The Woman Warrior, By Maxine Kingston Essay

     The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston presents the story of a girl trapped between the cultures of her surrounding environment and that which her mother and family have forced upon her. Knowing only the Chinese way of life, this girl’s mother attempts to familiarize her daughter, whom is also the narrator, with the history of their family. The mother shares this heritage through the use of stories in hopes the narrator will be prepared for her ultimate return to China, which is a life completely foreign to her own. Through these stories and the strong influence of the surrounding American culture, the narrator’s life and imagination spin off in a new direction. She is confronted by

Chapter one titled, “No Name Woman”, is an example of the narrator referring to her mother’s talk-stories and a prominent illustration of incorporating the past into the present. This talk- story is culturally based to express information about the past. In “No Name Women”, the narrator explains that her mother, Brave Orchid, would use the stories to give lessons on life that would stick with her children. She represents a bridge figure with one foot in the past, her Chinese culture that she relays on to the family and one foot in the present, her assimilation to American life. The bridge that Brave Orchid acts as brings together the two cultures and allows her to incorporate the family’s Chinese history into their present

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

The beginning of the memoir confronts the reader with Kingston's forgotten aunt. The little knowledge of her aunt begins

Rather than a life of isolation under her husband’s domain in the New World, she deliberately makes the decision to take on the challenge of learning the new customs of life in order to connect with society. Furthermore, not only does Mrs. Spring Fragrance learn the language of the New World, but she also embraces it and applies it to her everyday life in her relationship with her neighbors and her husband. As her young neighbor Laura struggles with the cultural disparities regarding love and relationships, Mrs. Spring Fragrance exercises New World poetry to soothe problems arising from Old World tradition. Mrs. Spring Fragrance’s neighbors, the Chin Yuens, demonstrate the difficulties that arise from simply ‘looking the part’ of an American, rather than fully understanding the culture. Sin Far writes, “although the Chin Yuen parents lived in a house furnished in American style, and wore American clothes…they religiously observed many Chinese customs, and their ideals of life were the ideals of their Chinese forefathers” (17). This practice ultimately contributes to their daughter Laura’s inner conflict when she cries to Mrs. Spring Fragrance, “Kai Tzu and I so love; but never, ah, never, can we take it together again” (17). In response, Mrs. Spring Fragrance says, “you really must not grieve like that.” “’Tis better to have loved and lost. Than never to have loved at all” (18). This proves how the root of immigrant happiness doesn’t

Language is a system of communication used by humans either written or spoken to communicate our thoughts and feelings. Our thoughts and feelings we want to communicate to our loved ones, to our friends, to people we work with or go to school with and even to strangers. Maxine Hong Kingston in her memoir The Woman Warrior explores language and the use of language to express what Kingston finds as several conflicts. The conflict of the immigrant experience and the conflict of having to be a Chinese- American woman along with the expectation of being “silent”. Maxine Hong Kingston provides a remarkable memoir that blends Chinese folktales and personal narratives.

The excerpt, "No Name Woman", from Maxine Hong Kingston's book, Woman Warrior, gives insight into her life as a Chinese girl raised in America through a tragic story of her aunt's life, a young woman raised in a village in China in the early 1900s. The story shows the consequences beliefs, taught by parents, have on a child's life. Kingston attempts to figure out what role the teachings of her parents should have on her life, a similar attempt for many of us in the world. Lessons taught by our parents, the people who brought us into this world, help guide us into the people we become as adults. Hopefully, the guidance is positive.

Thesis: The similarities of coming of age tales and how women grow up and are shaped by love, sex, and marriage. (OR MOTHER HOOD AND COMING OF AGE)

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 story serves as a backdrop of the speakers own experience as she grows up as a Chinese-American, she becomes town between the different cultures. The speaker struggle is difficult because she is told by her mother not to talk to anyone about what happened. The narrator’s mother inducts her into a long tradition of keeping things secret, the speaker knows nothing about her aunt other then what she was told. The story jumps back and forth between past and present.

Anne Frank once said “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” In The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, Maxine, the main character, tells stories about her mother’s parenting style. Her mother, Brave Orchid, tries to control the way she grows up so that Maxine becomes someone she will be proud of. Maxine, however, does not understand her mother’s tactics and tries to fight against them. This causes disputes between them, and Maxine becomes a woman without using her lessons.

Kingston slips this into the chapter by guessing that her dead aunt’s child is female since “there is some hope of forgiveness for boys” (Kingston 15). The subject of gender inequality shows up throughout the novel, such as when Kingston’s great uncle takes only the boys out to town, fully aware that the girls want to come, but leaving them at home “hanging [their] coats back up” (47). This issue is a global one; even in modern times, women are seen as inferior to men. In this memoir, gender inequality is one of the issues that Kingston is attempting to point out to us. Although not all of the readers are Chinese-American, Kingston transcends the cultural barrier to speak to the reader about her experiences with gender inequality and conflict.

Maxine Hong Kingston “The Woman Warrior” takes place in No Society Village, a medical school in Canton, and Stockton,California, where Kingston was born. The novel starts with Kingston paternal aunt, whom the family say’s is an embarrassment to the point that they refuse to mention the aunts name. Kingston begins to talk about her mother,Brave Orchid, who studied in a medical school before joining her husband in America. As continuing Kingston talks about Fa Mu Lan a great warrior in China, and someone that is a heroine to Kingston since she was young. In the novel Kingston mentions a variety of people that range from her family, and friends, to her heroines and more. People struggle to find themselves but by looking through the lens of their ancestors, they can know and find who they truly are. Kingston struggles on where she came from and how her family is; therefore, she wants to find out who she is and what her purpose on this universe is.

     Women have played a tremendous role in many countries' armed forces from the past to the present. Women have thoroughly integrated into the armed forces; all positions in the armed forces should be fully accessible to women who can compete with men intellectually and physically.

In Maxine Hong Kingston’s “The Woman Warrior”, in chapter 2 “White Tigers” Kingston says that Chinese immigrants say things such as “better to raise geese than girls”. They also say “Chinese executed women who disguised themselves as soldiers or students, no matter how bravely they fought or how high they scored on the examinations”. I argue that in doing this, the texts suggest shockingly, that Chinese immigrants continue to treat woman as if they are worthless, which is why Maxine Hong Kingston compares herself to Mulan. She just wants to honor her family and feel accepted.