Pinehead

[DEK]

In Xenocide, Ender tells a story of a wooden doll called Pinehead, which turns into a real boy. Since Xenocide was the first Speaker-series book that I read, I assumed that this was a corruption of Pinocchio, done partially to illustrate how stories change over time. However, I later noticed that both Speaker for the Dead and Children of the Mind mention Pinocchio in passing. Was this just a mistake, or am I missing something?

[neo-dragon]

Maybe the story of "Pinehead" that Ender tells is simply a variation of the story of Pinocchio, but the original story and name are still more well known. I've also wondered if maybe Ender made up this version on the spot since Jane, who has access to every piece of literature ever committed to electronic memory, and has seen and heard everything that Ender has seen and heard for most of his adult life, was apparently unfamiliar with this tale, but was familiar with Pinocchio.

[DEK]

I also wondered about Jane not knowing it, but I figured it must have been like a bedtime story, not important enough to write down.
I think that, if Ender was just making it up, he would have given it more meaning.

[neo-dragon]

He was half asleep.

[DEK]

He won half his battles in the Bugger War half asleep.

[neo-dragon]

He was young then. Old people can't do anything when they're half asleep.

[DEK]

Excellent point