Question

Read the excerpt below from the short story "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan and answer the question that follows. My mother placed my first trophy next to a new plastic chess set that the neighborhood Tao society had given to me. As she wiped each piece with a soft cloth, she said, "Next time win more, lose less." "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." At the next tournament, I won again, but it was my mother who wore the triumphant grin. "Lost eight piece this time. Last time was eleven. What I tell you? Better off lose less!" I was annoyed, but I couldn't say anything. Describe the primary and secondary conflicts in the excerpt. Then, analyze what motivates each character to act the way they do in the excerpt.

Answer 1

The primary conflict displayed in the given passage lies between Meimei and Lindo as the former is exasperated by the critiques of the latter and finds it utterly unreasonable. This misperception is the external conflict that Meimei undergoes and the secondary conflict lies 'within herself' as she deep down knows that being annoyed is not appropriate to wrap up an argument. If she wishes to learn this art of 'invisible strength' to conquer her aggression, she is supposed to look for a solution that would help. Just asking her mother to recede would not help in anyway. While Lindo seems prompted by a wish to witness Meimei succeeding. He feels that however Meimei is winning in some of the games but she must continue to upgrade and prove herself. His key idea behinf her critique is that she keeps improving instead being complacent.