Metaphorically Speaking

The other day my wife and I were driving back from shopping when I suddenly realized "The name 'Ender' from 'Ender's Game' is symbolic of the fact that he always wins; he always ends the game."

My wife responded "You just realized that? How long ago did you read that book?"

I'd read the book 3 times and love it each time. The first time was in 6th grade, the second in 10th grade, and the third time while working on my undergraduate degree. I am now a year past finishing my doctorate.

You'll have to excuse me...I'm a little slow.

About a week later I was browsing around the web and discovered a video of Orson Scott Card talking about how he came up with the name "Ender." He specifically chose it because of the "end game" in chess. Ugh.

I've also been talking about "Ender's Game" with several other people. I'm a little rust on the story, so I decided to go back and re-read the game. About 3 days into the book I found this line from a only-this-scene character:

"Not a bad name here. Ender. Finisher."

Gah! Card spelled it out and I missed it all three times I had read the book.

My wife turns to me and says "I was really surprised because I was pretty sure Card spelled it out."

Better late than never, right?