How Theme Transcends Literature

Anthony Sanchez                                                                               Sanchez 1

Ms. Mitchell

Period 3

September 28, 2015

How Theme Transcends Literature

        As Albert Einstein states, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” In the fictional story, “Rules of the Game,” written by Amy Tan, a girl named Waverly never gives up and accomplishes her goal. In this story Waverly, who lives in Chinatown, is very eager to learn how to play chess when her older brothers get a new chess set. Even after being rejected of playing, Waverly still studied and practiced for many hours in hope of becoming good at chess. Eventually, she competes in many tournaments and wins them all even with her mother telling her she could do better after each match. The theme in “Rules of the Game” is that when people do not give up, even when life drags them down, they can accomplish great things. This theme related to the real world in many ways: ranging from anything from a song that tells people they could do and be whatever they want, as long as they try, to the story of a paralyzed women finishing a marathon in a bionic suit.

        The theme in “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan is that when people do not give up, even when life drags them down, they can accomplish great things. The author introduces the theme by writing, “At first Vincent wouldn’t let me play, but when I offered my lifesavers as a replacement for the buttons that filled for the missing pieces, he relented” (Tan 266). Although Waverly’s brother did not want her to play, she gave up her lifesavers and would do anything to

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be accepted. Even if Waverly was not sure if she would win against her brother, she took a risk and decided to play the game. The author develops the theme by stating, “I borrowed books from the Chinatown library. I studied each piece trying to absorb each power it contained” (Tan 266). Waverly takes time out of her day to go to the library and study each and every chess piece to learn how to be better at the game. To further increase her knowledge, she made her own chess board and she would stare at it all night. By doing this, she would stay up late just to find out new moves to use in the game. The refines the theme by writing, “The day after I had won an important regional tournament, the window encase a fresh sheet cake with whipped-cream frosting and red script saying, ‘Congratulations, Waverly Jong, Chinatown Chess Champion’” (Tan 269). After all her hard work, Waverly won an important chess tournament and was deemed chess champion of Chinatown. At this point of the story, Waverly had become confident in her skill because she earned it after a lot of training and after winning the tournament. The success one person produces depends on the hours spent practicing and whether or not that person gives up, even when the going gets tough.