The Infinite Sea

Chess is a symbol in the novel that represents strategy, deception, and the absence of compassion. The game requires players to think logically about their moves and consider what their opponent is doing. It represents the larger world of the novel and its primary conflict: the war between humanity and the Others. In particular, throughout Ringer’s point-of-view chapters, she constantly uses chess as a reference point to try to understand Vosch and his actions. While she is trying to find a way to escape the base, she is also considering the larger “game” at play around her, as the Others release Waves, seek out survivors, and try to use children to destroy the last will of humanity.

Although Ringer is initially angry at her inability to beat Vosch at chess, her resignation at the novel’s end exemplifies her newfound understanding of the war between humanity and the Others. Vosch succeeds at chess (and the war) because he treats people as expendable chess pieces with no moral value, something that Ringer, Cassie, Evan, and the others are unwilling or unable to do. Although Ringer initially thinks this way, she changes through her relationship with Razor as she understands the importance of