Parenting In Jeanette Walls 'Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother'

Brett Corrigan
English- Essay
9/21/2014
The most exceptional parents portray qualities consisting of a stable and nurturing external environment, possess qualities that allow a positive role model, show enforcement by setting limits and administrate consequences; nevertheless, adept parents are to provide propitious moral and spiritual support. In order to be characterized as the most optimist parent, you mustn’t be lacking in the qualities formerly stated, as that would be lacking in one side of the whole equation, which will conclude an imbalance. Jeanette Walls, author of a memoir The Glass Castle and Amy Chua, author of a memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother express parenting in polar opposites. These divergent parenting styles rendering

in the two books each accommodate at least one half of the equation, but ostracize the other half, thus delineating them both as unbalanced parents.
Jaeanette Walls features a dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant family that lives to survive, on the hope that one day, the construction of the “Glass Castle” will be started and this would somehow drown out all the problems they have endured and will be facing in life. Rex Walls and Rose Mary Walls can be defined as good parents primarily for two reasons: resilience/tolerance and even love towards their children. Rex and rose’s children (Lori, Jeanette, Maureen and Brian) are literally as tough as a rock. They’ve endured so much emotional and physical abuse, that later on in their life, they will be ready for all the hardships that they might face. As soon as Jeanette arrived at New York City, Lori’s colleague made a remark pertaining to Jeanette’s physical strength, “You Walls’ are a tough breed”(201). Though this argument can be counter argued by saying that Maureen went off to a mental hospital later on in her life, Jeanette rarely every mentioned Maureen; meaning that we have no idea what she faced differently, rather than the other kids. Another example of Rex Walls and Rose Mary Walls parenting being categorized as good would be their overall love for their children. They really did love their children, but could not provide. Rex was actually extremely affectionate with his children after being sober for many weeks, buying the kids bikes, trying to make the kids happy since they didn’t have money by “giving” them stars, and even the whole idea of the Glass Castle. The whole incident referring to Rex giving their children stars is seems as if Rex was trying to get out of giving presents, which may be true, but there is more behind it. Perhaps Rex Walls was attempting to use the stars as a metaphor referring to love and hope. As other kids are given things that will slowly become obsolete, the Walls’ have been given a present that will last an eternity. Every time they look up to see the sky during the night, they will see the stars and remember their parents and how much they tried. When Lori brought Jeanette and Brian up to New York, Lori called Maureen short after. They had a conversation going back and forth and eventually Maureen agreed to coming up. Rex actually said in response, “Stop stealing my children!” (240). This proved that Rex Walls and Rose Mary Walls actually wanted children- they didn’t just have them by accidently and tow them around the world. Overall, Jeanette and her siblings acquired the ability survive under near any circumstance. They can live in any condition and know she will be okay. It could be mentally, emotionally, or physically and she will overcome it. If she has a minuscule amount of money or food, she can survive. She also obtained mother’s creativity, which helped in her journalism. Thus, Rex and Rose Mary provided moral and spiritual support in numerous twisted and deceptive ways, but still proceeded to succeed in this half of the equation.
Rex Walls and Rose Mary Walls can also be categorized as abhorrent parents.

Many see them as un-providing and overall, just plain arrogant. Rex Walls is not able to keep a job or support his family and constantly lies about near everything. When Rex is working as a miner in Battle Mountain, Rex comes home one day and says he quit because he had to “pursue being a prospector to find gold” (67). He never finds gold… One day, Jeanette happened to be cooking hotdogs without her mother’s supervision…. Due to her lack of parental supervision, Jeanette’s dress catches on fire, and Jeanette is forced going to the hospital (3). This individual incident shows that the lack of supervision for Jeanette, led directly to her being injured. This whole incident happened because her mother, Rose Mary, decided that painting was more important than watching her child. An additional example of the parenting style being negative is when Rose Mary takes the kids on a trip to go shoplifting… In Phoenix, she has the kids make a subtle distraction in the store, and she goes off and steals a few dresses. Jeanette later asks, “Isn’t that a sin?”. Rose Mary assures her that it isn’t (111). This additional incident shows that she is willing to break the law and easily involve her kids in stealing. This offense is clearly defined as bad, because she is not only doing something illegal, but she now is having her children be her partners in

crime.
Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother obtains a “disclaimer” on the cover.

The book was originally meant overlook the metaphorical clash between Chinese and Western parenting styles, but instead, refers to Chua's experience with raising her daughters. Chua clearly describes the “strict” rules that she established early on for her two daughters, Sophia and Louisa. The rules primarily address forbidden activities such as attending sleepovers, getting less than an A in classes, and being involved in school plays. The author admits that while her standards might seem rather stringent to most, they are common among Chinese mothers. On the 3rd paragraph in an excerpt, Chua mentioned, “In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that ‘stressing academic success is not good for children’ or that ‘parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun.’ By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be "the best" students, that "academic achievement reflects successful parenting". Obviously, Chinese parents believe that academic success is primary, and that if one achieves well academically, that means the parents have done well. Statistically proven, the Chinese tend to do better on state exams and college admissions. So, Chua managed to keep her children’s grades high, allow for her

children to play exceptionally well at their instruments and in the end, become well rounded individuals. Excluding one major aspect… Everyone copes with failure each and every day, but the Chua family never mentioned too much about failure other than a section where it refers to if a child gets below an A, “there would be hair pulling”. What would have happened if the child, who has grown into an adult and never faced failure, did not get their optimum job? Well, just as Chua used her statistics, many others’ can as well. The Week mentioned an article called “The rise of youth suicide in China”, one of the paragraphs stated, “Suicide is the top cause of death among Chinese youth, according to China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (In most Western countries, accidents cause the greatest number of youth deaths.) Every year, roughly 250,000 people commit suicide in China, while another two million attempt to. Stress over school is usually a major factor, and jumping out of a window is by far the most common method. Experts say that is evidence that these suicides may often be impulsive — as opposed to long-mulled or carefully planned — acts. “ Chua did possess qualities that allow a positive role model and show enforcement by setting limits and administrate consequences but failed on the other half of the equation, just opposite of Rex and Rose Mary Walls, which was providing a nurturing home, and a stable mental/spiritual mind set.
As both parenting styles did succeed in one section of the “equation”, they still both lacked in something else, making them both not necessarily “good” parents. Amy Chua lacked in providing mental and spiritual support, which they will need later on in life, meanwhile Rex and Rose Mary Walls lacked in providing a nurturing home, setting rules and a good role model.