Hatrack River Forum: Graff

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Posted by Solo Wing Pixy (Member # 9489) on :

What a great yet underappreciated character. Does anyone else feel the same?

He's got to be my favorite character in the Enderverse with the exception of our two main ones, of course. The weird part is, and I'm hoping you all can help me here, I'm not even sure why. I mean, he seems like sort of a jerk in EG--and sometimes he is--but after reading SotG, The Polish Boy, and Mazer In Prison, you really get the sense that he's a good guy. Just on a different level than everyone else. A wider level. Looking at the bigger picture I guess. Not to mention, he's a genius.

This probably isn't necessary but just in case...
(minor) SPOILERS from First Meetings ahead.
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What do you guys think about Theresa and John Paul's marraige? Was that really Graff's intention all along. That implies that he essentialy made Ender. "Made" is a bad word choice but you get the idea. How about renaming the whole series, "Graff's Game" yeah? [Wink]

Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :

Graff was throwing a lot of dice. If Theresa and John Paul hadn't liked each other, then he couldn't have done anything about it. But they did. And the first two throws of THAT pair of dice didn't work - so Graff wangled a third throw. Which happened to work. He had a lot of other dice throws that didn't work. But we don't read about them <grin>.

Posted by tanman1975 (Member # 1444) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Orson Scott Card:
He had a lot of other dice throws that didn't work. But we don't read about them <grin>.

sounds like a great opportunity for fanfic to me...

I'll start: It was a dark and stormy night. [Wink]

Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :

Heck with fanfic.
Sounds like more OSC books to me!

Posted by Bk992004 (Member # 9407) on :

Graff is freaking awesome! His wit and sarcasm when dealing with people he thinks are being retarded remind me of Dr. House... it's hilarious.

As far as JP and Theresa's marriage, I think Graff's own quote in 'First Meetings' is very accurate: (and I'm paraphrasing b/c I don't have my book right here) "There's a wide spectrum between control and doing nothing," when he was discussing why he was giving JP everything he wanted at the time, knowing that JP would screw him and not go to battleschool, and how he'd turn that around later to the IF's advantage.

Posted by Jeesh (Member # 9163) on :

Graff is an intresting character. I'm not all that surprised if he did try to 'arrange' something like that. But, in a world with the threat of buggers, who wouldn't. (Besides Ender)

quote:
Originally posted by Orson Scott Card:
<grin>.

I'm I the only one who noticed OSC dosen't use smilies? [Dont Know]

Posted by CRash (Member # 7754) on :

Habit from the old days, when there were no actual "emoticons".

Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :

quote:
"emoticons"

That's my favorite Transformers character.

Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Orson Scott Card:
wangled

Awesome. My favorite living author using the word "wangled". Just awesome.

Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :

I think Graff is a great character. And, as an overweight actor, I want to play him when the movie comes out. But alas, I am too young! [Frown]

Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :

I was thinking last night that Adam Baldwin {Jayne Cobb} would make a pretty entertaining Graff.

Posted by OSTY (Member # 1480) on :

Graff is really one of those deep characters who on the surface seems one way but we get to learn who he really is. He has a lot of weight to deal with. The whole world kind of depending on him and all. And it seems that even though he has to be harsh with people and pretend not to care for them, often he loves his "children". It very much reminds me of an educator. The ones that really challenged you are the ones most often you think dearly of.

Posted by ibadbrain (Member # 9701) on :

I would say Graff is a more likeable character because he's so human, and we can empathize with him... As for him being a genius... Idk. I mean he did risk Ender's life with the Bonzo Madrid thing... And seeing that the survival of humanity was lying in the hand's of Ender... A little risky. Whatever. Graff was a guy who followed his gut and it payed off. He is definitely one of the better characters in the Ender/Shadow books.