Title: Peter and Valentine Wiggin in Ender's Game | Shmoop
Headings: Peter and Valentine Wiggin in Ender's Game
Peter and Valentine Wiggin in Ender's Game
Peter and Valentine Wiggin
Devil and Angel
Interlude: Locke and Demosthenes Take Over the World
We’re Not So Different After All

Content: Peter and Valentine Wiggin in Ender's Game | Shmoop
Peter and Valentine Wiggin in Ender's Game
Previous Next
Peter and Valentine Wiggin
Devil and Angel
At Shmoop, we like to imagine Ender’s older brother Peter and Ender’s older sister Valentine as the Devil and Angel on Ender’s shoulders, with one of them tempting him to do evil and the other pushing him to do good. Except…which one is which? The obvious answer is that Peter is the Devil, tempting Ender with evil, since Peter seems to be, to put it gently, psychopathic with a touch of crazy sauce. But then again, Ender isn’t at all tempted by Peter. In fact, the example of Peter the Crazy is one thing that Ender uses to measure his own evil by. Whenever he starts to beat kids up, Ender worries if he’ll turn into Peter. So, looked at that way, Peter inadvertently helps to keep Ender on the straight and narrow (i.e., not beating up little kids). And at first glance, Val seems to clearly be the kind Angel, helping Ender choose the right things. Except Val’s the one who convinces Ender (twice!) to keep fighting and help wipe out the buggers (which may or may not be a good thing).