Rules Of The Game By Amy Tan Analysis

The short story “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan is a narrative told from the perspective of a young girl named Waverly. When she was younger, one of her brothers received a used chess set. Waverly became dedicated to the game and taught herself how to play chess. By age nine, she was a national chess champion. She spent many hours a day practicing for her local tournaments and was excused from many of her domestic responsibilities to ensure she wins at her chess matches. Waverly’s mother, Mrs. Jong, is overly proud of her daughter’s status as a national chess champion. She boasts about this title whenever she can and cares about her daughter’s success rather than her feelings. She stifles her daughter’s voice in these matters, but Waverly later grows to have her own voice in her family. In “Rules of the Game,” Tan portrays Waverly as a strong, independent child by the way she works with what she has to be the best she can be, tricks her mother, and stands up for herself at the end of the story. Although Waverly’s family does not have much money, she manages to teach herself how to play chess with the limited resources she has. On Christmas, the Jong family’s church gave donated presents to all of the

By the time she was nine years old, she taught herself all she could about chess and became a national chess champion. Despite her family not having much money, she manages to flourish with the supplies she has access to. She also uses her intelligent brain to manipulate her controlling mother into thinking Waverly’s success was her own idea. Waverly got into her head and Mrs. Jong allowed her to compete in the local tournaments. Finally, she was brave to stand up to her mother for being too proud. It takes a special kind of courage to stand up to a family member, especially one you care about. Waverly is characterized as an independent, strong character, especially for a girl her