The Joy Luck Club vs. The Crazy Mother!

Between Amy Tan's, 'The Joy Luck Club', and Amy Chua's, 'Why Chinese Mothers are superior, there are many similarities as well as there are differences. Chua states that the Chinese parents constantly insist on their children to work hard at something and that their purpose for that is so that their children will excel in many ways.

"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, which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, 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—whether it's math, piano, pitching or ballet—he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction."

A similarity between The Joy Luck Club and Chua's article is that they both want the best for their daughters and that was their reason for pressuring them to do so well. In the section, The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, in the Joy Luck Club, we have an insight view of the mother-daughter relationship between June Woo and her mother Suyuan Woo. The mothers' main goal that she wants her daughter to achieve is to become a prodigy. The daughter begins to play the piano and eventually fails. Even so, the mother still insists that she continues to practice to get better, "Only two kinds of daughters...Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind. Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter," (142).  This relates to Chua;'s beliefs that Chinese parents have to be persistent with their children. Suyuan would not let her daughter quit playing the piano although she failed miserably.

The difference between these two mothers is that Suyuan Woo did not insult her daughter when she failed at the piano; she didn't say anything to her at all. On the other hand, later in Chua's article, she tells of how she would insult her daughter and put her down when she did not get things right. She explains that this was her method along with many other Chinese parents who say things out of spite towards their children as their tactic to make them do better overall.

Amy Tan does not endorse the same ideas that Chua is making an argument about. Chua's article is completely biased and her points are not so strong. Amy Tan's novel suggests that the mother-daughter relationship is built to support the children whenever they are needed, while Chua suggests that Chinese parents are only strict to get what they want out of their children.