An Analysis of Waverley's Conflict in Amy Tan's 'Rules of the Game'

This essay delves into Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game," focusing on Waverley Jong's journey from a young girl in San Francisco's Chinatown to a chess prodigy. It explores her complex relationship with her mother, whose constant advice clashes with Waverley's desire for independence. The essay analyzes how Waverley's passion for chess, fueled by practice and mentorship, leads to both success and familial conflict, ultimately prompting her to run away from home. The analysis suggests that Waverley's own actions and reactions to her mother's expectations contribute significantly to the predicaments she faces, painting a portrait of a young girl grappling with identity, ambition, and cultural expectations.

Running Head: RULES OF THE GAME
Name Of The Student
Name Of The University
Author Note

1RULES OF THE GAME
This essay makes an analysis of the story “Rules Of The Game” written by Amy Tan.
The essay talks about how a young girl Waverley Jong and how her brother gets a chessboard
as present in Christmas and how she becomes a champion. She faces various reaction from
members of her family including her mother. Ultimately, she becomes an expert at chess
through practice and help from an old man at the park whom she beat. The purpose of this
essay is to analyse and discuss how Waverley Jong is responsible for the conflict or the
predicament that she faces in the story.
“My mother imparted her daily truths so she could help my older brothers and me rise above
our circumstances.”
When the story starts, the readers find that the Jong family residing in the Chinatown
of San Francisco, California. Little Waverley finds herself constantly advised by her mother
on things that she needs to do for her to survive in the world. The reader finds her thinking
about her childhood place where she used to play with her brothers in the alley at the back of
their apartment. Then during Christmas, her brother receives a chessboard as a gift from a
Chinese Santa Claus and she starts practising with it despite her mother not agreeing with the
gift. Finally, she challenges an old man at the park. Although she gets beaten, the old man
teaches her the how to play the game properly. She keeps practicing at chess becomes an
expert player at chess within a short amount of time, she manages to beat many adults at
chess and even gets featured on the cover of Life. However, she soon realizes that due to her
practising chess every day, she does not get the time for other childhood activities and runs
away from her home. When she comes back finally, she finds that her family members are
angry on her and she does not get dinner that night. Finally, when she is alone in her room,

2RULES OF THE GAME
she starts to think about how she can avoid her mother whom she envisions as an
undefeatable chess player.
“Let me! Let me!" I begged between games when one brother or the other would sit back
with a deep sigh of relief and victory, the other annoyed, unable to let go of the outcome.”
From the summary of the story, the readers get the idea that Waverley Jong, although
is a genius at chess, she always faces constant criticisms from her mother who keeps advising
her about the things that she should do to survive in the outside world. She clearly does not
enjoy it as her mother keeps her advising all the time. However, she does like the chessboard
that her brother gets as a Christmas present and starts practicing with it and soon becomes an
expert in the game. In some ways, Waverley is somewhat responsible for the conflict or
predicament she faces mainly from her mother as she tries to avoid her trying to advise her.
At some point, she gets tired of her mother’s constant lectures and runs away from her home.
“Everything below me disappeared and I was alone”.
Thus, in the story, the reader finds that the protagonist Waverley faces
conflict/predicament mainly because of her own reasons as she does not like to pay attention
to her mother’s advice.

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Reference:-
Gale, C.L., 2016. A Study Guide for Amy Tan's" Rules of the Game". Gale, Cengage
Learning.
Orth, E., 2013. Rules of the game. Dog Ear Publishing, Llc.