Rules of the Game

The Rules of the Game, by Amy Tan, is set in the late 1950’s, and its central location is China Town, San Francisco. By using this physical location, Tan instantly sets up images of “children who played in back alleys”. Throughout the story she reminds the reader of her Chinese social background, and how she straddle both the old ways (Chinese) and the new (American). The use of the physical and social settings contributes to the overall meaning by setting the scope of the story and framing it into a small niche in history.

China town often creates images of small streets lined with strange little shops, and brightly lit neon signs. Tan spends time setting up the neighborhood, so that she can draw the reader in. By giving us little descriptions of the typical shops in her world, we become familiar with her world. After running through the back alleys with Waverly, and reading hand-written signs instructing tourists, “within this store, is all for food, not pet”, we become familiar with what she sees, what is normal for her, and begin to see her world through her eyes. Waverly describes her house as “a warm, clean, two bed-room flat”. The reader can assume that the flat is small, for her 5 person family but she never complains. She describes playing in the park at the end of her alley, and we picture a small grassy lot. Her world is what is around her and she rarely speaks of what is beyond. By keeping the physical settings small, we are easily drawn in to her world and begin to feel closer to Waverly. And by keeping the story tight and intimate Tan creates a personal bond, one that the reader can easily invest in.

Tan makes it very clear that Waverley’s mother is traditional Chinese. From her broken English to “her daily truths”, Lindo is painted as the somewhat stereotypical oriental mother. The social setting my not be clearly spelled out, but in American history, this period was very difficult time for Chinese immigrants. Lindo reflects these times...