Rhetorical Analysis of Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”
Amy Tan is an American author whose literature often explores the mother daughter relationships in a Chinese cultural setting. As a Chinese Immigrant, Tan’s mother had trouble speaking fluent English. In her essay, Mother Tongue, Tan writes about how her mother’s “broken” English affected her life. She expresses her views on facing racism and mentions how she handles it. Throughout the essay, Tan argues that a person’s eloquence in English does not determine their intelligence. She tries to prove her point by including anecdotes with descriptive language about her and her mother’s experiences with racism.
Tan writes this personal essay in an informal manner. She opens the piece assuring the reader that she is not a scholar in English but simply a writer who loves the language (1). She uses this narrative to ease the reader into her essay and aims to establish relatability between her and the readers. As an immigrant child, Tan examines the various forms of English she uses and how they change depending on her environment. She realized her switch in Englishes during one of her book talks where she had used perfect English, the kind of English she does not use around her family. She describes the English she uses with her family as the “a different sort of English that relates to family talk” (1). She mentions this to highlight the effect her native language has had on the English that she speaks around her family. This scenario is common within a lot of immigrant children. They switch between the English that they speak with their family which is influenced by their native languages and the Standard English they use to speak in public places.
Usage of words like “broken” or “fractured” to describe her mother’s English deeply bothers the writer because she believes that it limited the people’s perceptions to see her mother past the fact that she spoke “limited” English. Tan asserts, “You should know that my mother ‘s expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands” (1), which shows that her mother knew what she was talking about even though she spoke improper English.
Throughout her childhood, Tan had to assist her mom in public places with her English skills. She recalls, “I had to get on the phone and say in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, “This is Mrs. Tan”” (2). She had to pretend to be her mom on phone calls so that her mother receives the services she needs. Tan includes one instance where her mother visited the hospital to retrieve her CAT scan. The hospital claimed to have lost her CAT scan and informed her to make another appointment. They simply dismissed her despite her concerns that she had lost her husband and son due to brain tumors. They refused to hear her out until the hospital made a call to Tan. The writer explained her mother’s issue in “perfect” English and then they immediately found her mother’s CAT scans (2). This respect was not something Tan’s mother had with her “broken” English. Tan displays her anger which shows her passion about this subject and holds on to her argument that people should be treated with respect regardless of their proficiency in English.
Tan discusses the statistics that show that a large number of Chinese students go into the Engineering field. She reveals the reasoning behind the issue is because many teachers steer away Asian Americans from English due to their “broken” English spoken at home and towards Math and Science, which is what had happened to her too. Mother Tongue was published for the first time in a literary magazine called “The Threepenny Review”, in 1990. The intended audience of this piece is composed of people who are experts in linguistics and literature. Tan uses her argument to convey the message that discrimination based on a person’s literary skills is improper and distasteful. The writer bases this essay solely on her experience and does not cater to other perspectives.
Tan ends this essay by which circling back to her roots. She knew she had succeeded when her mother finished reading her book and her verdict “So easy to read.” (4) Tan shows that at the end of the day, it does not matter what the society’s standards are as long as the people she cares about are able to understand her and see her worth.
