She was also most 
loyal to Ender, especially after he left battle school.  She provided Ender with the emotional 
support that Hermione provides Harry with.  When Ender didn't want to go on with school, 
Valentine reminded him why he had to, that there was a bigger purpose to it (albeit her 
letter was asked-for by the battle school higher-ups).  Similarly, when Harry and Hermione 
faced Snape's potion challenge in their race to save the Sorcerer's Stone from Voldemort, it 
was Hermione who reminded Harry that there are more important things than books and 
learning.  

Of course, by the same analogy, when Harry wanted to leave school in OOTP, because he 
thought he was the snake that attacked Mr. Weasly, it was Ginny that set him straight. 
And, as Betsy pointed out, Ron and the Weasleys represent what is good about the Wizard 
World, why it is worth saving, which corresponds to Valentine representing, to Ender at 
least, what is good about Earth, why it is worth saving.  In the end, I'd say no character in 
Ender's Game = Hermione; but many characters in Harry Potter = Valentine.

Ron could also be compared to Alai, if only because Alai was Ender's first friend, Ron was 
Harry's first friend.  

Betsy:
> Professor Snape = Mazer Rackham 
> Alright, I know the Snape haters (or should I say, dislikers?) are 
> groaning aloud, but hear me out.  The first thing Mazer does as 
> Ender's teacher is beat the crap out of him and verbally abuse him.
 
> Of course there was no personal animosity in either action, so
Ender 
> quickly got over his anger and soaked up all he could from Mazer, 
> something I think everyone agrees would be a good thing for Harry
to 
> do with Snape (the disagreements seem to arise over the reason for 
> the animosity between Snape and Harry).  Mazer also has personal, 
> inside information about the enemy (as much as could be had,
anyway) 
> just as Snape has.  Mazer has also given up his personal life for 
> the cause, as has Snape (if you believe that most of his friends 
> were Death Eaters).  And both Mazer and Snape are strong allies of 
> Graff and Dumbledore.

Angela:
Excellent analogy, although I wonder if Snape ever had a "personal
life" with "friends"  :)

Betsy:
> Neville Longbottom = Bean
> So Bean is a character we learn tons more about in Ender's Shadow, 
> but even just sticking to what we see in Ender's Game, there are 
> similarities.  Both Bean and Neville are fairly self-contained.  
> They don't accumulate tons of supporters or friends, but then 
> neither seem to require it.  Both boys are seen as runners up to
the 
> chosen ones; both seem to be missing an essential *something* to 
> becoming the One.  And yet, both provide the chosen one with much 
> needed support.  (We see this with Neville at the end of OotP, and 
> I'll admit to projecting that Neville will be of some importance in 
> the final two books.) 

Angela:
Agreed, to a certain extent.  It's true that both are runners-up to the chosen one (Ender 
and Harry).  But Bean was an intellectual equal to Ender, something Ender may or may not 
have realized.  I don't see Neville, at this point, being at the same level talent-wise as 
Harry.  However, as Betsy points out, this may change in future books.

Betsy:
> Draco Malfoy = Bonzo or Dink or Petra
> Depends on which way young Malfoy goes.  If he continues down the 
> road of future Death Eater, then he's like Bonzo, a potentially 
> deadly enemy who'll turn out to be little match for Harry. 

Angela:
I agree with this, as I have yet to see signs in canon that point to the possibility of  Draco's 
redemption.

I think that Petra, as the one who first shows Ender the ropes, and although is entirely 
loyal to Ender and his cause, sometimes causes him more harm than good, could be 
compared to Hagrid.  After all, Hagrid introduced Harry to the Wizard World, but although 
Hagrid is entirely loyal to Harry and Dumbledore, his actions sometimes cause Harry more 
harm than help (Norbert and Grawp come to mind).

Thank you Betsy, for such a fun post!

-Angela