Character Anaylsis: Waverly Jong

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RomeoX -------------- Submittal set for (edit) ------------ English --------- Professor -------------- Character Analysis: Waverly Jong A game is a rather simple process, isn’t it? It has a beginning, becomes drawn out in the middle and hopefully ends with a bit of excitement. The character from the novel The Joy Luck Club that learns this lesson most was Waverly Jong as she grows from chess champion to successful business woman. However, sometimes a lesson can be explained easier said than when you learn it in person. When Waverly was a mere six years old her mother taught her the “art of invisible strength” which in the end allows you to visually see the end result or “Endgame” and that gives you the strength to see it become a reality. This proved especially true once she starts becoming interested in the game of chess. She is fascinated by the simplicity yet mystique of the game. Eventually she becomes a protégé of Lau Po, an old man in the park who has been playing the game for decades. Waverly’s strength in the game increases rapidly and by her ninth birthday she is already a national junior chess champion. Waverly’s mother is overjoyed with the results and that too is expanded further when Life magazine runs a story on Waverly. Sadly, as many overachieving children fall victim to, they feel that they are already sitting on top of the world and they stop doing what is necessary to remain there. They stop practicing their skill and eventually they lose it. This was the case with Waverly when she tried to reenter the chess tournament circuit. Taking their lead from Mrs. Jong, the entire family starts to ignore Waverly. Saddened, she sulks to her darkened room and lies on her bed. As her mind races all she can make out is a simple chess board. Her opponent consists of two
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