PLN #2

     In Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card, Achilles wants to kill Bean because of how Bean treated Achilles in the streets of Rotterdam, and how Bean shows no respect to Achilles when Achilles was his "protector and friend". When Bean and Achilles first met, Achilles was a cripple bully who was allowed into the family of street kids Bean was in. But Bean had wanted the leader of the family, Poke, to kill Achilles because Bean could tell that if Poke didn't kill Achilles, then he would kill her. And that proved to be the case later on in the book. Achilles seemed like a good person to all of the people that came across him. Admiral Graff asked this question to the lady who taught Bean and Achilles and knows about Achilles' violent disposition."How can I believe this, Sister Carlotta? The boy is generous, gracious, people are drawn to him, he's a born leader. People like that don't kill."

      Outwardly, Achilles seemed like a very kind and gracious person. To the volunteers at the soup kitchens in Rotterdam, he seemed to be a hero for taking Bean's crew under his wing. And Achilles thought that he deserved respect for his actions. But a few years later, Bean becomes the commander of an army at the Battle School and the teachers place Achilles in his army to see how Bean will react. Achilles sees this as the universe bending to his will as being placed in Bean's army is a prime opportunity to extract revenge. But Achilles still acts like the perfect little angel to others, including other soldiers in Bean's army. All the time, however, he is looking for an opportunity to kill Bean. And during this time, Bean shows a complete lack of respect for Achilles because Achilles is no longer a leader of a helpless group of orphans, but he is now a low ranking soldier under Bean. He sees Bean's treating him as his subordinate a cruel gesture on Bean's part, except that he doesn't realize that the tables have turned and now he is in a position similar to Bean's in Rotterdam. He finds a perfect opportunity to take revenge but he soon discovers that he has walked right into Bean's trap. He confesses to all of the murders he has committed and is sent back to Earth. So, Achilles appeared to be a good person on the outside, but his real motives were to hunt down Bean and take revenge for how Bean treated him in Rotterdam.