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Invisible Strength In Amy Tan's Rules Of The Game

832 Words4 Pages

“If I lost, I would bring shame on my family.” Could you imagine the pressure from family to succeed in a whole new country? The pressure of adapting and learning a whole new culture can take its toll on a person. In “Rules of The Game,” A young Chinese girl is trying to find self-determination from her family. Waverly and her mother have differences in culture and how they live. She leans more towards the American lifestyle as her mother takes pride in being Chinese. At the age of six, Waverly’s learns the key strategy to winning arguments as well as showing respect to others from her mother teaching her the “art of invisible strength." She uses this strategy to take arguments, gain respect from others and to win at the game of chess. Amy Tan ironically uses the skills of playing chess to demonstrate how Waverly learns the game of life. Waverly’s mother has taught her a lesson even though they don’t see eye to eye on things. When they were at a store, she decided to test her ability of art of invisible strength. Waverly …show more content…

Her mother says, “Is shame you fall down nobody push you.” Meaning Waverly can't blame anyone for her lack of success but herself. Choosing between American and Chinese culture causes Waverly to feel lost in life her way of life. The Chinese cultural values her mother tries to teach clashes with her new American lifestyle. Their tradition only allows an obedient child to live in the household. They will not tolerate misbehavior. Every member in the Chinese family is responsible to take on the honor of the cultural tradition. The American culture focuses more on being independent and one’s own values rather than taking on family legacy. Waverly’s American lifestyle leads her to not having her family’s support towards her winning in chess games. Her disobedient behavior makes her lose faith in which she gained from her mother’s Chinese

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After a long journey and many games, she began to win lots of tournaments against people of all ages. Then, her mother introduced Waverly to the world by showing her off and this made Waverly upset. Waverly proceeded to run away and lost track of her surroundings. When she returned, her family was ashamed of her, displaying no announced resolution. The theme of the short story, “Rules of The Game” by Amy Tan is that the journey is what matters.

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One day, Waverly’s mother took interest in her passion for chess so she decides she would go and see her play. “My mother joined the crowd during the outdoor exhibition games. She sat proudly on the bench, telling my admirers with proper Chinese humility” (Tan, “Rules of the Game”). Waverly’s mother is finally supporting Waverlys dream of playing chess after much persuasion. Likewise in a similar scene, an old man suggested that Waverly’s mother allow her to play with him.

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In the story “ Rules Of The Game” by Amy Tan, Waverly’s mother teaches her invisible strength, and invisible strength means that you have lots of strength inside but u never show it. For example the story says, “ I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength”. This shows that she can make it through everything she can think of because she has invisible strength but never shows it, and that is a good thing. This is important because if she never has invisible strength she would never win any chess matches. In summery, Waverly has invisible strength because she wins a lot, but she never shows it in front of her opponents, and that is a good thing because if she does she can be easily defeated like her opponents can find ways

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