Chinese Culture In Amy Tan's 'Rules Of The Game'

Numerous people feel they belong to more than one cultures. They may have been brought up learning a certain culture, but eventually feel they belong to another or both. Analyzing the short story “How To Be Chinese”, by Celeste Ng from a formalist perspective allows the reader to dive deep into what the author was trying to portray with their writing. Using a formalist perspective can decipher the overall meaning of the story. The story consists of Mackenzie Altman striving to learn more about her culture.

Could you take a guess and tell from what culture a person is from by just listening to their voice? Could you also tell by looking to their appearance; The way they dress, the color of their skin, facial features? What about the way they carry their selves? Just like “The Chinese in All of Us” by Richard Rodriguez where he explains that he feels connected to all the cultures around America, with its “culture, a sound, an accent, a walk.” (Rodriguez 730). It does not mean and require that you must look a certain way to belong to a certain culture.

In the story “Rules of the Game” written by Amy Tan, the game of chess symbolizes life lessons. When Waverly questions the rules of the chess game and why she can’t move the Pawn in another direction, her mother answers her by saying, “This is American rules… Everytime people come out from foreign country, must know rules. You not know, judge say, Too bad, go back” (Page 5). This quote shows that, even though the law is intangible, it holds power that can define a person’s life.

“Four Directions” is the story of Waverly Jong, the young prodigy chess player who lashes out at her mother because of her constant showing off of Waverly. After returning to chess, Waverly realizes that her skill and determination is gone, along with the support and love from her mother. She beings to understand that her winning was solely dependant on her mother’s boastful remarks about her daughter, the love the Lindo was so openly expressing.

The main characters in “The Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan and “Friday Night Lights” by H.G. Bissinger, Waverly and Don are expected by their parents to do better than they did when they were their age. There is a central idea of parental expectations developed by Waverly’s Chess playing and Don’s football playing abilities. Although both characters participate in different activities, they are both expected by their parents to do things in the same manner.

“The Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan is about Waverly Jong mother taught her the art of invisible strength when she was six years old, saying that it is a strategy for winning arguments and respect. At Christmas Waverly and her brothers received gifts from donations of members from another church. Waverly convinced her brothers, Winston and Vincent, to let her play chess by offering two of her life savers to stand in for the missing pieces. Waverly began playing with Lau Po, an old man who played chess in the park. He taught her many new strategies. Waverly began to attract attention because of her young age, and she became a celebrity within the Chinatown community. Waverly's mother would force her to go to the market with her, presenting

An author's cultural background can play a large part in the authors writing. Amy Tan, a Chinese-American woman, uses the cultural values of Chinese women in American culture in her novel, The Joy Luck Club. These cultural values shape the outcome of The Joy Luck Club. The two cultural value systems create conflict between the characters.

However, the conflict between Waverly and her mother is very realistic, due to the nature that many mothers and daughters have different views which causes disagreements. The people of Chinese descent have their Chinese heritage, but struggle to keep true to their traditions while living around American culture. The major conflict in the story, the clash of different cultures, leads to the weakening of the relationship between the two characters. For example, when Waverly reenters the apartment after running away, she sees the "remains of a large fish, its fleshy head still connected to bones swimming upstream in vain escape" (Tan 508). Waverly sees herself as the fish, stripped clean by her mother 's power, unable to break free. Through the major conflict, the characters struggle to keep their relationship healthy and loving. Tan explains the feelings of Waverly through an important symbolic imaginary chess game as she writes, “My white pieces screamed as they scurried and fell off the board one by one. As her men drew closer to my edge, I felt myself growing light” (508). This shows how Waverly feels about the relationship with her mother and how she is losing the battle. The conflicts are important, especially to the theme, for the conflicts shows where the lack of understanding comes from and how it can be resolved.

Waverly plays is the board game chess, where she must think ahead and plan out every possible move to win. She must put herself in her opponent's shoes and try to predict their strategy. “I discovered that for the whole game one must gather invisible strengths and see the endgame before the game begins.” (Tan 8) By understanding Waverly’s thought process throughout a game, we are able to learn more about her as a person. She is aware of how different she is compared to the other players, and uses it to her advantage. “...I would clasp my hands under my chin, the delicate points of my elbows poised lightly on the table in the manner my mother had shown me for posing for the press. I would swing my patent leather shoes back and forth like an impatient child riding on a school bus. Then I would pause, suck in my lips, twirl my chosen piece in midair as if undecided, and then firmly plant it in its new threatening place with a triumphant smile thrown back at my opponent for good measure.” (Tan 12) These situations show how

Waverly also had a significant upbringing because her mother desired to give her “American circumstances and Chinese character” (Tan 254). Waverly was raised with Lindo imparting traditional Chinese “daily truths” because Lindo wanted to give her daughter wise advice, but Waverly was too Americanized to listen to her mother (Tan 89). Waverly ignored her mother’s advice because her Americanized beliefs made her think any American way was better than any Chinese way. Waverly also lost her ability to act like a child when she became a chess prodigy. Eventually, Waverly stopped playing in the alley with the other children, so she could practice and learn new strategies because Lindo pressured Waverly to win tournaments.

“Rules of the Game” written by Amy Tan is a short story that focuses on the conflict in identity that Chinese Americans face when growing up with influences from both the cultures. The physical and social settings of “Rules of the Game” create an atmosphere which helps to bring out the true essence of the story. Amy Tan’s “The

The short story “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan is describing a girl named Waverly Jong who is borned in San Francisco Chinatown. Her brother got a chess set for Christmas which is where the whole story started. Because of her questions about the rules of the chess, she start researching and researching. She signed up for the tournament which is where she keep winning and winning, higher and higher, getting more well known. Once, Waverly Jong went to a market with her mother, her mother start to show off about how her daughter is a national chess player which lead to the breaking up of the mother daughter relationship.

In life, each person has to follow rules at some point. The rules can relate to school, home, religion, etc. Our society follows rules everyday to make their life better. Throughout the short story, “Rule of the Game”, the author, Amy Tan describes the title using life experiences of the protagonist, Waverly Jong. This story is about a young girl, Waverly who lives in Chinatown, San Francisco and is passionate about chess. While exploring the world of chess, Waverly learns that in life she will have to follow rules made by others to achieve success. Waverly follows rules while playing chess and her mother creates rules for her to succeed.

In the story, Lindo talks about her life with Waverly and explains her experiences after being forced to a prearranged marriage. Lindo says an important line between her and Waverly. “I wipe my eyes and looked in the mirror. I was surprised at what I saw. I had on a beautiful dress… I was strong. I was pure. I had genuine thoughts inside….” (Tan, 53). The red color dress Lindo wears is symbolic to good luck and prosperity associated with the marriage between her and Tyan-yu, but Lindo’s emphasis from her statement isn’t the red dress rather it is the thoughts she conceals on her mind and did not disclose to any. Lindo states how she recognizes her invisible strength and that this strength will pass on to her daughter in her chess matches. Since her mother taught her invisible strength, she now utilizes them in chess games. “I was six when my mother taught me invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others, and eventually, through of us knew it all the time, chess games.” (Waverly, 89). This quote states that the “art of invisible strength" was put into her mentality when she was as a young girl and how she would utilize it to handle future problems and challenges. To sum it up, Waverly’s mother expresses her “art of invisible strength” which means to be powerful within yourself to have

The use of storytelling bridges these cultural gaps by allowing daughters to learn valuable life lessons, assimilate Chinese culture, and improving personality traits. Through narrating her past experiences in China, Suyuan progressively gives Jing-Mei an insight of life topics like hardships, love, and abandonment. At the beginning of the novel, Jing-Mei recalls Suyuan’s storytelling by saying: “Over the years, she told me the same story, except for the ending, which grew darker, casting long shadows into her life, and eventually into me” (Tan 21). Due to the imperfect translation between two languages, Suyuan utilizes storytelling as a tool to sidestep cultural barriers and effectively pass on messages. Suyuan changes the ending each time