The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston - Book Report/Review Example

 “The Woman Warrior” by Maxine Hong Kingston A. Brief Summary In the post-modern text, “The Woman Warrior”, Kingston tells the story about her aunt, a no-name woman back in China, as described by her mother. The aunt was forced into having sex with a villager, got pregnant, and was assaulted by the same man, due to which she drowned herself and the baby in a family well. Kingston further states that she does not know what kind of a girl to grow into, being a Chinese by birth and growing up in America. She dreams of growing into a warrior. She narrates stories about her mother, Brave Orchid, who was a surgeon back in China. Brave Orchid studied in a medical school, and had spent nights in a room haunted by ghosts. She encountered actual ghosts there, and made a successful exorcism. Brave Orchid lived in the caves which served as shelter to the Chinese people in Japanese air raids. She calls Moon Orchid in the fourth chapter, her younger sister, and continuously badgers her to defy her husband who has abandoned her and had gone to America to a second wife. The final chapter discusses how Chinese women are quiet as compared to the American women. The chapter brings up Kingston’s childhood memories of her school. B. Main Themes and Occurrences One of the main themes that “The Woman Warrior” presents is femininity. Kingston dreaming of being a warrior named Fa Mu Lan, motherhood and bravery of Brave Orchid, the role of Moon Orchid as a wife and sister, and Ts'ai Yen whose Chinese songs the grandma loved, all are a depiction of the femininity the Chinese women are believed to have. Kingston states, “"I'm not a bad girl," I would scream. “I’m not a bad girl. I'm not a bad girl." I might as well have said, "I'm not a girl"” (2.152). This statement shows how Kingston feels that her femininity is a shame for her when she observed the world treating her differently. Another theme presented in the novel is identity. Kingston has given the name ‘memoir’ to the collection of her stories, which means that all the stories are her personal experiences. She identifies herself as a Chinese woman who cannot understand the double standards women are subjected to in the Chinese culture and the identity of women in the American culture. “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?” (Kingston 1.12) shows how Kingston explores Chinese identity in America. Third main theme is communication. Kingston has tried to break the barriers of silence that the Chinese women in America were supposed to show. She describes the conflict between being silent and being vocal about love and feelings. “I cut it so that you would not be tongue-tied” (Kingston 5.20) is what Brave Orchid tells her when she cuts a little of Kingston’s tongue. She wanted her to break her barriers of silence. C. Main Characters and their Roles Maxine Hong Kingston is the main character herself, who is telling the stories of her childhood and her experiences in another culture where she grows up. Another main character is that of Brave Orchid, Kingston’s mother, who was brave enough to deal with ghosts and to run cave shelters in Japanese air raids. Moon Orchid plays the role of Brave Orchid’s sister and is peculiarly interesting about her thoughts regarding her husband. The no-name woman is the character that tells about the suffering of a woman being subjected to double standards of the society, and finally to death. The quiet girl in the Chinese class is another character that Kingston beats up in the bathroom every now and then, because she is shy and quiet. Perhaps, Kingston relates her own identity has being quiet to that of the Chinese girl. D. Emotions the text brought up to me Maxine’s work is a brilliant work of a mix of myth and fantasy, and I could relate to Kingston’s character when I read that she wanted to break the barrier of silence between her mother and herself through a compilation of list of 207 truths that she wanted to talk about to her mother. My mother and I have great differences on many issues, and the lack of communication and the generation gap has imparted a sense of strangeness between the two of us. Through the character of Kingston, I could reflect upon my own relationship with my mother. E. Author’s Intention Maxine Hong Kingston wants to narrate the conflict and prejudices that the Chinese immigrants have to face in the American culture. She wants to describe what it is like to grow up in another culture. She wants to raise a voice against the stereotypes that women of color are subjected to in the other culture. Even in their own culture, they are subjected to double standards and gender discrimination. Her compilation of childhood experiences both in China and in America is a part of her identity, the formation of which holds many in her life accountable. F. Contribution of Academic Readings The reading by Linda Hunt helps understand the underlying themes and ideas that Kingston has come up with her novel. “Maxine Hong Kingston’s autobiographical The Woman Warrior suggests that we need to pay attention to the contradictions male dominance creates for women…” Linda writes (5). Linda talks about the conflict in social cohesion that Kingston had to go through during her Chinese American girlhood. “Kingston is fair as possible” (Linda 10) is what makes the reader believe that Linda is justifying the feelings and thoughts that nurtured in Kingston’s mind. Linda states that Kingston’s writing helps understand “…what it means to be a woman” (11) because it brings up the concepts of female submission and the need to come out this stereotype. Mitchell Carol’s reading is both a summary and a detailed analysis of “The Woman Warrior.” The reading helps understand the flow of narration that Kingston has adopted, and describes every chapter and occurrences that the novel holds. Carol also raises the themes of gender discrimination, femininity and language that Kingston has come up with in the novel. “Her revenge is on those who feel women are worthless, those who restrict women and especially on those who teach women to see themselves as helpless and worthless” (Carol 12), shows that Carol emphasizes on the stereotypes of worthlessness and helplessness that women are subjected to in different cultures. G. Cultural Realities of Women as Discussed in the Readings Both Linda Hunt and Mitchell Carol have raised concerns about women being subjected to cultural realities that are harsh enough to deform their sense of identity and personality. It becomes important to understand why women are expected to be quiet and submissive in many cultures. These cultural realities have influenced Kingston’s writings in a way that Kingston has tried to break the silence and be vocal about her sufferings and experiences in another culture when her identity had already been formed in her homeland. This conflict of cultures made her go into a bigger conflict of identity. H. A Powerful Quote One thing that surprised me about Maxine Hong Kingston was her quote from her book The Woman Warrior, “My American life has been such a disappointment” (Kingston, The Woman Warrior 54). It is a powerful quote that describes what Kingston thinks it is like to be born in one culture and grow up in another. It surprises me when I think how brilliantly she came out as a writer when she had to face such racism in America. She must have had to go through a number of challenges for not being a Native American, but it is very brave of her to outshine many writers of her time. Works Cited Hunt, Linda. "I Could Not Figure out What Was My Village: Gender vs. Ethnicity in Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior." MELUS 12.3 (1985): 5-12. Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. USA: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010. Mitchell, Carol. "'Talking-Story' in The Woman Warrior: An Analysis of the Use of Folklore." Kentucky Folklore Record 27.1 (1981): 5-12. Read More