The short story “Rules of the Game” is about a young girl named Waverly Jong, and her struggles with a mom about her chess career, which was really pushed onto her by her mother. In the text, this may be normal for a parent to treat their child like that, but here is why it is wrong.
In the story, the mother was the main pusher for the chess ordeal. It started off only for fun, but one day, the mother sent Waverly to a chess competition, where she won, her mom told her to lose less pieces the next time she played. This really shows a poor understanding of how the game works, as the game is very complex and it is sometimes necessary to lose many pieces to win. Her mom did not really understand that, and was only focused on the idea of growth, and becoming perfect, which was impossible.
As time went on, things began to go downhill. Waverly became very famous, and the mother would brag to anyone that even looked towards her that she was Waverly’s mother. This really could have affected Waverly’s self esteem, as her mother never even congratulated her. This could have made Waverly feel like her mother was taking all the credit for Waverly’s work.
Doing this could have major effects on Waverlys health, leading to anxiety or depression, because of the need to improve, despite having no incentive to do so. At the end, Waverly got into an argument with her mother, Her mother basically ignored her from then on, and that was the end of that.