In the story, The Rules of the Game, the entire novel is about a little chinese girl named Meimei. Meimei’s mother is your average strict Chinese parent, and sticks to very traditional standards. She also is very stubborn, and refuses to accept new ideas from her daughter. This strictness can create pressure, which urges Meimei to improve; but too much can make her feel limited and become frustrated at her mother.
Meimei’s mother is always telling her daughter about how great Chinese methods are. This can help Meimei feel good about herself, and proud to be Chinese. When they received a chessboard for Christmas, Meimei’s mother told her children that rules are important. “‘This American rules,’ she concluded at last. ‘Every time people come out from foreign country, must know rules. You not know, judge say, “Too bad, go back”‘” (Tan 3). Rules are a necessity, or else there will be chaos and you will be laughed upon. Meimei’s mother is trying to show this to Meimei.
A fault of Meimei’s mother is being stubborn. When Meimei won a chess match but lost eight pieces, her mother scolded for losing so many. Meimei tried to reason with her that you have to make sacrifices to win, but her mother wouldn’t listen. “‘Ma, it’s not how many pieces you lose,’ I said. ‘Sometimes you need to lose pieces to get ahead.’
‘Better to lose less, see if you really need'” (Tan 4). This can be very frustrating to Meimei, because he mother didn’t even give it a chance.
Overall, strictness can create a good environment for improvement. But more is not better in almost all cases. Being too strict can create negative feelings of not meeting expectations, so people must remember to always be careful about being strict.