Rules of the Game: Waverly Jong

"I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others, and eventually, though neither of us knew it at the time, chess games"(89, Waverly Jong).

From the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer: Josh playing in the park with his 1st mentor.

This quote is an example of aphorism because it revels a truth about life. In this chapter Waverly tells the reader about how she became a chess prodigy at a young age. Her mother was so proud of her and pressured her to work harder and to succeed. Waverly gets in an argument with her mother because she can not take all the pressure she puts on her and hates how her mother brags about her all the time. I can relate this to the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. In the movie, the main character, a little boy who starts playing chess just like Waverly did; he starts playing men in the park, and is taught by one of the patrons. Josh's father sees his talent and potential, and begins to pressure him into working harder and winning more. Josh begins to fear losing, and thinks if he loses the game, he loses his father's love. Like Josh, Waverly thinks her mother wants this future for her for the wrong reasons and eventually buckles under the pressure.