In “Mother Tongue”, the author, Amy Tan, speaks of her mother’s story and how it has affected her life. Not only has it affected the way people treated her mother, but it has affected the way Tan learned as a student and how she was treated by teachers. However, Tan does not look at this as a disablement, but as something that is normal. Tan’s acceptance of her mother’s “personal language variations” and her concern for her mother’s mistreat is proven by the essay’s tone and supported by Chinese history and discrimination.

Growing up, Tan always assumed that the way her mother talked was standard English. Her mother said the main points and got the message clearly across to Tan. She assumed everything her mother was doing was normal, which it was. Her mother “reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine’s books with ease…” (Tan 329). However, many of Tan’s friends never understood her mother, but to Tan it was clear as day. She says, “her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery” (Tan 329-330). Amy has never looked at her mother in a negative light for the way she speaks and never will. Her mother’s language was the language that taught her everything she knows and it is the language that makes sense to her.

It was not until later in her life when Tan realized that she spoke a different kind of English with her mother than she did for her speeches and essays. Tan says, “nominalized forms, past perfect tenses, conditional phrases, all the forms of standard English that I had learned in school and through books, the forms of English I did not use at home with my mother” (Tan 329). Tan thinks that her learning was compromised because they never used proper English in their household. Tan says that “it affected my results on achievement tests, I.Q. tests, and the SAT” (Tan 331). Tan shows signs of concern or sadness here when she talks about how she was affected by discrimination in the classroom. She tells the audience that Tan and other Asian-Americans teachers were “steering them away from writing and into math and science” (Tan 332), just because English was not as natural for them as other students. Tan is expected to fit into the type of “Chinese math nerd”, so she goes against it and attends college to study English. 

Tan grew ashamed of her mother’s English. Yet, she was angered with the way people treated her because of it. Some would not take her seriously and some would just straight up ignore her and would act like she was not there. This is clear in Chinese history from as early as when the Chinese first came to America. They were first depicted as being “considered…uncivilized barbarian” (Yang 36). Although they were the inferior race, they still were not treated equally and were discriminated against. This is similar to Tan’s mother’s English being described as “broken” English or “limited”. Tan says this upsets her because they are saying it “as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness or soundness” (Tan 330), just like the early Chinese immigrants were treated.

Tan also describes how difficult it is living with someone who is mistreated everywhere they go. Tan would have to pretend to be her mother on the phone and even fight with managers. There was also one instance that was life threatening and she continued to be mistreated. The hospital lost her CAT scan which revealed a brain tumor. Tan says, “She said they did not seem to have any sympathy when she told them she was anxious to know the exact diagnosis, since her husband and son had both died of brain tumors” (Tan 330-331). This is extremely sad and concerning to hear, especially since the only reason why they agreed to find them was because they talked to Tan, who spoke perfect English. This type of discrimination is confusing and harmful to everyone affected. She states, “the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her” (Tan 330). 

This same kind of discrimination occurred in the 19th century between European Americans and the Chinese. The European Americans considered them as the “less-fortunate race” (The Chinese Experience) and felt they were “polluting their gene pool” (The Chinese Experience). They never treated them as humans, just like people treat Tan’s mother. In the 19th century, Americans actually made the “effort to exclude Chinese people, from the American population” (The Chinese Experience). The Chinese people have always been considered the undesirable race and will continue to be mistreated today. Tan shows her frustration with this topic when she talks about how she frequently has to “complain and yell at people who had been rude to her (mother)” (Tan 330). Since the Chinese came to America, they have constantly been mistreated and discriminated against.

When the Chinese first came to America, they were disliked because they were different, but also because they were more skilled then most American workers. Americans were almost threatened by them and wanted them gone for that reason. Chinese workers were said to be “an actual threat to American culture, American government, and even the Caucasian race” (The Chinese Experience). They were taking their jobs and doing other activities that Americans did not approve of, such as practicing a “different religion, using opium, playing different gambling games, speaking a different language, wearing different clothes and styles, eating different foods, celebrating different holidays, and for living in a bachelor society rather than as family men with wives and children.” (The Chinese Experience). The Chinese workers started in agricultural jobs and factory work, but then quickly jumped to becoming entrepreneurs. “As the numbers of Chinese laborers increased, so did the strength of anti-Chinese sentiment among other workers in the American economy” (Chinese Immigration). Americans hated the way they lived and would do anything to get them out.

Although Tan expresses concern throughout the essay, she shows her appreciation for her mother and their history towards the end. After thinking about everything she has gone through with her mother, she decides that she wants to use what she first learned. She states “I began to write stories using all of the Englishes I grew up with” (Tan 332). She wanted to create something for her mother and something that her mother would be able to understand as well. Although other people may not appreciate or accept her mother, Tan is displaying how much she treasures her mother and her knowledge, and the specific history from which they come from and belong to.

Chinese discrimination started as a large problem, and continues to be one. Tan and her mother are very aware of this problem, but they do not let it tear them down or each other apart. Instead, Tan helps and appreciates her mother for everything she has given her. Despite the fact that others may not understand her mother, Tan does and she knows that that language is where she learned everything and she accepts that. However, it is still problem of discrimination. Tan’s concern relates to the concern of the Chinese people of the 19th century. They are both mistreated and expected to fit into a stereotype that does not fit them. They are both expected to do everything that Americans do, but they will not. They will continue their culture and traditions no matter what. Although treated harshly, both the Chinese and Tan and her mother stay positive and they do not let the negativity affect them.
