Derrick Lin is a Chinese American, born to an abusive
mother. In Tiger Mother: Son of a Bitch, Lin tells the reader about the
terrible ways his mother disciplined him while he was growing up, scarring him
psychologically and emotionally.It
brought to light the differences of cultures from the Asian “achievement” mentality
to the Western “sheltering” and a politically correct upbringing. Tiger Mother:
Son of a Bitch hits the reader with a barrage of raw vernacular, a bit over
the top at times.His preponderance for
sensationalism is used to exemplify the impact of the pain Derrick Lin went
through when he was growing up.What Lin
calls at times “dark humor” is how the author dealt with his pain of a
controlling upbringing; making light of the situations which really were intolerable.
That is why so many people that had horrible childhoods become comedians.
Because this is such a sad story, the author tries to infuse his humor at
times to lighten the mood. Funny or not, that is what he has done,
however the disrespect Lin feels towards his mother overflowed to his reading
audience.
Some people say that childhood should be the happiest time of
one's life.Happiness is sometimes
termed as living life to the fullest. Tiger Mother: Son of a Bitch is anything
but happy in its message, as Lin tells his no-holds-barred story at times intensely
filled with anger, hostility and resentment towards his mother. His mother is the central figure and her overly
strict discipline is a form of child abuse and certainly not love.
As I read Tiger
Mother: Son of a Bitch I recognized the hurt didn't stop once the abuse did.Coping with it as an adult must have been more
difficult than as a child, because Derrick Lin now realizes with an adult's
intelligence and insight, exactly what was done to him and how horrible it
was.So much abuse is undetected until a
child grows up and realizes his family isn’t normal. Too many well-meaning people minimize the
adult survivor's pain or dismiss it as meaningless: "That was years ago
and it's over" or "Get over it and move on” or the worst, “Just don’t
dwell on it anymore."As Derrick
Lin demonstrates his child abuse did have a major impact on his life.
The important lesson to be learned from this
book is found not within its pages, but from the outcry that ensued.His story is about his individual
journey.Derrick Lin is not a
professional writer, just someone who had to endure abuse that might have
broken a lesser person. This book certainly
is an eye-opener to the parent or parents who are excessively controlling their
children.Hopefully this book has set Derrick
Lin free.
