Things For Granted In Amy Tan's Rules Of The Game

Everyone has took something for granted before. But unlike most people Waverly takes more than she should. Waverly takes her family for granted and a lot of other things also. She will do whatever it takes to be a good chess player. In the short story “Rules of the Game” written by Amy Tan. A young girl named Waverly goes to a christmas party and gets a chess set. She proceeds to play with it and eventually gets exceptionally good. She starts playing in local tournaments and then starts to take things for granted. Waverly is a dreadful person and takes things for granted. In the beginning of the story Waverly take things for granted. She takes her mom for granted and her family. She doesn’t appreciate the little things. In the beginning before

“I complained that the bedroom I shared was was so noisy that I couldn't think. Thereafter, my brothers slept in a bed in the living room facing the street. I said I couldn't finish my rice; my head didn't work right when my stomach was too full. I left the table with half-finished bowls and nobody complained.” (122) Waverly things that she is so cool that she is good at chess. She is taking advantage of the family. She is taking things for granted now. She feels as if she is the only one who matters in the family and that no one else matters. They all should look up to her because she is the best. Waverly is getting what she wants now that she is good at chess. She no longer cherishes the time with her family anymore. She is selfish and no one wants to be around her

Waverly starts going crazy when her mom is bragging. “This is my daughter Wave-ly Jong...I wish you wouldn't do that, telling everybody i'm your daughter.” (122) She is showing off her daughter and Waverly gets very, very mad. She gets mad because she hates when her mom shows her off like she is on display. She is so sick of it and that is why she runs away. She thinks that she is better than her mom and she is embarrassed of her mom also.

Another example from the text when Waverly is unappreciative is when her mother says “We not concerning this girl. This girl not have concerning for us.” (124) When Waverly gets back from running away the tables have turned and now the mother is not concerned with Waverly and if she was safe or not. During this whole story they have been making a big gulf in between their lives together. And who knows if they will be able to fix it. She is sad now- when the attention is not on her she needs it, when it's on her she doesn't want