Question

Compare the way that Ender treated Bean differently than the way Graff treats Ender.  What does this say about the role of leadership or authority?

Accepted Answer

When Ender first takes his new army into the battle room, it seems Ender treats Bean exactly the way Graff treated him.  That is, he singles him out because he is obviously much smarter than the other kids.  When he does this he notices the others' resentment of Bean.  He thinks to himself, "Why am I doing this... Just because they did it to me, why am I doing it to him?" (161).
There is a difference, however, in the way Ender treats Bean and the way Graff treats Ender.  While Graff's treatment of Ender requires secrets and manipulation for Ender's good and success, Ender (sooner rather than later) reveals to Bean exactly how much he knows.  The end of chapter 11 shows a conversation between Bean and Ender in Ender's commander room.  "Bean looked at him and realized that the impossible was happening.  Far from baiting him, Ender was actually confiding in him" (197).
Ender realizes two things when he meets Bean.  First, he realizes Bean is smarter than the other boys, and smart in ways that he himself is not.  This is why he puts Bean in charge of a special toon that comes up with crazy but genius ideas for winning battles.  Second, he realizes more fully that the other armies, the other children, are not the enemies.  He believes the teachers are.  Bean is the first soldier who is probably as smart as Ender, and in meeting and commanding him, Ender gets a greater perspective on the bigger picture.  Though he maintains his authority over Bean, unlike Graff, Ender empathizes with the boy and shows Bean this empathy.  Because of this, he is more successful with his army, and later, at Command School, has built a trust with Bean that ends up saving him.  Graff's relationship with Ender, on the other hand, requires mostly blind trust and hope that everything will turn out okay.

Answer

When Ender first sees the the brilliant, undersized youngster Bean included in his army, he treats him very much like Graff treats Ender. He tells the other soldiers that Bean is the only intelligent one, setting him up to be hated by them. However, Ender then realizes what he is doing and decides that he does not want to do that. He wants to be supportive toward Bean as well as being a strong commander.
Somewhat like Graff giving Ender Dragon Army, Ender assigns Bean to run his own special squad within Dragon. Ender makes this choice to promote the success of his army—Bean is good at what he does. It is also a way of clearly showing respect for Bean's intelligence. Ender explicitly praises Bean privately when giving him the assignment, too. Graff, by contrast, saves his praise of Ender for public forums where he can use it. He may genuinely admire Ender, but he never shows it in private conversations, whereas Ender makes the choice to say good things about Bean directly to him when no one else can hear.
Ender also cultivates personal closeness with Bean, even allowing him to sleep on the foot of his bed one night. They form a friendship, which Graff would never do with Ender. In fact, early in the book Graff tells Ender directly, "My job isn't to make friends."
Ultimately, Ender is much more willing to show that he cares about Bean than Graff is willing to show about Ender, even though Ender started off by treating Bean in a very similar way. Ender shows that he has matured beyond simply copying adult behavior through how he treats his soldiers, especially Bean.

Ender's Game

Compare the way that Ender treated Bean differently than the way Graff treats Ender. What does this say about the role of leadership or authority?

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