Joy Luck Club Concession

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Concession in Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club

"Sometimes you have to lose pieces to get ahead," explains the narrator of "The Rules of the Game," a lost piece from Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club that has arguably achieved greater readership through its appearance in numerous anthologies (505). "The Rules of the Game" pivots around the concept that one may triumph in a win-lose situation through a concession. Narrator Waverly Jong recounts applications of this idea as she grows into adolescence in her Chinese-American community. From her adventures in the local marketplace to her romps on the chess battlefield, Waverly's prizes while asserting her concede-to-win …show more content…

These include the abolishment of her chores, the transference of her brothers into the noisier bedroom, and the privilege of not finishing her meals. Through her parents' allowances, Waverly enhances her skills as a chess player and enables them to vicariously win through her.

"The Rules of the Game" ends with a final conflict between Waverly and her mother. The quarrel begins when Waverly and her mother are shopping in the marketplace and her mother incessantly brags about Waverly's prowess as a chess player to strangers. Waverly mutters "I wish you wouldn't [tell] everybody that I'm your daughter" instead devising a clever method of conceding to her mother (507). This upsets her mother and causes a public disturbance more humiliating to Waverly than receiving unwarranted praise, reinforcing that an act of concession is the most effective way to triumph in the struggle to win.

In short, Tan presents several conflicts that investigate the factors in win-lose situations, each conflict reiterating the notion that one

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