Review of Literature: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is a book written by Amy Chua that reflects her family’s experience with living in a different culture than raised in. Chua was born in America but her parents were both born in China and moved to the US to study. As a child, they pushed her to be the best that she could be. They would not accept A-’s, made her practice piano and math everyday and did not allow any sleepovers or relationships with boys. As a result of all of their work, Chua went to Harvard college, Harvard Law School and eventually became the John M Duff Professor of Law at Yale. Chua says how she could not have gotten to where she is today without all that her parents did for her. Chua went on to get married and have two daughters. This book is about the struggles she faced when her second daughter rebelled.
The book had a lot of comedy in it. Chua would crack jokes when telling story about her arguments with her daughters and even making fun of the stereotypes. I liked that the book incorporated this humor and stories rather than just a book written by Chua about how she believes people should raise their children. By making the book easy to read, it attracted a large audience. Also, very few people who are not expecting children are going to read a book written about how to raise a child. I respect that she understands that there are multiple ways to successfully raise children and she makes it clear that she is just trying to portray one way that worked for her. Given Chua’s background and the amazing success she has had in raising her kids, I personally took a lot of what this book said to heart.