Rules of the Game- Vedica Bhasin

   The setting within the story; China town in San Francisco establishes the early emphasis on the cultural significance and influence of the protagonist’s Chinese roots within the story. This influence is often directly reinstated by the narrator- “She sat proudly on the bench, telling, my admirers with proper Chinese humility. “Is luck.” ” The writer pays great attention to describing the details of the surrounding by strong imagery that appeals to all five senses. (“We lived on... one-two-three bricks”). The use of words such as “warm”, “clean”, “well-shined” establish a comfortable, familiar and positive emotion towards the setting at the beginning of the story. Interestingly, the shifts in physical settings promote the plot. As the setting moves further away from the writer’s home, the plot develops and more characters are introduced. For example, the firs page involves her immediate family and her residence while the second progresses to the common play areas, involving other residents of the China Town. The layered language, witty and sarcastic tone and the dialog interjections by the mother all contribute towards commenting on themes beyond the sport of chess- I believe the story is truly about the baggage of being an immigrant in a foreign country and the complexity of relationships it brings, in this scenario specially between the mother and the narrator. 

I too found the absence of the father as an active participant of the action strange, however the only description of the father, when he leaves for work "father got ready for work, then locked the door behind him" is almost symbolic of the typical Asian culture where the father or the man of the family is expected to be the bread winner while the mother is predominantly involved in the upbringing of the children.  The sentence quoted about him "locking the door" may have been in symbolic in the sense of him locking behind his duties as a father figure when he leaves to focus on breadwinning.