Rules of the Game

The scratchy collar symbolizes the entrapment of Waverly by her mother. Waverly’s hobby of chess is important to her and her mother “[has] a habit of standing over [her] while [she] [plots] out [her] games.” (p.98) This habit of Waverly’s mother is a symbol of how she controls Waverly. As her mother stands over Waverly, it displays her as a dominant figure and shows that Waverly should be submissive and obedient towards her. Waverly’s mother expects her to listen to everything she says and not have any opinion towards anything. However, Waverly’s attitude towards her mother is shown to be negative and instead disagrees with her mother as she “can’t practice” properly. (p.98) The victory of winning tournaments is not triumphant for her, but for her mother “who [wears] the triumphant grin.” (p. 97) The game of chess for Waverly is something she enjoys, but as she begins to gain fame for her talent, Waverly feels as if she is playing for her mother and to only win. Because of her mother’s entrapment, Waverly is unable to be free and break away from her mother’s grasp. The “window [encasing] a fresh sheet cake,” (p.97) is internally framing Waverly’s new life. Before, Waverly is unaware of a game called chess and she is unknown and unpopular to those around her, but as she begins to play, her mother realizes that Waverly has talent and continues to make her play chess. The “dust-covered cakes” (p.97) are exchanged for “fresh sheet [cakes]” (p.97) when Waverly begins to win more and more tournaments. The “dust covered cakes” (p.97) represent Waverly’s life before she begins to play chess and after she begins to play, more people begin to notice her as a “fresh sheet cake.” Additionally, because Waverly is bringing fame to her family, her mother is proud and feels that Waverly has brought honor to the family. Because her mother wants to keep this honor, her mother forces chess upon Waverly, not as a hobby, but a job that she must do. Also, the transition of the two