Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother Essay

   In Amy Tan's novel, Joy Luck Club, the mother of Jing-mei recognizes only two kinds of daughters: those that are obedient and those that follow their own mind. Perhaps the reader of this novel may recognize only two types of mothers: pushy mothers and patient mothers.  The two songs, "Pleading Child" and "Perfectly Contented," which the daughter plays, reinforce the underlying tension in the novel. These songs represent the feelings that the daughter, Jing-mei, has had throughout her life.

She let Sophia, first daughter, play the piano. Louisa, second daughter, is the “wild one”. She is very “willful … obstinate … and fly[s] into a rage…” (Chua 11). Amy Chua wants her children to be successful in the future and drills many useful aspects of life, as well as the Chinese traditions.

Couple go through a discussion on how they should raise their children. Parenting style in countries such as China, Japan, and Korea have different views than Western’s parenting style in the United States. In recent years, a term Tiger Mother has brought an idea that these mothers have a strict parenting philosophy that incorporates firm parental control and high standards for excellence (Chua, 2011). Parents everywhere agree that raising a child is a complex and daunting task, in which, parents have encompassed both their beliefs and practiced into their own parenting style. Both stories, Mother Inferior was written by Hanna Rosin and Why Chinese Mothers are Superior was written by Amy Chua, explore the different parenting styles and methods. Mother Inferior focuses on allowing children to freely express themselves, while Why Chinese Mothers are Superior

In the article, “Adapted From Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” Amy Chua, the author, gave some very valid points about how Western children and Chinese children are raised very diversely. Chinese parents are more strict and Western parents are more laid back. Most of the authors points that she made were backed up with statics so they were reliable and valid. There were just a few she didn't back up it was just her opinion. The statements about how the Chinese mothers raise their children are not agreeable or realistic. In all the authors article was valid and had some great points.

Questions have been raised on whether Chinese parenting raises more flourishing children than Western parenting. Despite what people think, in Amy Chua's essay “The Roar of the Tiger Mom”, she portrays the differences between the beliefs of Chinese parenting and Western parenting. Chua introduces the views of a Chinese parent compared to the views of a Western parent. The methods used by Chinese mothers in raising their children are drastically different from Western mothers. Each defends their methods and believes the other group is doing their job poorly. In the end, both types of parents just want one thing-- successful children.

On October 26th 1962, one of the most known authors was born: Amy Chua. Amy Chua was born in Champaign, Illinois in the Unites States. She was raised as a catholic. Despite her having ancestry whom are Chinese, to be more specific Kokkein dialect, she proudly carries around an American identity. She was born in the year of the Tiger. In their culture, that represents people who are fearless, powerful, noble, and authoritative. “My family comes from southern China’s Fujian Province, which is famous for producing scholars and scientists.” Her parents migrated from the Philippines to the States before she was born in order to continue their educational studies. Her father, “Leon Ong Chua is an American electrical engineer and computer scientist. He is a professor in the electrical engineering and computer sciences department at the University of California, Berkeley.” His nationality is Holko and American. On the other side, the authors mother, Diana Chua was born in China and moved to the Philippines at the age of 2. She converted to Catholicism when she was in high school and received a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Santo Tomas. Amy has three sisters and they are all known to be successful in their own ways. Amy Chua has 2 daughters: Sophia and Louisa. With Chua’s Tiger parenting methods, Sophia seems to respect and listen to her mother which is the opposite than Lulu (Louisa). Lulu has more western characteristics. For example, she talks back and doesn’t respect her mother’s orders. Briefly, these aspects form her native identity.

The two passages, “Battle of Hymn of the Tiger Mom” by Amy Chua and “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan differ with how the mother-daughter relationships are portrayed and the tones, but share the same theme. The tone in Chua’s passage is normal, while in Tan’s it is more harsh and not as understanding. In Amy Chua’s excerpt “The Violin”, she shows the relationship between the mother, which is Chua, and daughter, Lulu as being normal and commanding. They bicker and fight, but still care about each other.

Our mothers have played very valuable roles in making us who a we are and what we have become of ourselves. They have been the shoulder we can lean on when there was no one else to turn to. They have been the ones we can count on when there was no one else. They have been the ones who love of us for who we are and forgive us when no one else wouldn’t. In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds,” the character Jing-mei experiences being raised by a mother who has overwhelming expectations for her daughter, causes Jing-mei to struggle with who she wants to be. “Only two kind of daughters,” “Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!”(476). When a mother pushes her daughter to hard the daughter rebels, but realizes in the end that their mothers

Which parenting style will lead to a child becoming successful and stable in life? Many argue about the answer to this question. There are four main types of parenting styles. There’s authoritarian parenting which follows a set of strict rules and doesn’t necessarily nurture the child; apathetic towards their emotions, demanding a sort of blind obedience from the child. Authoritative parenting which takes a more moderate approach; setting high standards, nurtures, and responds to the child’s emotions. Permissive parenting which is reluctant to impose rules and standards, preferring to allow kids to regulate themselves. Finally, there’s the hands-off parenting in which the parent doesn’t involve themselves

Emotions are expressed immediately at the beginning of the writing to have his readers grasp his feelings of the situation. Goldstein compares Chua’s “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” a “depiction of Chinese-style extreme parenting” (Goldstein 272). He then continues to maintain the reader’s attention by explaining Chua’s parenting skills by addressing the fact how the children cannot have play dates, or even watch television. Goldstein inspires his readers by giving individual’s personal experiences that reflect how they became successful.

Amy is known as a ‘Tiger Mom”, one who pushes their children to be the best of the best academically. Chinese parents raise their children to meet high expectations.

There is many questions on how to parent a child in order to help them be successful in life. Although parenting style various greatly, most all parents put into practice what regulations in which they think will help their child succeed in life. Some parents, known as Chinese parents are extremely strict, and on the other end of the spectrum there is western parents, who do not expect as much from their child. In Amy Chua’s “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom,” Chua explains what it is like to have Chinese parenting techniques. She attempts to justify the struggles, beliefs, and methods of Chinese parents, as compared to western parents, and how they both have the end goal - to prepare their child to succeed in life.

Providing the two heroines with strong and engaging personalities, the novel portrays the life of two young Chinese girls, who because of historical events and family secrets, have to grow up faster than what they had planned. The book delivers emotional themes that are powerful yet familiar, and is written in a compelling manner.

On January 27, an article was published, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior” by the Wall Street Journal. It brought attention and promotes extreme controversy. Chua sparked debates over the differences in parenting styles of American and Chinese heritages. “Chinese Mothers” used in a broad statement and “Western Mothers” used for every other party. Americans began to raise questions. Chua’s article referring to herself as a Tiger mother stands to have both negative comments and some positive.

Brooks disagrees with Chua’s decision to not let her daughters spend time with friends at sleepovers or at after school activities. He believes that it’s better for kids to have a chance to experience working and spending time in a group. He states, “Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon have found that groups have a high collective intelligence when members of a group are good at reading each others’ emotions.” He thinks Chua making her daughters come home immediately after school is harming the girl’s social lives. Once again I just don’t agree with Chua, her style of parenting just doesn’t work for a vast majority of people in the west. So I would lean towards agreeing with what Brooks had to say. Spending