The Woman Warrior By Maxine Hong Kingston

Oftentimes when reading fictional texts with similar themes, readers will find themselves encountering similar characters. In the realm of modern literature, elderly Asian women are often portrayed with many similarities; they are seen as protective, caring people who possess great wisdom. Ayako Nakane, also known as Obasan, the title character of Joy Kogawa’s Obasan, and the character Poh-Poh in Wayson Choy’s novel The Jade Peony, are very similar in this regard. Both Obasan and Poh-Poh drive forwards their respective narratives with their strong personalities. They have each suffered through troublesome pasts and as a result have become very wise. Obasan and Poh-Poh share many similarities but they also have their differences. Both women

The book, Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston is a memoir about a girl named Kingston and her past experiences and stories that involve myths and beliefs that her mother talks about throughout her life. In Chapter 1, when her mother told Kingston about an aunt she never knew she had, Kingston promised her mother that she “must not tell anyone” what her mother was about to tell her (Kingston 7). Her mother tells her that Kingston’s “father had a sister who killed herself. She jumped into the family well” and they all live as if she has never been born since she was a disgrace to her family (Kingston 7). Kingston writes this memoir as a break through as she struggles to have a voice since she’s been silenced all her life. Chapter 3 talks about

When reading From Women in Combat to Top Brass by Jena McGregor I learned what kind of hard ships women will go through when the ban was lifted. This is an important part of the essay because it tells how women will have to give men orders or fight with men on the front lines.

A warrior is recognized as sonmeone who battles for his/her beliefs. Even after receiving mortal wounds many times, such a person never leaves the battlefield. However, the inspiring and metaphorical idea of a warrior can certainly extend beyond the actual battlefield, and into the universal battle of living life. A woman must face this world like a warrior. She must endure the pain of a past that oppressed her, the adversity of a present that is only beginning to understand her, and a future that will continuously test her. From the beginning of time, Native American women have been a driving force in their cultures, retaining their immense strength throughout

The theme of “voiceless woman” throughout the book “the woman warrior” is of great importance. Maxine Kingston narrates several stories in which gives clear examples on how woman in her family are diminished and silenced by Chinese culture. The author not only provides a voice for herself but also for other women in her family and in her community that did not had the opportunity to speak out and tell their stories.

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,

“We see the attack through the eyes of the victims, who spread the word that the Vikings were bloody and violent. In fact, they were violent, but no more than anyone else at the time. Compared to Charlemagne’s armies, the Vikings were amateurs. The Vikings were actually just looking for better places to live and preferred not to kill or be killed for it. ”

Maxine Kingston in “The Women Warrior” presents a traditional Chinese society that anticipates women not to decide what is best for them all by themselves. Kingston creates a woman who goes beyond this ritual culture constraint and who take up

Maxine Hong Kingston, a brilliant writer, wrote the award winning book The Woman Warrior. This book describes “A Girlhood Among Ghosts” which is Hong Kingston’s life intertwined with morals, analogies, metaphors, conflictions, and a truly relatable struggle: being able to fit in with the world or people around you. Maxine Hong Kingston describes her life in a vague manner, and adds a small amount of fiction that is found in the book in the form of stories, and folktales; these small, but very vital editions keep the reader captivated, entertained and fascinated with the story. Hong Kingston describes her struggles in fitting in with both American and Chinese culture. She also describes how hard it was for her to transition from one culture

Justin Kim S. Kelly Eng Lang/ Comp Ap 11 August 2014 The Woman Warrior In The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, Kingston illustrates the struggles and the sufferings Chinese women had to face. The author incorporates five anecdotes, each telling the life difficulties and sexism of Chinese women.

The thesis falls into four chapters. Chapter One offers an overall view of the novel, introducing the main idea of The Women warrior. Chapter Two focuses on analyzing the relationship between mother Bell and daughter Ruby in details in this novel. In this chapter, a brief introduction of Chinese-American literature in United States will be first given. Then further exploration of mother]s and daughter¡¯s bond and Ruby¡¯s special lesbian love toward her mother Bell will be outlines by analysis as well as examples. In addition, since mutual understanding between mothers and daughters could not be reached, some basic reasons of their misunderstandings will also be offered. Chapter Three will explore the mother-daughter relationship much deeper than the former chapter and try to find the reasons accounting for Ruby¡¯s failure of rescuing her mother. It deals with the layer of silence imposed on Chinese American women. This chapter is designed to show the fact that

The Woman Warrior is a collection of memoirs written by Chinese-American author and professor, Maxine Hong Kingston. This book depicts the experiences of the Chinese people who emigrated to the United States after the Chinese Communist Revolution by combining her life story with Chinese fables called “talk-stories”. The author leads a difficult life as she tries to find a way to express herself to her unappreciative mother, who berates her for being a soft-spoken girl. Despite the fact Kingston bottles up the frustration caused by her mother, her emotions come to the surface multiple times. Throughout the book, it is evident that Kingston’s experiences, like the enduring of her mother’s criticisms and her struggle to communicate herself to

The Woman Warrior, the fictional non-fiction novel by Maxine Hong Kingston, despite its positive commercial and critical reception, has been the subject of controversies over the years, especially among Asian-American readers and critics. While it is easy to read the Orientalist elements in her book as betraying Kingston’s attempt to distance herself from her mother and the Chinese culture, or as an indication that she unconsciously normalizes Western cultural traditions and favors them over Eastern ones, it is, perhaps, a fairer and more beneficial interpretation to consider it as a meta-narrative that points out the problematic extent to which the Asian-American experience is misunderstood by being overly Orientalist. By employing a main

For centuries, people faced prejudice and struggle to live the “American Dream”. Thousands of people come to the U.S. to live a better life for their family. Instead they face racial seclusion, struggle to survive, and consequences of American’s fear. In the memoir, The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston, a girl who discloses stories about Chinese myths, families, and events in the U.S. that has shaped her identity. In the historical fiction novel, When the Emperor was Divine, by Julie Otsuka, is about a Japanese American family sent to an internment camp in Utah during WWII written in children’s lens. In both novels, silence is viewed as gender and ethnical oppression.

A quick word, a second chance, and a hasty decision may have an everlasting impact. As human beings, we often do not recognize how past events contribute to the shaping of our future. This demonstrates the fact that a person’s individual past experiences often restrict the process of personal reinvention. One’s past confirms the current ideas that affect their decisions and growth.