Tiger Mom vs. The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates

There are a few similarities as well as differences between the article "Tiger Mom" by Amy Chua and part two of the book "The Joy Luck Club" titled "The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates" by Amy Tan. The stereotype about Asians is that they want their kids to be the best and they will do anything to keep their kids on top and they will make the decisions for them and basically live their lives because they want the best for them. In the article this is proved in a major way, throughout the article she says many things to back up this stereotype but one that I feel is similar to the story is,

"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. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning...the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in America. Once a child starts to excel at something...he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction."

In this excerpt from the article it is saying that work, work, work; and practice, practice, practice is all it takes for a kid to be better. and not only will it benefit the kid but it will benefit the parent. She is saying that children can not work on their own and they need the guidance of their parent, and the parent has to make the decisions for them. In the section of the book titled "The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates" the mother is Chinese and she wants the best for her daughter just like Amy Chua wants for her kids. She wants her daughter to be a prodigy, then she wants her to play the piano. Her daughter does not want to do that because she knows she can't live up to the expectations her mother sets for her so she slacks off and does not do her best. She later tells her mother she does not want to do this because she is no good, (pg 132. pg 137-138, pg 141-142). The differences between these two lives that these families have is that in the article she sticks strongly to her culture and she is very stricter, and because the kids were raised up like that they did not rebel and know of nothing other then what their mother is showing them. In the book her mother lets her rebel and she is not that strict to where she puts fear and restricts the daughter from doing what she wants to do.

I feel that the article is a little stronger then how the Chinese women in the story are portrayed. In the article Chinese mothers are portrayed as strict and always on their kids backs and not fun at all restricting them from having fun and running their lives how they think it should be ran. The mothers in the book are wise and posses powers of wisdom that are very strong. The mothers in the book are nowhere near being like the mothers described in the article, they may come a little close but not all the way there.