The Rules Of The Game
The story written by Amy Tan, Rules of the Game” opens with an anecdotal reference to the store with the forbidden candies, causing the reader to notice from the beginning of the story Meimei being conditioned by the social elements. Meimei is being taught about “invisible strength” from her mother (qtd. Cassill and Bausch, 1471). In this essay I will examine the role the social and physical environments had in the conditioning of Meimei; including the conflict between American and Chinese culture.
The first two paragraphs of the story show the reader the importance of the social elements and encourage the reader to watch carefully throughout the rest of the story to observe the effect these social lessons have on the conditioning of Meimei. Meimei’s mother was teaching her the “art of invisible strength” (1471). Why was this important for Meimei to learn? “It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others, and eventually, though neither of us knew it at the time, chess games” (1471). This is a life lesson; the invisible strength is something Meimei will use for the rest of her life.
Her mother continues on to lesson two, “the wind” (1471). “The wind” is her mother teaching her how important Chinese culture and tra
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“Chinese people do many things…do business, do medicine, do painting. The mental picture is the back drop for the drama to be played out on; it brings the social aspects alive. Vincent being told to throw the chess set away. We have a vivid picture of life for a Chinese-American living in San Francisco’s Chinatown; children playing in the alleys, Meimei and her family living in an apartment above a bakery, the playground with elderly people sitting around it eating watermelon seeds and pigeons waiting for the husks, and the best playground of all, the dark alley. Strongest wind cannot be seen” (1479). Her mother does not appear to know what Chinese torture is but her answer shows us a conflict between American and Chinese...
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