The Rules of the Game

"The Rules of the Game"

          In Amy Tan's short story, "The Rules of the Game" she portrays her main characters as realistic Chinese-American citizens living a in Chinatown. The characters are perfect for her story, for she shows her theme through the experience between the mother and her daughter. The protagonist, Waverly Jong, soon grows to be likeable as she triumphs in her quest to be a chess champion. Waverly shows her multiple personalities right from the beginning of the story. One example of this in the story is the fact that she was grateful to receive a pack of Life Saver candy as a Christmas present and did not complain (Tan). Instead of being depressed of her gift she made the best of it by using it as chess pieces and bartering for games of chess with an elder in the park. Another example from the story was that she became very frustrated with her mother towards the end of the story, unfortunately she ran away from her mother and she stayed in an alley for a few hours before she decided to return home. She showed her darker side by being frustrated at her mother and also disrespected her Chinese heritage of respecting her parents. This had huge impact on the story, for it helped show the theme of a struggling relationship between Waverly Jong and her mother and the lack of understanding between one another. On the other hand, Waverly proves to be a dynamic character, whose feelings for her mother change as her mother demonstrates a lack of knowledge of American culture. One instance of this character trait is the respect that Waverly gave to her mother during story was deteriorating. In the beginning, she would follow her mother's rules and behave well, but become embarrassed at her mother being proud and feels as if her mother was showing her off to other people like a trophy. Another instance is when she had the horrible impulse to run away from her mom right in front of her eyes.  This illustrates the change of opinion Waverly had of her...