The Hive-Queen Pupa Symbol Analysis

Throughout Ender’s Game, Ender acts as an agent of destruction: the IF grooms him to be a perfect commander, capable of leading soldiers to glorious victory against any enemy, no matter how deadly. This culminates in the penultimate chapter of the book, in which Ender seemingly destroys the entire Bugger species in a large battle. In the final chapter, however, we discover that the Buggers have left behind a single hive-queen pupa, which they want Ender to care for. Ender, overcome with self-loathing at having exterminated an entire species, agrees to find a new home for the pupa. In a sense, the pupa—as small, smooth, and innocent as a newborn baby—symbolizes Ender’s rebirth as a force for peace, not war. Just as the Buggers will be reborn in a new planet, so Ender gets a miraculous “second chance” at being a good person.