nternal conflict plays a big role in "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan. In this story the young girl faces challenges that will either make her stronger in life or destroy her. She learns the bits and pieces of how to handle life through a well known game called chess. Waverly Place Jong, the young girl had to have struggles but when she learned how to play chess this really taught her to keep quiet. She also learns to earn respect from others from silence and strategies.
Waverly Place Jong is taught the principals of life from her mother. She goes through a great time of internal conflict. First, she has to find out what moves to make. She has to think it through. Waverly Place Jong was taught to think her way through problems.
Second, Waverly
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.
Throughout history African Americans have had is bad in the United States. First they went through slavery which lasted about two hundred year and was ended around the Civil War which was in the 1860s-1870s. Next after they went through slavery they went through the law of Jim Crow that started after the Civil War which stated, “Separate but Equal”, and that was not the case because African Americans were still treated as second class citizens. After about ninety years around the 1960s Dr. Martin Luther King came on the scene with the civil rights and helped abolish the Jim Crow. Things were good for African Americans for about ten years or so, and then Nixon become president and started a war on drugs. This war was not meant for drugs, it was meant for African Americans. They felt the force that was brought on due to the war on drugs because it was a way to oppress the like in the past. And once again black people were second class citizens.
In her book Marriage a History Stephanie Coontz explains the male breadwinner family model and its dominance in family life during the 40’s, 50’s, and early 60’s. An illustration of the male breadwinner model is composed of a father, mother, and two children; typically a boy and girl close in age. Funded by their father’s well paying middle class salary, the wife and children live a comfortable life in suburbia and participate regularly in consumer trends. Perceived as the head of the household, the father was the sole financial provider. On the other hand the mother was the head of domestic life and was responsible for the children. The popular 1950’s TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet exemplified this family model. With regard to the male breadwinner family model, imagine having eight other brothers and sisters. Imagine growing up without a mother, and with a father who worked constantly. Then consider living this life alongside your peers who come from the “normal” male breadwinner families Coontz describes… How would your family differ from your peers? What would be your thoughts and feelings towards family life? More importantly, how would these unique circumstances change your perception of the nuclear family?
Battling through life with conflict is often one of the main problems adolescents have to surpass. Conflict implies many difficulties that may harm ones dignity. This is visible in the lives of Charlie Hall in Emory’s Gift by William Bruce Cameron and Saul Indian Horse in Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese. Conflict makes the protagonists stronger as it allows them to boost their flexibility, mature, and build up their self-esteem.
(Tan 2) At first Vincent doesn’t let her play, but Waverly persuades him with her candy. (Tan 4) Even though she loses against him, she catches the chess bug. She becomes very talented and a deft player at the game of chess. One day, she visits the playground and she challenges an old man to a game of chess. However, she loses against him. (Tan 5) That old man becomes Waverly's “silent” coach as he sees a significant amount of potential in her. (Tan 5) On a Saturday in the food market, Waverly confesses to her mother that her pride embarasses her. Waverly says this because her mother would repeatedly brag to everyone about how fine Waverly is at playing chess. In a haste, Waverly runs away from her mother and Waverly’s mother stands in complete awe. After Waverly spent a very lengthy day all alone, she realized the fact that she cannot survive on her own. At the end of the story, Waverly is thinking about her next move in the battle of wills against her mother. (Tan
In The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis provides an allegorical description of a dreamers journey from hell to heaven. The Narrator of the book takes a journey on a bus from the grey town, hell, to just outside of heaven. While he is making this trip from the grey town to heaven, he converses with some of his fellow travelers. These travelers are all different, yet all have the mindset of not being able to leave the darkness of the grey town and go to the joy that is heaven.
Waverly knew her mom “would not let me play among strangers”. She used reverse psychology to control her mother, by speaking in a small quiet voice, saying she did not want to go. Mrs. Jong then told Waverly she must play. Waverly got what she wanted without her mother realizing she had been manipulated by her daughter. The theme of the struggle of control became much more evident as Waverly realized how to trick her mother to regain power over Mrs. Jong and to do as she pleased. Another example demonstrating this theme, was Mrs. Jong’s inability to allow her daughter to use the techniques Waverly chose in playing chess. After a chess tournament won by Waverly, Mrs. Jong gave no sign of approval and said, “…Next time win more and lose less” regarding the chess pieces Waverly took from her opponent. Waverly did try to explain to her mother that part of the game was “losing pieces to get ahead”; her mother, although, did not accept that. Mrs. Jong hardly comprehended the rules of chess, but she nevertheless wanted to prove to her daughter that she was still fully in control and had all the power to tell Waverly how she should play the game. Regardless of all the games her daughter had won, Mrs. Jong tried to maintain control over the simplest aspects of the chess game to exert her authority
In the article “Taking Marriage Private,” Stephanie Coontz says that we should go back to original marriage traditions in the United States. With original marriage traditions, the church tells people what is respectful and lawful. It is up to the people after that to figure out whether they want their marriage legalized. If their marriages are legal with a license, then they are able to have stability and liability.
Love makes us do crazy things. It makes us become people we never thought we were. Love gives us an ultimatum about our life. Love is a powerful bond and wicked curse. When we love, we love hard. We will do anything for love and to be loved. In “My Sister’s Marriage,” Cynthia Marshall Rich presents the different views of love upon similar yet different characters. Two sisters, who share a loving yet manipulative Father show the different ways love affects us. Sarah-Ann and Olive have many similar and different relationships with love, their dreams, and their traits.
Tan uses conflict between mother and daughter to develop theme by making the daughter look like she doesn't appreciate anything her mother does. For example, ? Then I wish I weren't your daughter, and I wish you weren't my mother.? The daughter and the mother were arguing and some things were said during it. The mother always thought her daughter can become someone, anything she wanted to be but the daughter was never interested. All this time the daughter never put effort into anything because she thought everything she did would never be enough for her mother.
In the article “What if marriage is bad for us?” by Laurie Essig and Lynn Owens, they state marriage is too traditional and can make you feel trapped, marriage only benefits your financial state if you work hard, and is not always so good on your mental and emotional health. However, marriage pros will always outweigh the cons no matter what way you look at it.
“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
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.
Power and conflicts in a relationship, what are they and how do the affect one’s relationship? “Power and conflict both shape communication patterns and decision making, it’s the power to make decisions often through the influences and dynamics in one marriage or relationships” (Jones, ASID, IIDA, IDEC, and Phyllis Sloan Allen, 2009, pg. 282). It’s a way to oblige to others request within their relationship in order to feel superior over the other. Power is a very powerful tool in a relationship which includes love, it’s not just having the power over finances security; it’s being totally committed and eager to fulfill an everlasting relationship with the one you admire. However, it’s a two-way street that both partners need to be actively
My Sister’s Marriage” by Cynthia Marshall Rich portraits characters that have many family problems. The father Doctor Landis is a total control freak. He decides every little things in his two daughters, Olivia and Sarah Ann, life. The restrictions that the father puts upon on his two daughters have different consequence on both. Olivia, the oldest daughter, starts having rebellious feeling due to suffocated restrictions, while, Sarah Ann, the youngest daughter, starts to internalize the restrictions and value her limited opportunities. Everywhere in the story, we can see that, the daughters pass through so many intestinal conflicts that result in either imprisonment or liberation. Since the father is so controlling, he has instructed his daughters to have a perverted view of love which emotionally demolished and imprisons one,