Childhood
In Ender's Game, Peter is depicted as a sadistic bully who delights in torturing animals and terrorizing his siblings, Ender and Valentine. He is denied entrance into Battle School because he is too violent for the likings of the officers in charge of battle school. He is not without humanity, however; toward the end of the novel, Peter admits he loved Ender as a baby and felt very angry when Ender would ignore him in favor of Valentine.
After Ender leaves for Battle School, his family moves to North Carolina in an effort to curb his emerging sociopathy. The move ultimately makes the situation worse, however; Peter does not change at all, but he learns how to affect a charming facade to manipulate adults into giving him what he wants. Valentine sees him for who he truly is, but remains silent because she feels guilty for sharing a bond with him.
At the age of 12, Peter convinces Valentine to use their parents' network identities, and eventually hidden identities that they have obtained for themselves, to submit writings (in the form of blogs) to the world using pseudonyms (Locke for Peter and Demosthenes for Valentine). Demosthenes acts as a demagogue, stirring up hostility towards governments in the Second Warsaw Pact, especially Russia; Locke, meanwhile, takes a more empathic and high-minded role, calling for communication between the two nations. The two Wiggins’ personalities are complete opposites of their alter-egos; this is intentional on Peter's part, both to keep Valentine bound to him, and to ensure no one discovers their true identities. Each of the two writers gradually gain a following. Playing off each other’s writings, the siblings work to manipulate world events and opinions, so that when the extraterrestrials threatening the world ("Buggers") are defeated, the resulting League War (caused by the world’s only common enemy ceasing to exist) is quickly resolved by the "Locke proposal".
Peter sends Ender away after the five-day League War; Valentine, having spent her entire life with the brother she fears, joins Ender, leaving Peter as the only Wiggin child on Earth.
Read more about this topic: Peter Wiggin
Famous quotes containing the word childhood:
“Toddlerhood resembles adolescence because of the rapidity of physical growth and because of the impulse to break loose of parental boundaries. At both ages, the struggle for independence exists hand in hand with the often hidden wish to be contained and protected while striving to move forward in the world. How parents and toddlers negotiate their differences sets the stage for their ability to remain partners during childhood and through the rebellions of the teenage years.”
—Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)
“Among the most valuable but least appreciated experiences parenthood can provide are the opportunities it offers for exploring, reliving, and resolving one’s own childhood problems in the context of one’s relation to one’s child.”
—Bruno Bettelheim (20th century)
“From his childhood onwards this boy will be surrounded by sycophants and flatterers.... In due course, following the precedent which has already been set, he will be sent on a tour of the world and probably rumours of a morganatic marriage alliance will follow, and the end of it will be the country will be called upon to pay the bill.”
—James Keir Hardie (1856–1915)