Chuan's Misconceptions

In Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua shares her experiences of raising two children. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry tells the story of the Youngers who try to overcome their racial and economic difficulties. In “Spoiled Rotten”, Elizabeth Colbert describes the actions and decisions of spoiled kids. In these three texts, misconceptions are present. In turn, it is vital to force one to confront their misconceptions by experiencing failure, success, and consequence.

Experiences of failure play a role in facing one’s misconceptions. An example of failure is when Walter naively hands almost all of his money to Willy Harris to help him get a liquor license. However, he is tricked and all his money was taken. His failure here, however, teaches him to see “what counts in this world” (Hansberry 142). After this,

As seen in Chua’s memoir, she experienced successes in her upbringing of children. In order to train Sophia to win the competition and perform at Carnegie Hall, it was necessary for Sophia to undergo a “baptism by fire” (Chua 122). Although Chua believed it to be a cinch for Sophia, perfecting the piece was much more difficult than Chua first construed. However, Sophia’s success helped Chua come to realize that things are much more difficult than they seem to be. Similarly, Walter experienced success in growth. When Lindner tries to negotiate with Walter, trying to coerce him into not moving into the neighborhood, Walter rejects the offer and stares at Lindner “absolutely in the eyes” (Hansberry 148). Through the success of standing up for his family, Walter gains self-esteem, and regains the respect of his family members. His misconception of a perfect world without conflict has been shattered, and he starts to work towards a more equal society, taking one step at a time. However, success and failure aren’t the only things necessary for one to face their