Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother - Amy Chua

Recently, I began a memoir called Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. I was encouraged to read this book after I saw some of my friends read it while my class was studying memoirs.
The author, Amy Chua, is a Chinese mother, who is married to a Jewish American. The book is mainly about the story of her raising her two children. Amy Chua has a unique voice in her writing, offering a perspective of a strict mother that is not commonly seen in other novels.

The best quality of Amy is that, no matter what, she is always trying to think for her kids. She raised them with the morals she grew up with, with nearly no room for anything else. Due to her strictness, she has multiple battles with her children throughout the book. When Louisa, her second daughter was born, the first story Amy tells us is a huge fight, "Dodging her blows, I dragged the screeching demon to our back porch door, and threw it open. The wind chill was twenty degrees, and my own face hurt from just a few seconds' exposure to the icy air." She was "determined to raise an obedient Chinese child" but also fell back when she knew anymore fighting would cause severe ruptures in the family. On a vacation to Russia, Lulu causes a scene when she gets into an argument with Amy. She screamed "I hate the violin. I HATE my life. I HATE you, and I HATE this family!" After such a loud, public scene, Amy knows it is time for her to allow Lulu to pursue her own interest of tennis.

However, a bad quality of Amy, is that she is very stubborn, and most of the time, gets what she wants. She will never settle for other than perfect. Once on her birthday, both of her daughters gave her birthday cards, but flat out refuses them by saying, "I want a better one--one that you've put some thought and effort into. I have a special box, where I keep all my cards from you and Sophia, and this one can't go in there." These actions that would be considered "mean" all lead up to huge fights like the one above. As she realizes in the end of the book, she should change her actions to reflect both her and her daughter's dreams.