Similarites

A month ago, I wrote a blog about Amy Chua and her article titled "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior". I also wrote blogs about a book called "The Joy Luck Club".

When I read Amy Chua's article and some of the stories of Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club", I can see some of the similarities between the two. In Amy Chua's article, she talks about what Chinese mothers go through supposed to "Western mothers". She explains why Chinese mothers are strict while Western parents are more relaxed when it comes to their children.

What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences

From that, Chinese parents are very strict and have something Western parents don't.

In Joy Luck Club, there is a section called "The Twenty-Six Malignant Games"where mother and daughter relationships are mainly targeted. The story I chose to write about was the first one" Rules of the Game". Rules of the Game is about a young girl named Waverly Jong who decides to like the game of chess. Her mother sees this and wants her daughter to become a child prodigy. When Waverly does, mother Lindo pressures her to succeed and not fail.

If I lost, I would bring shame on my family, 'Is shame you fall down, nobody push you', said my mother.

To Waverly, it is just a game and fun to play. However, Lindo does not see this and wishes that she doesn't fail or else her family does not accept her. This is similar to Amy Chua's perspective and how she talks about the situation she had with her daughter in the article. In the article, her daughter decides not to play piano anymore which Chua gets angry about. She wishes her daughter would continue and not give up. The way Chua and Lindo handle the situation is harsh as well. At the end of Rules of Game, Lindo disowns Waverly becuase she gave up being a prodigy. In Chua's article, she barely fed Lulu (the daughter) and called her cowardly, lazy, and pathetic. She is only seven years old!

Both mothers are very strict towards their young daughters, which relates to why Chua says that Chinese mothers are superior.