Evolution And Revelation Of Bean’s Character In Ender’s Shadow

In the first part of the book Bean is a child living in the streets of Rotterdam, where many children are struggling to survive. There is a scarcity of food and since he is very small and skinny it is even harder for him to survive. At this point the author presents his intelligence as his main attribute which helps him to survive. Poke, a leader of a crew, which was made up of a group of children who shared the food they found, joined him to the crew. Bean was much smarter than the other children, which is why he was still alive in this Darwinian environment.

“The reason all these kids handled everything so stupidly was because they were stupid. They were stupid and he was smart. So why was he starving to death while these kids were alive? That was when he decided to act. T

Bean started thinking more about a greater interest the one of the humanity. Thus, he worked more on bringing people together and being a true human-like leader. He makes a true leader’s speech to the toon leaders to make them united against the Buggers. Bean’s leadership skills were developed in the Battle School.

“We’re not each other’s enemies. The Buggers are the only enemy. We’re supposed to be allies. We should be learning from each other, sharing information and ideas.” (Card, 436)

hat was when he picked Poke as his crew boss.” ( Card, 26)

At this point he is portrayed as self-interested rather than group oriented. This egocentrism could be as a result of his struggles to survive alone in the harsh environment. Even though he sees Achilles planning to kill Poke or any other potential leader in the crew he plays along with their plan to get food from the kitchen.

At this point his intelligence was completely oriented to help him stay alive. When he found a shelter in this crew he started getting closer to the crew boss by acting as her adviser. He advises her to kill a bully, who were older children taking the food from the little ones, in order to gain respect from the other bullies. Although the bully they decided to attack called Achilles had a gimp leg he turned out to be a smart one and survived due to Poke’s compassion. Moreover, he joins the crew as a new member. In this part Bean is presented as a hard rationalist because he advised Poke to kill him because he did not believe him. By the third chapter it turns out that Achilles will kill Poke.

Bean is portrayed here as an adult among kindergarten children. His ignorance towards the other children going to the battle school shows that he is different from the others. His remarks of the other children present him to the reader as a supernatural being not because of his intelligence but also his adult attitude.

Bean is like a war child in the beginning struggling to stay alive. Afterward, when he joins the crew he is like a refugee trying to find food and shelter. When he goes to the Battle School he is confused and curious with the normal life trying to integrate. By the time he starts the battle simulations he becomes an adult and becomes like the others.

Some topics in this essay:
Battle School, Scott Card, Poke Achilles, Dragon Army, School Bean, Bean Wiggin, Sister Carlotta, Nikolai Developing, Poke Bean, Fleet Bean, battle school, narrative structure, sister carlotta, crew bean, battle school bean, school bean, plot focused bean, book bean, focused bean, carlotta bean, throughout book, abandoned child, sister carlotta bean,