How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Such a poet," said Dona Crista. There was no irony in her voice; she meant it. "Do the piggies understand that we've sent our very best as our ambassador?" (1.86)
You can tell this is a bizarre sci-fi alternate reality because they honor poets.
Quote #2
And perhaps when he found the truth, and spoke in the clear voice that she had loved in the Hive Queen and the Hegemon, perhaps that would free her from the blame that burned her to the heart. (3.61)
Is the clear voice that cleanses and heals the same voice as the voice of Speaker for the Dead itself do you think? How much of Ender the writer is supposed to be Orson Scott Card the writer? And does that mean he's boasting in passages like this?
Quote #3
"All your education was military, and the only other gift you have is a flair for words. You wrote a bestseller that spawned a humanistic religion—how does that qualify you to understand the pequeninos?" (4.75)
Jane knows, Shmoop is pretty sure, that it's exactly Ender's gift for writing that qualifies him to understand the piggies. In Speaker for the Dead, writing is knowing other people; it's a kind of condensed compassion. This is why, as a writer, Shmoop knows that your ear itches right now.