Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Chapter 30 begins in 2009, with Chua and her family returning to New Haven from an exhausting visit to Boston. Chua takes her frustration out on Lulu, who is preparing to play “Hebrew Melody” for her Bat Mitzvah: “It’s not a difficult piece, so if it’s not incredibly moving, it’ll be a failure” (199), she shouts. Lulu performs “Hebrew Melody” at her Bat Mitzvah, to considerable praise. Having been released from the hospital, Katrin is able to attend the Bat Mitzvah, though she is still fragile and vulnerable to infection from her compromised immune system.

The family arrives for their much-anticipated vacation in Russia. Lulu’s rebelliousness intensifies, however, as she refuses to eat caviar and yells at her mother in public. This sparks a breaking point for Chua: She panics and runs through Red Square, afraid that the armed guards in front of Lenin’s mausoleum might shoot her.

Chua considers how everything about the violin is “subtle, exquisite, and precarious” (207). For her, the violin symbolizes history and control; for Lulu, the violin symbolizes oppression. Chua has an epiphany during her run through Red Square: When she returns, she tells Lulu she can give up the violin.