The Barbarian Reed Pipe - Essay Example

The barbarian reed pipe discusses the difficulties Kingston experienced when she was growing up as a Chinese American female. The greatest challenge was learning how to speak English (Maxine, 178). While struggling to confront traditional Chinese culture, which was represented by her mother, she inhibits her efforts to integrate fully into the American culture. She searches for a middle-class location where she can settle with each of the respective cultures. She also finds out she must assert herself by breaking the emotions of her mum, who has been the center of her life.

The barbarian reed pipe starts with Kingston admitting that she heard about Moon Orchids' disastrous confrontation with her husband, which she related in at the Western palace. Passing stories demonstrates the changing nature of the stories, whose telling is independent of the narrator (Maxine, 223).  She recognizes that her brother narrates the moon Orchids story differently. The version of the story narrated by his brother was better compared to hers; Kingston relishes her talk stories because they emphasize the complexity of the talk stories and are more influential.

Kingston also writes about some other eccentrics in her communities. She is obsessive about these personalities; this is because she feels like an insane person in her house answering and hearing voices in her constantly having terrible dreams. Kingston follows the brief talk of the outlawed knot with the discussion between her mother, and herself concerning brave Orchids supposedly cutting her frenum membrane under the tongue, which restricts movement in the tongue. Kingston enjoys being silent in school, but her school life becomes acutely miserable when she realizes she has to speak English. The main obstacle to her English learning is culturally based on her relationship with society. This is affected by the Chinese pronunciation which is hard; she characterizes it after she becomes consciously attuned to an American speech and values