Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

The family purchases a second Samoyed that they name Pushkin. The family’s schedule is now even more compressed than before, and Chua acknowledges that her desire to get a second dog is “mysterious to everyone, including myself” (157) because she has 90% of the responsibility of taking care of the animals, in addition to her intensive management of her daughters’ lives. Chua contemplates how Western parents seem to have so much more time and that their children have more fun.

Chua recounts Lulu’s accolades, a vast number for a sixth grader. Chua believes that Lulu’s school often wastes time, so she frequently pulls her out of class for violin practice. As a result of her demanding schedule, Lulu starts talking back to her parents and violin teacher. Chua cannot understand why, despite Lulu’s “prodigy” status (168), she continues to rebel. Instead, she fights Chua every step of the way. Lulu starts to act out in public, which mortifies Chua. In a final act of rebellion, Lulu chops off her hair.

Chua contemplates her happy relationship with her younger sister Katrin, a professor of medicine and endocrinology who runs a lab at Stanford. Shortly after Lulu chops off her hair, Katrin calls Chua to tell her that she has been diagnosed with leukemia.