Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior: Amy Chua BBS 1st Year Patterns for College Writing

 

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior by Amy Chua (page 232)

About the Essayist 

Amy Chua is an American legal scholar, author, and professor at Yale Law School. Born on October 26, 1962, she is best known for her 2011 memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, which sparked global debate on parenting styles. Chua specializes in international business law, ethnic conflict, and globalization. She has also written influential books such as World on Fire and Political Tribes. Of Chinese-Filipino descent, Chua is known for her provocative ideas on culture, identity, and power, both in academic and popular spheres.

The Main Theme of the Essay

The main theme of Amy Chua’s essay “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” is the contrast between strict, high-expectation parenting (which she calls the “Chinese” style) and more permissive, Western parenting styles. Chua argues that children achieve more when parents enforce discipline, hard work, and persistence, even at the cost of short-term unhappiness or conflict. She suggests that this approach builds resilience, confidence, and excellence, especially in academics and music. Ultimately, the essay raises questions about cultural values, parenting goals, and the definition of success, challenging readers to reflect on how different parenting styles shape children’s development.

 

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Summary of the Essay

In the article “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”, the author, Amy Chua, explains that Chinese children are more successful in their lives than Western children. Chinese Children are more intelligent and smart. She also compares the different ways of raising children through short stories and gives examples from her life. Chua came to the United States of America with her parents when she was 1 year old. Now, she is married and has two beautiful daughters, Sophia and Louisa. She is Western but raises her two daughters with certain rules and restrictions because of her Chinese heritage.

Chua claims that Western mothers have an attitude that “stressing academics is not good for children”. They think that kids need to develop the concept of learning different things because it is helpful to them. By contrast, Chinese parents think totally differently and they think that “academic success reflects successful parenting” (Chua).  If a child has any problem with his/her grades, a Chinese mother spends plenty of time in her daily life to make his/her child “superior” in class. In the Chinese mothers’ dictionary, there is no word for giving up. Chua says that when she was young, her father called her “garbage” in their language when she misbehaved with her mother. She feels guilt from the bottom of her heart and agrees that she does something bad to her mother. She also thinks that her parents care about her and that the word “garbage” is not going to hurt her self-respect.

By contrast, she does the same thing to her daughter Sophia at a dinner party in front of her other Western friends. Her friends think that Chua's behaviour is really bad towards her daughter and they leave the party. The only difference between Chinese parents and Western parents is that Chinese parents can tell everything to their children and they never take it negatively. If the same thing happens to any Western children, the reaction is going to be the opposite and they end up getting a “negative self-image”. According to Chua, “Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything”. A Chinese mother gives her full time and devotion to raising children. Chinese parents think that they sacrifice their lives and time for their children; therefore, children need to repay and obey their parents their whole life. By contrast, Westerners do not have the same point of view. Chua gives an example of her husband, Jed, who says, “Children don’t choose their parents” (Chua). He is trying to tell her that parents want children for their lives and they raise them because they want them to succeed. They teach everything to them for themselves; “Kids don’t owe their parents anything” (Chua). She was shocked and bold by his husband’s reaction.

Chua says Chinese parents want to train their children differently. Therefore, they restrict them in certain areas, so they can be more focused on their academic life. Chinese people think that if children are not able to achieve their goals, then there is a lack of practice and effort behind it. In her article, she tells a short story about her youngest daughter, Lulu, favoring the Chinese manner of raising children. When Lulu was 7 years old, she played two instruments and she had to prepare a music piece “The Little White Donkey” on piano for her recital (Chua). The piece is very difficult to play on the piano for a 7-year-old child.  Lulu is not able to do it because “the two hands have to keep schizophrenically different rhythms” (Chua). She is working hard over and over on it, but she is not able to do it. She gets frustrated and tears the book and says again and again to her mother (Chua) that she does not want to do it. Chua threatens her and tells her she has to do it anyhow. She is not going to give her any food, or water, and no permission to go to the bathroom until she finishes the piece.

Even, Jed agrees that by not giving up she makes Lulu much more self-assured and faultless in her work. In conclusion, Amy Chua says Western parents also want their children to become more successful. They care about their self-respect, and independence, and try to motivate them to fulfil their dreams; also they admire and respect their children’s decisions. By contrast, Chinese parents believe that they have a good sense of choosing the right direction for their children. They prepare and help them to build up their self-confidence for the future. So, they become more successful and no one can take away the confidence and success from their children’s life.

Comprehension

1.     What does Chua mean when she says, "What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it?" Do you agree with her?

According to Chua, many Chinese parents push their children to work hard to get good at things because they believe that, despite the resistance the child may have at first, the praise and satisfaction that comes from this hard work will make it worth it, thus giving them the motivation to work at the skill even harder.

2.     Does Chua's husband agree or disagree with her child-rearing methods? Why does he react the way he does?

While Chua believes that children owe something to their parents, her husband believes the opposite. He believes that since parents are the ones that choose to give life to their children they should be prepared to provide for them as a result.

3.     According to Chua, why are Chinese parents able to do things that Western parents cannot?

Chinese parents can do things that Western parents cannot because Western parents are always worried about their child's self-esteem and self-image, resulting in sugarcoating.

4.     How does Chua respond to the charge that Chinese parents don't care about their children?

She says "They would give up anything for their children that is just a different parenting model".

5.     According to Chua, how do Chinese child-rearing practices prepare children for life?

Chua says that Chinese child-rearing practices give children strong work habits, skills, and confidence to prepare them for their future life.

Purpose and Audience

1.     What preconceptions about Chinese mothers does Chua think Westerners have? Do you think she is right about this?

Chua believes that many Westerners believe that Chinese mothers are overbearing and indifferent to their children's needs. While I do not believe that the perception itself is correct, I think she is correct in stating that many believe this to be true.

2.     Does Chua seem to expect her readers to be receptive, hostile, or neutral to her ideas? What evidence can you find to support your impression? How do you know?

She seems to anticipate her readers to react negatively to her ideas. When she talks about the time she called her daughter "garbage", she mentions that she was ostracized by a social circle when mentioning this incident. She also mentions the rise of books that portray Asian mothers as heartless; she seems aware that this parenting style is not well-received among most Westerners.

3.     What is Chua's thesis? Where does she state it?

Chua's thesis, which she states in paragraph 11, is that there are three main differences between Western parenting and Chinese parenting. The three main differences in parenting children are Western parents are concerned about their children's psyches whereas Chinese parents aren't, Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything but she doesn't think most Westerners have the same view of children being permanently indebted to their parents and finally, Chinese parents believe that they know what is best for their children and therefore override all of their children's desires and preferences.

4.     In an interview, Chua said that the editors of the Wall Street Journal, not she, chose the title of her essay. Why do you think the editors chose the title they did? What title do you think Chua would have chosen? What title would you give the essay?

The editors likely chose this title because it is a controversial statement that would draw in readers. Chua's point doesn't seem to be to claim superiority, her goal seems more oriented toward explaining the nuances of these parenting techniques to dispel the criticism they receive and to talk about how these techniques differ from Western techniques. Her title may have been something along the lines of "How Chinese and Western Mothers Differ." I would have chosen a similar title as well; I believe that the author's goals should be recognized in the title.

Style and Structure

1.     Why does Chua begin her essay with a list of things her two daughters were not allowed to do as they were growing up? How do you think she expects readers to react to this list? How do you react?

Chua expected readers to be shocked, possibly angered by this list; she included it with the intent of eliciting this kind of response in the reader. She intends to persuade the reader to read more by appealing to their emotion.

2.     Is this essay a point-by-point comparison, a subject-by-subject comparison, or a combination of the two organizational strategies? Why does Chua arrange her comparison the way she does?

This essay is organized using a point-by-point structure. This organizational style works well because it allows Chua to touch on many individual points and write about how each parenting style differs regarding that point in a way that is not confusing for the reader.

3.     What evidence does Chua present to support her view that there are marked differences between the parenting styles of Chinese and Western parents?

Most of the evidence that Chua provides is based on her own opinions and observations. Her comparisons between how Chinese and Western parents deal with learning instruments and how to speak to one's child are based purely on her own experiences. In paragraph 5, Chua cites a study to compare Chinese immigrant mothers and Western mothers' opinions on topics like academic expectations.

4.     Chua was born in the United States. Does this fact undercut her conclusions about the differences between Western and Chinese child-rearing? Explain.

The fact that Chua was born in the US does not undercut her arguments; if anything, this helps her case. Being born in the US has allowed her to see both parenting styles she discusses first-hand. Her conclusions are more severely undercut by the lack of nuance she provides; there is little evidence that the techniques she discusses are effective.

5.     What points does Chua emphasize in her conclusion? How else could she have ended her essay?

Chua ends her essay by comparing and contrasting Western and Chinese parenting styles of child-rearing. She also could have used narrative as a strategy for her conclusion, perhaps circling back to talk about her experience with her daughters again.

 

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