RULES OF THE GAME Waverly Jong Lindo’s Daughter

Thinking of this idea of “invisible strength” how does Waverly’s chapter parallel to her mother’s chapter, The Red Candle”? Waverly uses invisible strength and concealed chess strategies and disclosure of secrets to get ahead in chess. Her mother, Lindo, did the same thing to escape her marriage in China. (Ex. When Lindo learned the servant was pregnant, she made up a story and used this secret to her own advantage to get ahead in life). While Waverly was always taught to “bite her tongue” to get what she wants, she breaks this rule by lashing out at her mother while they’re shopping at the market.

 Waverly attributes her frustration to her mother to the ownership over her own success, “Why do you always have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess? My mother’s eyes turned to dangerous black slits. She had no words for me, just sharp silence. I felt the wind rushing around my hot ears” (Tan 102).  The parallel of the elements of “wind” and “invisible strength” between the mother and daughter can be seen in ch. 3 “I had genuine thoughts inside that no one could see, that no one could ever take away from me. I was like the wind” (Tan 53).  Additionally, Waverly consistently mentions “wind” throughout Rules of the Game: “A light wind blew past my ears. It whispered secrets only I could hear” (Tan 98).

 Chess is a game of strategy, foresight (predicting future moves), following rules, and attempting to get ahead by out maneuvering your opponent.  Thus chess can be compared to life: you have to advance along the board (and life), you will encounter obstacles, need to gain power, plan out your next moves, everything is caused by your actions or your inactions, YOU are solely responsible for how much control you have over yourself and the game. Lastly, there are rules in life that you MUST apply because they are the laws of the game, the same way there are laws we must abide by in life.  We know Tan uses chess as a metaphor for life by Waverly’s last line of the chapter after she has a falling out with her mother, “I closed my eyes and pondered my next move” (Tan 103). Chess as a Metaphor for Life