Literary Elements In Amy Tan's Rules Of The Game

In this passage of Amy Tan's story, Rules of the Game, the author uses many literary features to develop the climax of Waverly's career as a young chess champion. As Waverly faces her first opponent of the chess tournament, she continusouly reminds herself of the art of invisble strength. She reptitively gets advised by the "wind", as she carefully makes her moves towards victory, where her talent is recognized once again. However, a friction between Waverly and her mother arises as more trophies were brought home, beginning to show an end to her triumph. The climax is emphasized by the diction and personification as the conflict is introduced. The diction of the passage gradually sets up the climax of the story. ¡°It was her chang, a small tablet of red jade which held the sun¡¯s fire.¡± (line 4) Waverly¡¯s mom brings her ¡°chang¡± and hands it to her as a lucky charm for the competition. The color red represents luck and wealth in the Chinese culture. It also symbolizes passion and adventure - reflecting precisely upon Waverly¡¯s position. Another connotation is when Waverly only saw her ¡°white pieces and his black
"Next time win more, lose less" (line 19). This not only creates a friction between Waverly and her mom but to her asian culture as well. Her discontent is revealed as she says, ¡°I won again, but it was my mother who wore the triumphant grin.¡±(line 23) As the problem between Waverly and her mom progresses, chess becomes a burden rather than what she enjoys. Ignorantly, her mom furthermore spoils Waverly by allowing her not to do the dishes simply because she won a chess tournament. "That's why my mother decided I no longer had to do the dishes." (line 33) With an ego bigger than her belly, Waverly gradually loses her hardworking work ethnic and perhaps even the compassion towards chess as she realizes more conflicts with her mother