Analysis Of Amy Chua Is A Wimp By David Brooks

Is America’s academic “boat” being taken over by the Chinese? In the New York Times article, “Amy Chua is a Wimp”, by David Brooks, touches on whether Chinese parenting is better than American parenting, and criticizes one parent’s, Amy Chua, method of raising her own kids. In this piece, Brook uses effective literary strategies in order to turn us against Chua, but at the same time opens our eyes to the idea that she is no better than us Americans. He exploits Chua’s parenting flaws right from the beginning, and takes repeated stabs at the way she punishes her kids. Statistical data is included in the article to establish supporting evidence , and to make his writing credible. Finally, he negates Chua’s sense of hierarchy, in order to prove …show more content…
Brook states, “One of her daughters came in second to a Korean kid in a math competition, so Chua made the girl do 2,000 math problems a night until she regained her supremacy”(57). By including this quotation one is already repulsed by her outrageous parenting skills because that is not something your average parent would do. Furthermore, he writes, “Once her daughters gave her birthday cards of insufficient quality. Chua rejected them and demanded new cards”(58). Brooke includes this to open the eyes of the viewer, and see how a woman can be so hard on her kids even though they are doing something nice for their own mother. By using this approach, he has enabled us to turn against her, and draw our attention to her astringent parenting …show more content…
For example, when he touches on how there is no difference in comparison of her style of parenting and America’s, he claims, “Furthermore (and this Chua doesn’t appreciate), she is not really rebelling against American-style parenting; she is the logical extension of prevailing elites practices”(58). This negation opens our eyes, and forces us to realize that she is no better because her kids do well in school, but that it is possible for everyone to have the same outcome. In addition he declares, “ She does everything over-pressuring upper-middle-class parents are doing. She’s just hardcore”(58). By nullifying her sense of high position, it puts her at the same level of a parent with wealth, because she is not the only one pressuring their kids to do well. When reading Brook’s article it becomes evident that Chua feels that she is the best at parenting but in reality she is just is just a typical wealthy American who wants the best for their