Maxine Hong Kingston 's `` No Name Woman ``

Small Beauty by Jia Qing Wilson-Yang is about the experiences of Mei, a mixed-race trans woman, who moves from the city to rural modern-day Canada as she deals with past and present trauma. The text is an exploration of personal identity and how one connects with the place they live. Colonization still impacts how people shape their identity today; in Wilson-Yang’s Small Beauty the lasting impacts of colonialization shape how Mei views aspects of her identity through the novel including gender identity and race. First, this essay will set the definitions that set the foundation, second it will explore colonization in relation to Mei’s gender identity, third it will examine the impact of colonialization on Mei’s racial

For Kingston, she had become separated from part of her heritage. She struggled in attempting to understand the meaning of this heritage in a world that is different from the older generations. She illustrates this confusion and difficulty in attempting to understand her cultural roots when she says, "Chinese Americans, when you try to understand what things in you are Chinese, how do you separate what is peculiar to childhood, to poverty, insanities, one family, your mother who marked your growing with stories, from what is Chinese? What is Chinese and what is the movies? (Kingston 5)." Kingston wants to tap into this old world her parents and ancestors belong to in order to

This autobiography is about a young girl named Frado, who was born free but when her mother Mag and step-father Seth abandoned her, she was forced into being an indentured servant for the family she was left with. Mag was a white woman who became an outcast after she bore a child out of wed-lock. The child only live but a few short weeks before she passed away; Mag found it to be a blessing for the child couldn’t be taunted for her mother’s mistake. After leaving the town that looked down upon her, she met and befriended a black man named Jim, he later convinced her to marry him, which in this 19th century society put her even lower on the totem-poll. Together they had two beautiful mulatto children, Frado and a son whose name was never mentioned in the book. After a couple of years of being

*Note: The narrator is referred to as "Marguerite" in the questions that deal with her memoirs, since that is how she refers to herself throughout the book. In instances where the author is sharing her beliefs and philosophy, she is referred to as Maya Angelou.

For centuries, a great deal of ethnic groups have been disempowered and persecuted by others. However, one should realize that none are more intense than the oppression of women. In the novel, The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, women living in the Mango Street neighborhood suffer from their restricted freedom. Three such women, Rafaela, Mamacita, and Sally, provide great examples. All try to escape from their dreadful environment. Most of them fail, but at first, Sally seems to succeed in escaping from her father. However, she ends up meeting a husband as equally bad as her father. Ultimately, the men who live with Rafaela, Mamacita, and Sally act as insuperable obstacles that limit the freedom in their women’s lives.

Elaine Potter Richardson, more famously known as Jamaica Kincaid, is recognized for her writings that suggest depictions of relationships between families, mainly between a mother and daughter, and her birth place, Antigua, an island located in the West Indies. She is also familiarized with Afrocentrism and feminist point of views. Kincaid’s work is filled heavily with visual imagery that produces a mental picture in readers that helps them connect stronger to the reading. An example of this really shines through in her short story piece, “Girl.” This short story describes the life of a lower class woman living in the West Indies, and also incorporates thick detailing between the relationship between her and her mother. Jamaica Kincaid structures the story as if her mother is speaking to her. She writes broad, but straight to the point, allowing readers to imagine to picture her experience. Kincaid uses visual imagery and repetition consistently throughout “Girl” to reveal the theme and tone of the story; conflictual affair between a mother and daughter.

In “No Name Woman,” the theme of silence starts with the elementary words of the memoir stating you must not tell anyone. This statement is ironic because Kingston is in fact telling everyone, giving voice to Chinese customs and the lives that are foregone. As written in her memoir, she states, “You must not tell anyone,” my mother said, “what I am about to tell you. In China your father had a sister who killed herself. She jumped into the family well. We say that your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born.” (Deshazer 308). It is especially notable and ironic that the memoir begins with the phrase “You must not tell anyone.” Her effort in No Name Woman is to write about that which is never said; her unnamed dead aunt, and the outrageous behaviors in her mother’s Chinese village. Kingston was not necessarily silenced direct by a male figure; however, the words said by her mother “You must not tell anyone” is a representation of Kingston father’s authorization voice through her mother’s explanation. Kingston’s effort is also about discovering a voice, as both a Chinese-American

A subheading within the family section is called “permission to speak” this section persuades students to write their story without worrying about the opinions of others. Subsequently, the “No Name Women,” is about a girl who is told by her mother at the very begin that “[y]ou must not tell anyone . . . what I'm about to tell you,” instantly we are told that the story she is sharing was meant to be a secret. Although, Kingston was supposed to keep this to herself she decides to share her story. Similar, to the chapter’s suggestion Kingston, drowns out the voices of her family member telling her to not tell the story. It is important to note that every writer has a purpose for sharing each story, ad those who succeed are the ones that do not

Maxine Hong Kingston's autobiography, The Woman Warrior, features a young Chinese-American constantly searching for "an unusual bird" that would serve as her impeccable guide on her quest for individuality (49). Instead of the flawless guide she seeks, Kingston develops under the influence of other teachers who either seem more fallible or less realistic. Dependent upon their guidance, she grows under the influence of American and Chinese schools and the role models of Brave Orchid, Fa Mu Lan, and Moon Orchid. Her education by these counselors consequently causes her to abandon her search for an escort, the bird to be found somewhere in the measureless sky,

“No Name Women” by Maxine Hong Kingston explains the different concepts of the looking glass-self; “The looking glass-self is our self-concept, our sense of self, through a kind of social mirror.” Nonetheless our self-concept is determined by how others react towards us. “No Name Women” tells a story about a mother revealing a dark family secret. The story begins with the mother telling Kingston that what she is going to tell her is not to be told to anyone. Kingston’s mother then reveals to her that her father had a sister in “China” that committed adultery and gave birth to an illegitimate child then drowned herself and the child in the family well. “No Name Women” describes the story of a women being “silenced” because of her

At first glance, Dr. Brenda DoHarris’ Calabash Parkway appears to be a novel about a Guyanese woman meeting an old friend from her native land, in New York, after several years. Upon further reading, the novel has resilient records of feminism in the protagonists Agatha, Evadne, and Gwennie. The three are emasculated by poverty, neglect, and abuse. Living in a masculinized country the three women refuse to succumb to their struggles of life. These powerless characteristics of the three young women are overcome after immigrating to New York and Canada.

     Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife is the story of a relationship between a mother and daughter that is much more than it seems. This touchingly beautiful narrative not only tells a story, but deals with many of the issues that we have discussed in Women Writers this semester. Tan addresses the issues of the inequality given women in other cultures, different cultures' expectations of women, abortion, friendship, generation gaps between mothers and daughters, mother-daughter relationships, and the strength of women in the face of adversity. Tan even sets the feminist mood with the title of the book, which refers to a woman in Chinese Mythology who cared for a selfish man who became a

Another story that use story-telling to reveal the relationship between mother and daughter is Maxine Hong Kingston’s No Name Woman. In this story, the narrator’s mother is a Chinese-American who immigrated from China. Even she lives in a foreign country, she still persist the old Chinese tradition. Her daughter, however, seems like she wanted an assimilation with American. She mentions in the story that “I have tried to turn myself American feminine” (245). In spite of this, her mother is a entirely tradition Chinese woman that “[She has] not been able to stop my mother’s screams in public libraries or over telephones. Walking erect (knees straight, toes pointed forward, not pigeon-toed, which is Chinese-feminine) and speaking in an inaudible

Kingston’s mother uses stories of life in rural China as a means of warning Kingston about life. The cautionary tale of her long-dead aunt is meant to illustrate the perils that face young women, once they begin menstruating. Although her mother warns her to never speak of the

“The Devil Baby at Hull-House” by Jane Addams and “No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston are both stories that deal with women’s issues. “The Devil Baby at Hull-House” is the story of how a myth of a devil baby can became an important symbol for many women. “No Name Women,” on the other hand, is about the narrator’s desire for her aunt’s story to be told. Both stories were written in the 20th century a time period where women had few rights and where men attempted to dominate women. “The Devil Baby at Hull-House” and “No Name Woman” both argue that stories serve as a way to shine light on the injustices women suffer. However, Maxine Hong Kingston is critical of her aunt’s reaction and Jane Addams is enthusiastic about the idea that literature can soothe individual pain.