The Superhero and the Tiger Mom: Examining the Relation Between Parental Expectations and Career Choices in Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew’s The Shadow Hero

Through the example of Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew’s The Shadow Hero (2014), this chapter interrogates the cultural clashes emerging from the discrepancy between individualist and collectivist views of work in relation to family and society. While classic superhero narratives can be understood as manifestations of individualism, this narrative presents a young hero who is pushed into the role by an overzealous mother, reminiscent of the Tiger Mother-figure of Amy Chua’s controversial autobiography (Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Penguin, 2011). Applying theories from social psychology to the analysis, it is shown that the idea of the independent self, in which work is a mark of adult autonomy, is posited against an idea of the self as interdependent and associated with collectivist ideals that link work with family and prioritize filial piety.