Power In Amy Tan's Rules Of The Game
“The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the Universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature and the player on the other sides hidden from us.” This quote from Thomas Huxley is evident in the short story, “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan. Waverly, a child prodigy chess player, is taking the world on as her opponent, as her strength and technique grow together. Waverly is only six years old when her brother receives a chess board for Christmas and begins to study the rules of the game. Waverly’s mother teaches her the art of invisible strength as wind. In “Rules of the Game,” the wind symbolizes force and strength because it represents how Waverly does not want to be knocked down but wants to knock down her opponents.
Waverly’s mother has a big impact
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She believes that the wind is a symbol of a powerful force, and wants to be a powerful force in chess: “The wind leaves no trail” (Tan). Waverly is striving to be the wind and have its strength. Waverly begins to think the wind is the answer to winning this game. The wind has a personality of its own, and it adds stress to Waverly through her mom:“Next time win more, lose less” (Tan). Rather than being a common noun, the wind is becoming its own person through the literary technique, personification Waverly feels the wind has the same personality as her mother. After undergoing a tremendous amount of stress from her mother, Waverly begins to give into the pressure of the wind: “Where I was gathered up by the wind and pushed up toward the night sky until everything below me disappeared and I was alone” (Tan). Waverly is arguing with her mother when she runs from and felt free from the wind. Once she is in her bed at the end of the night, she doesn't run from the wind, she allows it to consume her. This wind is what she has been fighting and trying to become the whole
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