Analysis

I think this book was a good example of mythology because it definitely included all eight of the archetypes you can find in all mythology.  I identified all of them, even though I only wrote up 4.  It deals with some things that don't exist (in this case, futuristic themes), but writes them in such a way as to make you believe that they could actually happen.  I thought on a whole, the entire book was captivating and inspiring.  It was also very hard to read, as it dealt with some very hard concepts, and was written very maturely, so that sometimes it was easy to forget you were just reading about a child going through these experiences.

I think the easiest interpretations of mythology for me to find were the archetypes.  The images were a lot harder, as they are more up to your own personal sense of interpretation, and what you yourself take out of the text.  The archetypes were all very obvious.  The book was well written so that you could tell it was a hero's journey, but you couldn't tell whether the journey was for a good end or for a bad, as is so typical in mythological stories.

I think the theme of mythology that was most lacking was the hero finding something good in themselves that they discover through hardships and their journey.  While Ender discovers many things about himself during the book, not really any of them are good.  It that sense, the book is very morbid and emotional, and sticks with you (at least with me) a feeling of sadness and incompleteness.  I still can't describe the feeling I have about the story, and I finished the book a month and a half ago.  It's very powerful in that way, although the term favorite doesn't seem to work, just plainly because of the entire story line.  Another way the book was lacking was the ending.  As it is a part of a series, and not really intended to be a stand alone novel, then ending leaves some to be desired, and you want to know more.