Josh versus Ender

October 24th, 2019

Prodigies are hard to come by, but they do exist. Stories of such gifted people are often made into famous films and books.  Searching for Bobby Fischer is a movie that tells the story of a seven year old chess genius,  Josh Waitzkin, and Ender’s Game is a novel about a ten year old mastermind strategist, Ender Wiggin. In their respective storylines, both characters displayed a great deal of intelligence and had to fight similar struggles, but their endings were different because Josh received love and Ender did not. 

From a young age, both Josh and Ender were recognized for their special talents. When Josh’s dad realized that Josh learned chess on his own and was able to play at an extraordinary level, he took him to learn under a chess master and enter numerous tournaments. Josh triumphed in all of them and quickly became ranked one junior chess player in the country. People even called him the young Bobby Fischer. Likewise, Ender was quickly recognized as the smartest student in his battle school. During his training, he was able to complete every task with ease. Because of this, he was promoted to being the commander of the Earth’s space force and led the space force in defeating the buggers, an alien enemy race that threatened the destruction of humanity. 

Although many people would wish that they too were just as gifted as Josh and Ender, being a child genius came with many challenges. For instance, there was immense pressure that came with being a prodigy. For Josh, being ranked number one for his age meant that there were high expectations from his peers, parents, and teachers. He had to win every game. His dad expected him to win every game. In fact, the daily stress from having to come out victorious every tournament resulted in Josh becoming afraid of losing and he no longer saw playing chess as something fun. Similarly, Ender’s commanders demanded that Ender had to triumph in every challenge he faced. From fighting buggers to battle simulations, losing was not an option. Ender knew that if he fell short even once, he would be considered a failure. For both Josh and Ender, they had to overcome the continuous pressure that came with being a cut above the rest. At the same time, because Josh and Ender were so much better than their competition, they were envied by others and found it difficult to make friends. Throughout the movie, Josh had a hard time interacting with other people his age. He often played by himself as other chess players were jealous of his skills. Ender’s social life was even worse. Not only did he have little friends, but his comrades also tried to physically beat him up. As a result, Ender had to learn a life of loneliness. 

While both Josh and Ender had similar obstacles, the results were different. At the end of Searching for Bobby Fischer, Josh not only won the junior tournament but more importantly was happy afterward.  On the other hand, at the end of Ender’s Game, Ender saved the world but became depressed. Such a difference was due to love. Josh was loved by parents who were supportive of him. They encouraged him, comforted him, and motivated him. All of this gave Josh confidence and allowed him to live a content childhood.  However, Ender’s situation was the complete opposite. Ender left his parents when he was six years old. His brother despised and bullied him. His mentor, who was supposed to be his father figure, tricked him into fighting a war that he thought was a simulation. The lack of love in Ender’s life caused him to stumble into sadness. 

Without a doubt, both Josh and Ender were definitely child geniuses. Their intellect was unparalleled, and they had to face similar challenges. However, the presence of love from Josh’s parents kept Josh happily afloat while the absence of love caused Ender to sink deep into misery.

Reflection: This essay was constructed in class. At first, I was stuck on what to compare Josh Waitzkin to. However, when brainstorming, I suddenly remembered reading about Ender in Ender’s game and thought there lives were very similar. As a result, I decided to compare them. The catch to this essay is that I was taking a non-fiction character and comparing it to a fiction character. This to me was interesting because it was fascinating to see how someone in a virtual world was similar to someone in the real world. It goes to show how realistic Ender’s game depicts the life of prodigies and children from an emotional standpoint. This was not my first time writing a comparative essay, but I had not written one in a long time. It was a great reminder to me of what it takes to properly compare and contrast two characters.

Image Citation:

Hood, Gavin, director. Ender’s Game. 11 Feb. 2014.

“Searching for Bobby Fischer.” Films Inc., 1993.