Q: Why does Waverly come to see her mother as her opponent? “Rules of the Game” Essay In Amy Tan’s short story, “Rules of the Game,” Waverly comes to see her mother as her opponent as she struggles to free herself from the power her mother has over her. Waverly has the ability to beat the best chess players, but once her mother gets inside her head, she begins to doubt herself. Waverly feels this way when her mother pressures her, and tells her that she needs to play chess better. Waverly cannot focus on her chess playing because her mother continues incessantly to push her to improve her game.
June feels so pressured she decides to give up even before she really tries because her mother’s standards are so high. Also, because music is imposed upon June like a school assignment, she derives no joy from practicing. Suyuan believes she can bully her daughter into becoming the woman she would like her to become. In contrast to June, Waverley seems to have had an actual, instinctive interest in and gift for chess, which is why the exhibition of her prowess is so much more natural. For June, anxious to create her own, independent ‘American’ identity, resisting music and her mother becomes a potent source of self-definition.
Juggling four children, cooking, cleaning and adjusting to a new society puts pressure on Alice’s mother. Since both mother and grandmother are such strong personalities, arguments between the two of them are not uncommon. They both attempt to entice information about one another out of young, unsuspecting Alice, so that they have something to use against each other during future conflicts. Alice describes their ways of deceit as, “Constantly sighing and lying and dying – that is what being a Chinese woman means, and I want nothing to do with it.” (-Part 1, page
d. Daisy is a wife and mother. She is a woman who is so highly set on the goals of having the best of everything, and being above everyone else. She is the love of Gatsby’s life whom he wishes she would drop it all and come back to him, but this is not the case. Daisy is to be a heart breaker to many. Daisy is swept up in her own little fantasy world in some situations.
Being born in China but living in America, she seems ashamed of her roots and that is why she is embarrassed when her mother speaks broken English (Tan 142-146). But, although she tries hard to be American speaking and writing good English, she realizes that she has deviated from her true self. She finally makes peace with her mother and she starts appreciating her “Mother Tongue”, which consequently affects her writing positively. This shows just how peoples’ native languages are important in their lives. Our “Mother Tongue” is what gives us identity; it defines who we are, and therefore, people should value their native languages.
She often portrays herself to be overbearing with her disconcerting ramblings over her children, but we know that it is out of love for them. She clings to her past with such desperation: “Possess your soul in patience-you will see! Something I’ve resurrected from that old trunk! Styles haven’t changed so terribly much after all…Now just look at your mother This is the dress in which I led the cotillion….See how I sashayed around the ballroom Laura?” (Williams 1987). Her fading youth only makes her more desperate for attention for herself and her daughter.
She continuously lies (such as in the golfing tournament) in order to maintain her status (of an excellent gofer). She also pries in other people’s business such as when Tom and Daisy’s argument when the phone (Myrtle) rings during dinner. Jordan also encourages Daisy to have an affair with Gatsby, despite being a friend of the Buchanans. Furthermore, all three women are guilty of being money, status
As the mother of two daughters I always want for my daughters what I feel was lacking in my life. It makes sense to me that Nanny’s idea of success and freedom is being wealthy and idle. That was what was literally beaten into Nanny. I think in real life, as with Nanny, mothers can get so blinded by their own agenda and their attempt to fulfill their own dreams through their daughter that they don’t stop to ask what their child wants. While I understand that this may not be the ideal way to handle a situation, I believe that Nanny did the best she could considering her experiences.
Daniel Poleshchuk 10/3/12 E1FC Assignment: Writing About Literature Final Draft In “Rules of the Game,” by Amy Tan, Waverly’s mother is more of an adversary than an ally. Waverly’s mother acts as an adversary to Waverly because she doesn’t allow her daughter to embrace American culture. Waverly has been raised in America and has been living here for a long time, experiencing the ways of the country; her mother, however, has little respect to the American way of life and work ethic and depicts this when she says, “Chinese people do many things…Not lazy like American people” (3). Her condescending outburst makes it clear that she does not intend for Waverly to be at all like American children, who are
Emilia is Desdemona’s maid and she has a mind of her own. Through discussions she has with Desdemona the reader can concur that she will do anything necessary to get to the top even if that is sleeping around. She also says in one of her and Desdemona’s conversations that women only cheat because men have taught them to do so by neglecting them and fraternizing with other women. Emilia is a woman who although different from Desdemona is not all bad. She is as duped by her husband, Iago, as much as the rest of the cast and she tries to amend her wrongdoings in the end by telling the truth to Othello although she is too late to save her mistress, Desdemona.