Ghosts In The Woman Warrior

Ghosts In The Woman Warrior
In the Woman Warrior Kingston develops a motif using ghosts in order to illustrate the differences
between the Chinese and American cultures. During the novel ghosts are typically represented as the
opposing culture and ideas that the Chinese do not understand. After Moon Orchid immigrates to
America, her inability to adapt to her new culture slowly takes a toll on her, eventually causing her
to go insane. Shortly after she moves in with her sister she starts seeing Mexican ghosts that she
thinks are spying on her and plotting to take her life. As time passes and her insanity seems to be
increasing she moves out of her sister's apartment to get one of her own in order to escape the
ghosts. Kingston describes Moon Orchid's struggle as she
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

The Woman Warrior
"Beginnings" as Applied to The Woman Warrior The beginning of Maxine Hong Kingston's novel,
The Woman Warrior, introduces various themes that recur throughout the story. Through the
anecdotes Kingston shares about her childhood as a Chinese girl growing up in America, she
discusses gender inequality and conflict due to a generation gap and a difference in cultures. By
starting off with a story that her mother, Brave Orchid, told her about her dead and forgotten aunt,
Kingston applies the techniques suggested in the chapter "Beginnings" in Technique in Fiction,
igniting the readers' curiosity and tying the memoir together. Kingston begins the novel in media res,
or "in the middle of things" (Macauley and Lanning 31). In the first chapter, ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
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. In the end of the novel, Kingston
references another story Brave Orchid told her about a poetess named Ts'ai Yen. Similarly to how
Kingston rises above barriers to speak to her reader about how certain issues affected her childhood
self, Ts'ai Yen is able to overcome a language barrier to make barbarians understand her emotions
through a song she sings. In this way, by integrating gender inequality into the beginning of the
novel, Kingston is able to tie the novel together, and ensure that the beginning has "the seeds of
finality" in it (Macauley and Lanning

Analysis Of The Woman Warrior
Maxine Hong Kingston uses several different points of view in her novel, The Woman Warrior. A
different perspective is utilized in each chapter depending on the focus of the story being told. For
instance, Kingston describes any experiences of her childhood in first person. On the other hand,
any story that focuses on her mother or her family in general is told in third person. By doing this,
she is able to convey each story from the viewpoint that best describes the story whether it be from
the perspective of a young girl or an omniscient narrator. Through the use of different points of
view, Kingston is able to establish multiple, distinct stories of her upbringing as a young Chinese
girl in California and the circumstances behind it. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This is the case when Kingston's aunt moves to America to confront her husband after being invited
by Kingston's mother. As Kingston did not play a role in the story, she views it as if she was a
bystander and narrates it from a third person perspective. Accordingly, she objectively describes the
lead up to her aunt's confrontation with the husband along with her eventual descent to madness
while she "dip[s] into the thoughts or feelings" of her aunt (Macauley and Lanning 143). In
particular she describes how her aunt would get "into the mood" before the confrontation and how
she would afterwards, "become afraid" and "indeed mad" (Kingston 144, 155, 159). The objective
description of Kingston's aunt's life in America allows the audience to see how her character
changes before and after the confrontation. Towards the end of the novel, Kingston switches back to
a first person perspective to describe her childhood in detail and more directly compared to the
beginning. This is essential in order to accurately depict the experience of a young Chinese girl
growing up within an American society. The readers are able to witness her childhood through the
lens of Kingston as she "is an interpreter in [her] own individual way" but has "a lot of limitations"
(Macauley and Lanning 134, 136). In other words, she gives her insight on the circumstances that
occur behind her

Maxine Motif In Woman Warrior
Kingston contrasts Maxine's American education with stories told by her parents, for her edification,
to demonstrate the opposing cultures found in her life. The beginning of the book starts with
Maxine's mother telling her about her ostracized aunt who had a baby with a random man instead of
her husband. When the villagers raided out of discontent, her family "stood together in the middle of
[their] house, in the family hall with the pictures and tables of the ancestors around [them], and
looked straight ahead" (4). Maxine's mother is implicating to Maxine that her actions don't just
affect her, but her entire lineage; that the family name is more important to protect than cherishing
an individual. A recurring motif in Woman Warrior are ghosts,

Stereotypes In The Woman Warrior
The woman warrior by Maxine Kingston elaborates readers what it was like to grow up as a female
Chinese American. Kingston came to America as a little girl with her family. Even though she was
in America, she still had to deal with old Chinese traditions. Traditions where women were seen as
useless and as slaves. But, Kingston refused to believe that women are worthless. She states, "When
one of my parents or the emigrant villagers said, 'feeding girls is feeding cowbirds', I would thrash
on the floor and scream so hard" (pg. 46). Therefore, Kingston fabricates her own versions of stories
where she portrays herself as a warrior who is a hero rather than a useless individual.
I believe Kingston tells stories to obliterate social perceptions of the woman in the traditional
Chinese society. Based on Chinese traditions that Kingston cultured from her parents and the stories
that her mother told, Kingston was under the perception that Chinese girls must only become a good
wife and bare children. However, I believe Kingston refused the gender role defined by the
traditional Chinese culture and used fictionalized stories to showcase that women are capable of
doing masculine things and at the same time can be a great mother or a wife. ... Show more content
However, Kingston uses her stories for a completely different approach. She uses her stories to
portray the woman, mainly herself, as a hero in the traditional Chinese society. The story of Fa Mu
Lan described in the chapter "white tigers" provides an alternative to the traditional Chinese beliefs
about the place of woman in the society. Kingston, portrays herself as a worrier who fights in place
of her father. I believe, she used this story to show that women are both capable of being a warrior
and carrying out their duties as a wife or a

Woman Warrior Character Analysis
In her novel Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston provides insight on the struggle that growing
up with dual heritage presents in the understanding of one's identity. Kingston recalls feelings of
frustration when faced with the high expectations she felt she needed to live up to as the daughter of
immigrants, who constantly talk–story to her about fantastical and idealized Chinese figures.
Kingston, in the face of these expectations, feels conflicted on whether she should strive for success
in her parents' eyes, or towards success in fitting into American society. This conflict results in
Kingston never fully understanding her identity as a Chinese American, as she is unsure which
aspects of herself are derived from being a first–generation ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Kingston finds herself constantly questioning and studying pieces of her upbringing, figuring out
how they impact her even as an adult. Kingston notes that she feels obliged to, "tell what [she] really
think[s], whether or not [she loses] her job, or spit[s] out gaucheries all over a party" (205). Here,
Kingston is utilizing simple but clear imagery by describing the abrasive bluntness, that is a direct
influence of Kingston's mother, as "gaucheries" that are "spit out." This trait is one that is common
amongst Chinese people of Kingston's mother's generation. Kingston then goes on to list possible
sources of aspects of her personality, saying, "[she continues] to sort out what's just [her] childhood,
just [her] imagination, just [her] family, just the village, just movies, just living" (205). By listing the
possible sources, Kingston neatly lays out all the probably influences on her development into who
she is now. Her imagination as a child was wildly fanciful, her family felt eclectic, and movies,
especially American made ones, that portrayed Chinese people were most likely full of gross
exaggerations and stereotypes. All of these sources added to the conflicting sense of self Kingston
grew up with, resulting in a long lasting feeling of unease with her identity as a Chinese

Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior
Initial Understanding. What are your thoughts and questions about the story? You might reflect upon
characters, their problems, the title, or other ideas in the story.
Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior" was a wonderful book.
Intense, fierce and disturbing but very original.
I was intrigued by the title of the book: "Memoirs of a girlhood among Ghosts"
"The Ghosts" represent the people she grew up around which were the Americans, but throughout
the book there is mentions of ghosts from her past.
She grow up around the ghosts from her past and present.
The first chapter of the book I found to be the most enjoyable. It introduced all major themes of the
book. Including: Chinese culture and tradition, Women's voice, and silence.
The ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
2. Interpretation. Choose two passages from the book that you think indicate an important change in
the main character from the beginning of the story to the end. What do you think causes this change
and how do the passages show this change?
Throughout the book Kingston struggles to associate herself with a certain culture. Across the novel
she uses "talk stories" to communicate her emotions. After certain major events we can see how she
is feeling based on the stories chosen to be in the book. These stories also have a big influence on
how she views her own culture and herself.
In this chapter Kingston's mother would tell her stories of famous warriors but then contradict
herself by saying that she would end up a housemaid and slave.
Kingston daydreams of being a legendary woman warrior. She is led by a bird into the mountains
where she encounters an old couple who agree to train her. Throughout the story she becomes a
famous woman warrior but when she refocuses on reality she is disappointed.
She says that she " was eager to find an unusual bird"
Kingston felt the need to be more than a housewife or slave, against the wishes of her

The Woman Warrior: A Tale of Identity
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston is a
collection of memoirs, a blend of Kingston's autobiography with Chinese folklore. The book is
divided into five interconnected chapters: No Name Woman, White Tigers, Shaman, At the Western
Palace, and A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe. In No Name Woman, three characters are present:
Kingston, Kingston's mother, and Kingston's aunt. This section starts off with Kingston's mother
retelling the story of her aunt and her shameful past where her aunt took part in an adulterous
relationship and expressed her sexuality openly, then Kingston's interpretation of this story, and later
what the story ultimately means to Kingston – the act of the family forgetting this ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
She strived for academic success, refused to cook and made herself clumsy and distasteful
(Kingston, 47). When questioned for her behavior, she responded by comparing how a "bad girl" is
almost similar to a boy. Yet her resistance was proven difficult because not only did she have to
manage the repressiveness of her Chinese heritage but also manage the different and contradicting
repressiveness of American femininity. To reject herself as female implies self–hatred especially in
the last sections of her autobiography. In an American public school, Kingston was silent, unsure of
her voice and wary of the embarrassment that would be caused if she would participate. Later she
tries to differentiate herself from another Chinese–American girl who did not speak at all,
psychologically and physically abusing her to express her abhorrence of the Chinese female identity.
Kingston makes an effort to disassociate herself from this girl who shares similar behavior of the
inability to incorporate herself into American life by despising the Chinese female characteristics
that the girl had: her neatness, her wearing of pastel colors, and her soft nature (Kingston, 176). This
abuse stopped when Kingston was afflicted by a "mysterious illness" that drove her into long social
isolation and contemplation (Kingston, 182). Her recovery brought upon a different

Woman Warrior Quotes
The memoir, The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston, is about Maxine's childhood in
America after her mother moved to America from China. The author, Maxine Hong Kingston, talks
about Brave Orchid, Maxine's mother, to show that extrinsic factors influenced Maxine's ability to
become a woman warrior. The first extrinsic factor that is significant is American and Chinese
culture. This impacts Maxine Hong Kingston's ability to be a warrior because the cultures are very
different and can change her opinions on people, "ghosts", and herself. To start off, in the first
chapter, "No Name Woman", Brave Orchid tells Maxine a story about Maxine's aunt who is the No
Name Woman. The story takes place in China, 1924, and is about Maxine's deceased ... Show more
This impacts Maxine's ability to become a warrior because her family from China pushed her to be
and act Chinese and feel worthless whereas her sisters, who were born in America, gave her
courage. In "A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe", Maxine, her sisters, and parents all live together in
America. While they stay there Maxine finds out her parents want to marry Maxine and her sister
off then go back to China and forget about them. Maxine says, on page 193, "I learned that young
men were placing ads in the Gold Mountain News to find wives when my mother and father started
answering them.". She begins to show her inner warrior after deciding to protect herself as well as
her sister as shown on page 194, when she says "I would protect my sister and myself at the same
time.". As shown, her family is shaping who she is, a new warrior, because they are making her
stand up for

The Woman Warrior Analysis
Maxine Hong Kingston uses her memoire The Woman Warrior as a way to bring to life many talk
stories she heard while growing up in a Chinese immigrant home. The Woman Warrior is a complex
piece of writing that is able to weave fantasy and reality into one singular unit. Throughout the book
Kingston explores the various obstacles that Chinese women faced in their life, whether it be as an
immigrant in America or as a young women still in China. Each woman in the book had their own
unique experience when it came to being a Chinese woman and Kingston does a great job bringing
all of the experiences together to explain the complex roles these women played. Kingston's mother,
Brave Orchid, exemplifies the struggles Chinese immigrant women faced in America. She was a
well–respected doctor when she lived in China, but when she moved to the states she was no longer
able to practice medicine. She was instead forced to work menial hard labor jobs like picking
tomatoes. Through this she continues to portray herself as proud Chinese woman. She takes care of
her children and even her sister Moon Orchid when she travels to America. Brave Orchid attempts
to instill Chinese traditions and culture with in her own children. She does this by often telling talk
stories to her kids, especially Kingston. These stories contain moral lessons in them as well. When
she tells tells the story of No Name Woman she is attempting to dissuade Kingston from bringing
dishonor on their family. Even though

Voice In The Woman Warrior
In Maxine Hong Kingston's novel, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, one
of the central themes of the novel is voice. In the novel Kingston through voice is able to break
away from the silence that she is bound by culture and it set to discover a voice for herself. Through
this novel Kingston is able to give a voice to disadvantaged females who are voiceless by
empowering them to find their own personal voice and self–identities. The theme of voice is
prevalent throughout the novel and is exemplified as a cultural and emotional struggle as Kingston
discovers her personal voice. Kingston comprehends that in the traditional Chinese culture women
do not have voice and are seen as inferior. Kingston introduces silence in the ... Show more content
Kingston tells her mother that she is tired of keeping everything a secrecy and not being able to
distinguish what is real or what are lies when her mother talks story. Kingston is just tired of living
in silence and needs a voice for herself to be able to lead her life the way she want to. Kingston
states, "I don't want to listen to any more of your stories; they have no logic. The scramble me up.
You lie with stories. You won't tell me a story and then say, 'This is a true story.' I can't tell the
difference" (Kingston 202). Kingston was tired of all of the secrecy and silence and her voice was
finally heard because she fought for her own voice. Kingston fought against her Chinese culture in
order to have a loud voice for herself and not be a submissive woman who was destined to be a
slave or a wife. In Kingston's view, "Not everybody think I'm nothing. I am not going to be a slave
or a wife" (Kingston 201). As Kingston found a voice for herself she wrote this novel and gave those
suppressed females a voice for themselves so they would not be suppressed by empowering them
with a powerful weapon which is

The Woman Warrior And The Crucible
Change is an essential part of life, for better, or for worse. It enables authors to add depth to their
stories by creating characters that are either dynamic or static. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible and
Maxine Hong Kinston's The Woman Warrior, dynamic and static characters play large roles in
developing the plot. Mary Warren, in The Crucible, is a dynamic character whose unpredictability
and compliance affects not only her own fate but also the fate of others in the play. In contrast,
Brave Orchid, in The Woman Warrior is a static character whose views on women's equality remain
the same as the novel progresses. While Mary Warren's acquiescence is detrimental to many
characters in The Crucible, Brave Orchid's unwavering beliefs prove to be just as damaging for
other characters in The Woman Warrior.
Arthur Miller adds depth to his play, The Crucible, by creating dynamic characters such as Mary
Warren. Her actions and inactions throughout the play are strongly influenced by those around her.
The play opens with the revelation that Reverend Parris has caught the girls participating in the
irreverent act of dancing in the woods. Mary Warren's initial response to this accusation is that they
"must tell the truth" because they will only "be whipped for dancin'" (Miller 18). Although
unseemly, dancing is still less of a heinous crime than witchcraft: an act so demonic, that those
convicted were condemned to death. Mary thus finds herself in a precarious position; tell the truth

Woman Warrior Character Analysis
The In–Between Who am I in relation to others? Imperative to answering this question, in fact the
answer itself, is a personal understanding of what is "I" and what is "other". Despite the ostensive
brevity of the question, it is an especially challenging one to answer for Maxine Hong Kingston.
Throughout her memoir, Woman Warrior, she constantly struggles to define her "I", or rather her
"self". In this autobiography she attempts to "write [herself] into being" (Gates 57) as an American
by reconciling her Chinese heritage with her experience growing up as a second–generation
American. To assess the ways in which Maxine does this, Kingston's Woman Warrior (1976), Henry
Louis Gates Jr.'s "Writing, "Race," and the Difference It Makes" (1992), ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Here Kingston's mom uses language as a "sign" (Gates 50); by using language to signify the
"difference between cultures", Gates determines that Kingston's mom is endowing Chinese culture
with a certain "possession of power, spelling the difference between subordinate [American] and
superordinate [Chinese]" with language (Gates 51). One of Kingston's childhood memories of an
interaction with a ghost best illustrates this idea. Kingston and her siblings would watch these ghosts
from their window, but on a certain occasion they teased one through a window repeatedly taunting
"the Garbage Ghost" in Chinese; its as[sign]ed name. Then in a shocking moment for the children,
the ghost turns around and speaks in broken yet coherent words, "...bage...Ghost?" Then in a panic
they run to their mother who shuts the window and says that "they have learned it... human
language" and that the children should never speak in front of them again with the hope that they
will not have to because, "Someday, very soon" they would go "home, where there are Han people
everywhere" (Kingston

The Woman Warrior Character Analysis
Struggle to Find Self 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. In this novel Kingston uses characterizations to show her own character in the characters
she creates. The novel shows how Kingston talks about ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In the " White Tigers" ( Pg. 17) and " Shaman" (Pg. 55) chapters, birds are an important symbol in
the both stories. The " White Tigers" (Pg. 17) chapter has a bird to guide Kingston, as it did with Fa
Mu Lan when she was seven years old, up the mountain to meet her mentors. The representation of
the bird is the bravery of a little girl that would be willing to climb a mountain without fear of
anything. It also represents the possibility of how a girl is rising above her station in life and
growing to become a great leader. In fact, Kingston is especially disturbed that a bird represents
death of her fourth uncle's death–he is killed by communist while he is trying to capture birds as
food for his family. Therefore, Kingston knows more about the symbols within the

Patriarchy In The Woman Warrior
Unlike math or science, most literature is often open to different interpretations; within every novel
there is an inevitable grey area in what an author exactly means to convey to their readers. The same
is undeniably true within Maxine Hong Kingston's memoir The Woman Warrior, a nonlinear
hodgepodge of ghosts, white tiger and tongues. In the traditional roman fleuve, the protagonist
strives to reconcile self and society so that they can construct a coherent self and achieve wholeness,
in The Woman Warrior however, Kingston cannot reconcile. The fact is, Kingston has internalized
so many doctrinal values of the patriarchy, that she incapable of discerning a middle ground between
slavery and rebellion. Throughout the memoir it is apparent ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
There was one knot so complicated that it blinded the knot maker. Finally, an emperor outlawed this
cruel knot and the nobles could not order it anymore. If [Kingston] had lived in China, [Kingston]
would have been an outlaw knot maker." (163). The story harkens back to all the previous "buttons
and frogs" that were strung together and the reader is reminded that each story Kingston has told is
'outlawed' and forbidden. With Kingston as the knot maker, all these unspoken tales of suicide,
sitting ghosts and women warriors are combined into one "cruel knot" that Kingston utilizes as her
weapon against the suppression of her culture. Kingston, in finally finding her voice through these
forbidden stories, leads a triumphant act of rebellion against the traditional Chinese silence that has
haunted her throughout the course of her

Reflection Of The Woman Warrior
In 1976 Maxine Hong Kingston won the National Book Critics Circle Award for the best work of
non–fiction for her book The Woman Warrior: Memories of a Girlhood among Ghosts, a novel built
up from a collection of stories that draw on from Chinese folklore and myth intertwined with her
own life's experiences and episodes from her and other female family members' life. While labelled
as an autobiography, American readers enthusiastically welcomed it as work of fiction that deals
with the exotic, mysterious and unfathomable China. This illustrates the why and wherefores of the
many readings that this work has originated since its publication. The lack of adherence to one
genre, especially autobiography, presents one of the central issues of how ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Turning to Jung, one finds that myths are shared by all members of a community and by extension,
all humankind, although their true meaning can only be attained within the individual psyche, their
workings are strictly personal, being instrumental in the eternal quest towards self–realization.
Under this point of view, the reinterpretation of the Chinese folktales signifies to Kingston the
construction not only of her own speech but also of the structure for understanding her Chinese
American identity; in Kingston's words: "myth have to change, be useful or forgotten. Like people
who carry them across oceans, myths become American.... I take the power I need from whatever
myth" (quoted in Grice,

The Woman Warrior Analysis
In The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston crafts a fictitious memoir of her girlhood among
ghosts. The book's classification as a memoir incited significant debate, and the authenticity of her
representation of Chinese Americanism was contended by Asian American scholars and authors. The
Woman Warrior is ingenuitive in its manipulation of the autobiographical genre. Kingston integrates
the importance of storytelling in the evolution of her identity and relates her method of exploring
self–discovery to the dominant themes about silence and the translation of tradition. Throughout her
work, Kingston reaches a variety of conclusions about the stories her mother told her by performing
her interpretation of talk–story. Consequently, there is inaccuracy in Kingston's storytelling, which
cultivates the sense that Kingston is reshaping and untangling the tales of her ancestral tradition to
fulfill her personal narrative about identity. Kingston fictionalizes her memoir through storytelling
in order to convey the thematic significance of defying silence, breaking from objectivity, and the
translation of Chinese traditions to America.
In The Woman Warrior, Kingston immediately establishes the structure of a fictitious memoir
through the story of the "No Name Woman", Kingston's dead aunt. Kingston first writes her
mother's version of the story, in which her sister–in–law became pregnant outside of her marriage,
was ambushed by the villagers, and killed herself and her child in the

Woman Warrior Essay
A Warrior's Triumph
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 ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
These expectations increased when she was in the presence of "great power, [her] mother talking
story" (20). In one particular situation, the narrator recalls her mother singing about Fa Mu Lan, the
woman warrior. Although her mother expected her daughter to become a wife or a slave, the narrator
had a different idea; she would "grow up a woman warrior" (20). As a young girl, she said that she
"couldn't tell where the stories left off and the dreams began" (19). This is the case in "White
Tigers." The narrator's dream–state takes readers into the mind of a girl who attempts to please her
mother and entire family by becoming a woman warrior. This is possibly an attempt to subside
much of the harsh ridicule she receives from her mother due to cultural differences. Although this is
a key factor in her early childhood, she learns to block out these criticisms as she grows older.
There is significant evidence of this growing maturity in "Shaman." In the beginning of the chapter,
the reader can find an increased pressure placed on the narrator while hearing about her mother's
bravery and intelligence at medical school. This story added on to those her mother told about World
War II fighter planes, which terrified the narrator for many years. Also, as a young girl, her mother
would refer to America as being "full of machines and

The Woman Warrior Diction
In The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston blurs fiction and reality using a poetic, singsong
writing style, blending sentences together using sentence structure and diction. She also relies
heavily on symbols to reveal inner conflict that she had while growing up Chinese American, trying
to determine what was authentically Chinese and what was illusion. In White Tigers, the narrator
describes how after learning to be a warrior, she could see everyone dancing, "Whenever I did not
eat for long, as during famine or battle, I could stare at ordinary people and see their dance. When I
get hungry enough, then killing and falling are dancing, too." This revelation is preceded by a poetic
description of the dance she sees in the forest, in which

The Woman Warrior
Maxine Hong Kingston's memoir The Woman Warrior, details the many holes in Kingston's life
story. As her family traded in China for America, some of Kingston's family history got lost in the
transition. She attempts to uncover her family's past through extrapolating talk–stories. In a memoir
reliant on reiterated stories, the reader questions the reliability of the information. These talk–stories
retold by Kingston may have transformed into something more than they originally were. As
Kingston pieces together the truth for herself, the reader sifts through the talk stories to uncover the
true happenings of this memoir.
The beginning of the memoir confronts the reader with Kingston's forgotten aunt. The little
knowledge of her aunt begins ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Their American reported lives contained "immigration secrets whose telling could get [Kingston's
family] sent back to China" (183). Releasing these secrets to ghosts is not allowed and while
Kingston claims she knew the variants to various reported information, the question surfaces of how
much truth she really knows. These ghosts that surround her are not too different from Kingston
herself; she has grown up in the American culture and is partly a ghost herself. How much do her
parents actually trust her? Kingston says she was "relieved that [her] parents had had the foresight to
tell [her] some names [she] could give the teachers" but this does not prove that these names are
true, in fact, "a son does not know his father's name" (177). When little things like names are left
unknown, there is some curiosity to the truthfulness of other background information. As Chinese
change some facts when they move to America, like names and occupations, they also leave a lot
unsaid, even to their children. Kingston complains that Chinese "get mad, evasive, and shut you up
if you ask" about traditions (185). When Kingston knows so little for herself about the truth behind
her family history, it is hard for the reader to discover the validity of what Kingston

In this essay, I decided not to summarize Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior since we
have already done that by posting our weekly responses and since it is an open essay; also it might
seem too boring for you to read the same thing again. Instead, I wanted to write more on particular
subjects that Kingston had talked in the interviews.
Watching the video of Kingston's interview with Josephine Reed at F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary
Conference in 2011, gave me deeper understanding and insight about her works and as well as the
way she writes them. Kingston told in the interview that she found inspiration to write about her
deep, hidden thoughts from Fitzgerald's The Crack–Up. At first, she started reading Fitzgerald, not
knowing that he was famous. She found the book very beautifully written. And Kingston ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The description of the interior life was the most important." And she explained, "So that's the way I
wrote like this. And this was when I was a teenager." I think Kingston is not just a writer but a great
reader since she was a young girl. Not only does she read books, but also she analyzes, digs deeper
each of them and brings out the specialty or the uniqueness of how the stories are told and how the
book is written. And I also liked how she is so humble even after achieving this much, admitting that
she kind of followed the writing style of Fitzgerald, which tells inner emotions.
Kingston said that she started writing The Woman Warrior when she was at Lanai, also known as
Pineapple Island, in Hawaii. She was facing the wall, not looking out or viewing sea and just jotting
down the words. And she starts off her

The Woman Warrior Essay
Assignment 3
Question #1: Thinking in terms of the actual controversies surrounding The Woman Warrior, in
Chin's parodic essay what is Frenchtown a direct reference to? Who are the "Chinese" in his essay
paralleled to in U.S. culture?
Answer: Frenchtown is a direct reference to the people whom have criticised the book The Woman
Warrior. These people have criticised his similiar story "The Unmanly Warrior". This connection
makes this story parallel to The Woman Warrior. To elaborate more, the myth of Joan of Arc is
similar to the myth of Fa Mu Lan. This story, like the story of Fa Mu Lan is a figment of pure
imagination. The similar essay describes a little french girl who is living in China and her
perspective on life being French but in ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Firstly, think about why Chin would have such a vehement response to Kingston's fictionalizations.
What might he think is at stake in representing or rewriting the story of Fa Mu Lan in the way that
Kingston does? Do you agree or disagree with critics who have faulted the novel for its
mistranslations, interpretations of folklore, inauthenticity, and

The Woman Warrior is about five women who are related to Maxine Hong Kingston, the author of
the book, the first chapter is about her long–dead aunt, a imaginary female warrior who was called
Fa Mu Lan who was mentioned in chapter two, Kingston's mother who was mentioned as Moon
Orchid in the third chapter, in the fourth chapter which is about about an emperor who was married
to five women, and in chapter five, the last section of the book, talks about Kingston herself.
Kingston who is Chinese American writes about women who impacted her life, which are her aunt,
Brave Orchid, Moon orchid, Fa Mu Lan and herself. During the first chapter, she talks about her
long–dead aunt who was shunned by her family because she had a baby by another ... Show more
Her mother who was a doctor, midwife, fought ghosts and told stories to Kingston, her daughter,
which were called talk–stories that described horrifying stories such as Kingston's aunt giving birth
to her vast alone in a pigsty. Her mother was a very complicated character she was loving but also
told stories that put her views towards women contradict herself because of Chinese culture.
Kingston in the book has problems with that because Brave Orchid, her mother, is supposed to be
the most important woman in her life but would submit to the traditions of Chinese culture against
women on how they would be forgotten and shunned for having a child with another man other than
their husbands, which causes tension between Kingston and her mother. But over some time they
began to become close to one another again set aside their differences. Also in chapter four titled "At
the Western Palace" talks about a human who left behind his wife in China to go move to America to
be with another woman. Kingston's aunt named Moon Orchid is left in China where her sister
encourages her to go to America and claim what is hers but she cannot speak any English and when
her sister leaves her in America alone to fend for herself she ends up going crazy and dying in a
California state mental

Woman Warrior Essay
Woman Warrior Essay Maxine Hong Kingston's novel, The Woman Warrior is a semi–
autobiographical collection of short stories that chronicles her childhood in California. It gives the
reader a feeling of how it feels like to be a Chinese American girl growing up with traditional
parents in a world that is quite different from theirs. Throughout the novel, both she and her mother
refer to the outside world as "ghosts." The subtitle given to the book is Memoirs of a Girlhood
Among Ghosts. To figure out the meaning behind this subtitle, one has to try to see what Kingston
means when she and her family use the term "ghost."
When people think of ghosts, it can be said that thoughts of death and non–existence come to mind.
When this term is used ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
For example is in the chapter A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe. She labels her Negro friends as
"black ghosts." When she labels gives them this name, it is not as if she is using this term in a
derogatory manner. Since her mother has always referred to strangers as ghosts, she has picked up
the same habit. In this context, it is as if she refers to her friends in an affectionate manner when she
calls them "ghosts."
Storytelling (or in the case of this novel, "talk–story") also plays a crucial role in this book. Within
each chapter, there are other smaller stories that are a part of the themes of each chapter. In a way,
these old stories function as "ghosts," not only because these smaller stories are old, but also
because the contents of the stories that are told to her still haunt her in many ways.
The Woman Warrior starts off with the story titled No Name Woman. In this chapter, Brave Orchid
tells the story of Kingston's aunt. Despite her warning to Kingston ("You must not tell anyone.")
Kingston still decides to tell the story to the reader. In this part of the story, the nameless aunt has a
child out of wedlock. At the end of the story, she commits suicide by (presumably) jumping into the
drinking well and drowning herself. Kingston believes her aunt did this to spite the people of her
village. This can be interpreted as a type of ghost story, not only because this nameless aunt found a
way to spite the villagers after death, but also because

The Nature of Ghosts in The Woman Warrior Essay
The Nature of Ghosts in The Woman Warrior
"Ghost." What images does this word conjure up in the average American mind? Perhaps you think
of little kids draped in white sheets begging for candy on Halloween. Perhaps you imagine
transparent versions of dead people wandering the earth for eternity. Perhaps you are reminded of a
person who just saw something especially scary; they are "pale as a ghost".
So the word "ghost" – a word with many meanings – calls forth these images. What do they have in
common? There's the idea of paleness – when was the last time you ever saw a black ghost? Silence
– ghosts don't say much, except maybe they go "Boo!" once in a while. And, just maybe, there's a
hint of unfamiliarity in the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Ghosts – in any form – are far more prominent in Kingston's life than in ours. Perhaps this is
because there are fantastic elements to the stories she tells, but it is difficult for we readers to
separate fantasy and reality and we confuse the two. In some cases – such as with Brave Orchid's
"Sitting Ghost", it never really becomes clear.
The primary meaning of the word "ghost" in the work is, of course, "American" or "white person".
"White person" might seem more attractive because of the idea of paleness that we associate with
ghosts, but there are "Mexican ghosts" and "Negro ghosts" – so "American" is more accurate. This
is supported by the idea that those Chinese born in America are considered ghosts: "They would not
tell us children because we had been born among ghosts, were taught by ghosts, and were ourselves
ghost–like. They called us a kind of ghost. Ghosts are noisy and full of air; they talk during meals.
They talk about everything" (183–84). Even one generation makes this difference. The mysterious
Chinese name given to the "assimilated" Chinese by the new immigrants is "Ho Chi Kuei" (204),
which Kingston is unable to translate in full (further demonstrating her assimilation) – but "Kuei"
she knows means "Ghosts". This idea of Americans as ghosts goes even further in some of
Kingston's titles for Americans,

Woman Warrior Essay
The Woman Warrior Argumentative Essay
Maxine Hong Kingston's novel The Woman Warrior is a series of narrations, vividly recalling stories
she has heard throughout her life. These stories clearly depict the oppression of woman in Chinese
society. Even though women in Chinese Society traditionally might be considered subservient to
men, Kingston viewed them in a different light. She sees women as being equivalent to men, both
strong and courageous.
In a few stark story, depressing in their own unique way, attempts to disprove the traditional Chinese
saying "it's better to have geese than girls".
The first talk–story told to Kingston by her mother deals with the suicide of one of her aunts, who
remains nameless throughout the tale. After ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
She killed herself and baby to spare them lives of severe subjugation Kingston also states how her
aunt was possibly raped, showing how she was a victim rather than a woman who lacks morals. In
short, Kingston's does not view the story of her aunt as one of shame (like her mother intended), but
rather one of individuality and free will.
The second story, "White Tigers", is a mythical tale of a female warrior who disguises herself as a
male and fights in the place of the father. The story completely contradicts the conventional role of
woman in Chinese society. It places a woman in a position of bravery and heroism, which are
traditionally reserved for men.
This story is unique because Kingston actually places herself in the role of the warrior in the story;
she says, "We made a sling for the baby inside my big armor, and rode back into the thickest part of
the fighting. The umbilical cord flew with my red flag and made us laugh." This depiction of her
fighting while carrying her infant in her arms shows how a woman can fight and nurture at the same
time. She can both give but also take lives, which is something a man is unable to do. This illustrates
Kingston belief that woman are not subservient, but in some cases, better than men in some respects.
The final story is called "The Shaman". It deals with the story of Kingston's mother, also known as
Brave Orchid. Much like the other two stories, Brave Orchid strays from the conventional stigma

The Woman Warrior
Throughout the novel The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston, the past is incorporated into
the present through talk–stories combined into each chapter. Kingston uses talk–stories, to examine
the intermingling of Chinese myths and lived experience. These stories influence the life of the
narrator as the past is constantly spoken about from the time she is young until the novel ends and
she becomes an adult. 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 ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Chapter one expresses a tragedy faced by the "No Name Woman" and the hardships that she faces,
while chapter two explains a more positive story of Fa Mu Lan. Fa Mu Lan is a woman warrior who
is able to be a wife, while she saves her village. This chapter brings light to the idea that Chinese
woman can prosper on their own, without men, an idea that the narrator sticks to throughout the
novel. The talk–story of Fa Mu Lan was told to the narrator when she was a young girl, an age that
she can relate to the warrior, because she too feels that she could be both a wife and a warrior in the
future. The talk story combines Chinese legend with other myths that relate the narrator back to her
Chinese past. Even though the narrator has never been to China, and she was brought up in the
United States, the talk–stories that she engages in allow her to become part of her past. She is able to
dream, conspire, and work off of the ideas that she hears. The ideas from Fa Mu Lan are especially
important to her life because from this story, she believes that she does not have to do anything for
her future husband. The narrator states "' There is an outward tendency in females,' which meant that
I was getting straight A's for the good of my future husband's family, not my own" (47). Fa Mu Lan
who fights in war for the emperor's army, and then returns home to her family,

Maxine Hong Kingston's Woman Warrior
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 ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
It comes true. It comes true. I had to leave home in order to see the world logically, logic the new
way of seeing. I learned to think that mysteries are for explanation. I enjoy the simplicity. Concrete
pours out of my mouth the cover the forests with freeways and sidewalks. Give me plastics,
periodical tables, TV dinners with vegetables no more complex than peas mixed with diced carrots.
Shine floodlights into dark corners: no ghosts" (Kingston 250).
In my perspective, I agree with Kingston because whatever you believe or say could always come
true if you truly believe it. I also agree with Kingston that there are many different ways to see
things such as your opinion on such things. Your opinion could be different than your friends'
opinion or your family's opinion. Reading this book has shown me to see things in different ways
and helped me understand other people's point of views better. This book also shows that you should
not be selfish but to think about other people's situations and to be careful what you say because
later in your life, it'll come true. There are many times in life where you misinterpret one another
because you hear the wrong thing so someone gets hurt which is why it's important not to say what
you don't mean because someone could get their feelings hurt. Also because you could be saying
something bad about someone and want something to come true but you don't mean it. In
conclusion, it's important not to say what you don't'

Essay On The Woman Warrior
A typical warrior is a medieval knight in shining armor fighting for his life and homeland. Today,
the definition of what it means to be a warrior has become ambiguous. Often times, we view those
willing to sacrifice their lives for others––soldiers, police officers, or firefighters––as warriors. Even
expanded in this way, the warrior still has a connotation of physical bravery, masculine strength, and
unhindered confidence. However, the word warrior can have an entirely new meaning when we use
it in a literary context. It can be defined as a person who is simply fighting for convictions and
values that are morally and ethically right. As associated with women, some real, some legendary,
some with evident power, some seeming to be weak. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This story ignited this internal conflict that began within Maxine. She began contemplating this
balance between the strict Chinese tradition, and its relation to her American values. Nonetheless, a
key theme that emerges is acknowledging the power that Maxine's mother held as the storyteller.
Her interpretation of the events characterized Maxine's aunt as a repulsive person. Maxine was
"NOT [to] tell anyone" because it risked bringing exposure and shame to the family (1). After
hearing the events through her mother's perspective, Maxine understood that her mother controlled
the way events unraveled. This realization showcases how Maxine was able to think outside the
framework her mother was providing for her. Maxine imagined that in order "to sustain being in
love, [her aunt] often worked at herself in the mirror" (6). Her innocence and ability to recognize
what her mother was trying to invoke fear in her actually directed Maxine to think in a contradictory
way. As a result of this evolved critical thinking, Maxine never once characterized her dead aunt as a
humiliation. From her narrative, Maxine overlooked her actions and commended her resilience.
Although directly not stated within the text, Maxine expanded the definition of what it meant to be a
warrior and gave this insight that her aunt can be characterized

Woman Warrior Quotes
"She said I would grow up a wife and a slave, but she taught me the song of the warrior woman, Fa
Mu Lan. I would have to grow up a warrior woman"(20).These are the true and unforgettable words
of Kingston, the main character in Maxine Hong Kingston's memoir, The Woman Warrior. The
author portrays her memoir as an act of rebellion through using the redemption of her aunt, "No
Name Woman", the opposition to Chinese culture, and the discovery of Kingston's inner–self. In
Chinese culture, one must report atrocious acts, but must never speak of them again. The author
conveys this message shown in No Name Woman when Kingston's mother says, "You must not tell
anyone what I am about to tell you"(3). After hearing the story of her tragic aunt, "No Name
Woman", committing suicide with her newborn, Kingston rebels against her own Chinese traditions
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
"I'm not a bad girl. I'm not a bad girl!" I might as well have said, "I'm not a girl" (46). Kingston
regards being a rebellious girl as positive since it transforms her into a boy, one with more
opportunities. As a girl, Kingston feels that the opportunities females have are incompetent and
useless. In this quote, she revolts against the social norms and goes against her traditional values by
using a bitter and sarcastic tone. She extravagantly expresses how she wants to even become "a
lumberjack in Oregon" (47). This shows how she strongly opposes the traditional women confined
to domestic chores. Kingston believes that there is more to women than having their feet bounded
and being supported by their husbands. Women do not earn enough credit for what they do and what
they personally suffer through. One example is when Kingston's aunt became pregnant; it was
looked upon that Kingston's aunt was guilty, but not the man who had raped her and made her
pregnant. Men had many rights over women that were unfair and unjustified, and thus Kingston
rebels against the role of women Chinese

Cultural Norms In The Woman Warrior
A young Chinese–American girl in the 1950's would try to break out of her parents' cultural norms
and prove to her parents that their thought process is invalid, and doesn't fit inside the parent's
patriarchal cultural mindset. The young Chinese–American girl we follow throughout the story is,
Maxine Hong Kingston, and she believes that women aren't just to be married off and truly do have
a life of their own. The Woman Warrior is a book written by Maxine Hong Kingston wrote a book
based on her own childhood events. As she breaks through these stereotypes, as she breaks these
stereotypes she learns through both Chinese cultural stories and family stories told by her mother
and father. Maxine would express throughout the story, the subtle word choice that her mother
would use to incline how Maxine should be lucky to be born and have a good life. ... Show more
As an immigrant and the child of an immigrant, I know the challenges of trying to get past your
parent's cultural hurdles and the difficulty to change their mindsets on gender norms. Gender norms
vary throughout different cultures and we see many break them here in western culture on a large
scale, but seeing Maxine break through it on a personal level is more motivational. Overcoming
cultural, gender barriers is done in a number of forms and we see with Maxine it is done with
stories, both indirect and direct actions. Maxine is repeatedly told that she can't go or do things due
to her being a female, yet she'd overcome it in a number of ways. As a number of people might not
know in eastern culture, in particular, Chinese culture it is an extremely patriarchal society that aside
from dominating them in the workplace, women are also dominated at home. The house is usually

Voice In The Woman Warrior
Maxine Kingston wrote The Woman Warrior: A Memoir of a Girlhood Amongst Ghosts as a non–
fictional story that relates the common Chinese folktales (or "talk stories" as she calls them) she was
familiar with from her youth combined with her own personal experiences as a Chinese–American.
Each chapter is given to a separate woman who influenced Kingston's life in a memorable way. The
theme of silence and voice comes up frequently throughout the text, but is increasingly evident in
the first page, as the novel opens up with the narrator speaking, "you must not tell anyone"
(Kingston 1). This introduction is interesting and important because of it's irony. Despite the fact
that Kingston was told not to tell anyone of the story she is about to write, she is essentially telling
the world now that it is published. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Patriarchy rules modern (and past) society, so women are often forced to take a back seat. This
oppression forces women to be quieter and more timid, which is often seen in The Woman Warrior.
The second talk–story the Kingston relates, about the warrior Fa Mu Lan, is an important reference
to this theme. Fa Mu Lan trains to become a warrior, pretends to be a man (through disguise) and
ends up leading an army of men, only to return to being a mother and wife once the battles are
completed. This is an extreme example of how far women have to go to be heard, respected and
successful in the ancient Chinese

The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
In The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston crafts a fictitious memoir of her girlhood among
ghosts. The book's classification as a memoir incited significant debate, and the authenticity of her
representation of Chinese American culture was contested by Asian American scholars and authors.
The Woman Warrior is ingenuitive in its manipulation of the autobiographical genre. Kingston
integrates the value of storytelling in her memoir and relates it to dominant themes about silence,
cultural authenticity, and the cultivation of identity. Throughout her work, Kingston reaches a
variety of conclusions about the stories her mother told her by writing interpretations of her mother,
Brave Orchid's, "talk–story". Brave Orchid's talk–story is a form ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
She considers that "some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil." (Kingston
6). Kingston writes her initial version of the "No Name Woman," who was raped, raided, and died
an outcast, but Kingston determines that this telling does not fit her understanding of China.
Therefore, Kingston entertains another hypothetical, that her aunt took a lover and saved him from
shame by giving "silent birth" and not revealing the lover's identity (Kingston 11). Here, Kingston
critically examines the inherited talk–story of her mother to determine the meaning she should
obtain from the death of her aunt. Her mother's conclusion is that she must not become pregnant, but
Kingston is uncertain about the simplicity of her mother's story. In the "No Name Woman,"
Kingston introduces the fictitious memoir structure that she utilizes through the variety of
interpretations of her aunt's story. Consistently through the memoir, Kingston writes contrasting
accounts of the same stories and imagines the stories of others to further her themes about silence,
authenticity, and identity formation.
Kingston begins The Woman Warrior by writing a story which started with her mother insisting that
she "must not tell anyone...what I am about to tell you." (Kingston 3). Kingston's first written words
are a defiance of this silencing. Silence is a motif that permeates the entirety of The Woman Warrior;
Kingston

The Woman Warrior Summary
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. Kingston wants to honor her family once and for all. In order to do so, Kingston completes
fifteen years of training. At the age of fourteen she wants to save her Brother and Husband but her
mentors tell Kingston she is not ready to fight, that she is too young. What was so intriguing about
this situation was when Kingston said "When I could point at the sky and make a sword appear, a
silver bolt in the sunlight, and control its slashing with my mind, the old people said I was ready to
leave". This shows that the sword flying in the air represents Chinese culture. Kingston then
continues to say "I saw the baron's messenger leave our house, and my father was saying, "This time
I must go and fight", taking her father's place. Kingston then pretends to be a man, becoming a great
warrior, wearing male armor and commanding men who fight under her. What was most shocking

The Woman Warrior and The Interesting Narrative Essay
The Woman Warrior and The Interesting Narrative
In both The Woman Warrior and The Interesting Narrative, the authors inspect the issue of one's
cultural identity by way of the telling of their own story, and how it has affected them. By telling
their stories as persons who have emerged themselves into a new culture, but at the same retained
vestiges of the old, Olaudah Equiano and Maxine Kingston are exemplifying a duality in cultural
identity, that is often times lost.
Before continuing, though, it is important to clarify the definition of "cultural identity," at least for
this paper. One's cultural identity is the way one sees oneself in terms of the cultures and societies
that they have come from. This ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This personal connection to the "native" culture is an important part to any cultural identity, because
it provides a means of introspection, an ability to determine one's perception of oneself. The ability
to perceive oneself is important because it permits one to look at and choose to discard or retain
parts of one's various cultures into one's personal cultural identity.
However, in other aspects, Equiano is able to better explore portions of his cultural identity, because
he has made a direct personal connection to the culture. In this case, it is the slave culture that he
was forced into. Because of the intense experiences he has within this culture, it plays a large role in
his cultural identity. These experiences include his numerous journeys on his masters' ships, which
combined with his religious explorations at the time led him to desire to become an Englishman. At
the same time, they allowed him to create a broader identity, because he saw the connections
between himself and other cultures (such as Turkish and Jewish cultures of the time.)
The second crucial factor in determining the cultural identity, and is shown in The Interesting
Narrative, is the time that one is exposed to a culture. It is not difficult to determine that in Equiano
it appears his native culture had little direct impact on him. In the narrative, he makes little to no
mention of his home, his native country, or anything related to them. This

Summary: The Woman Warrior
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. Kingston's different story does not
relate with one another, but she finds a way to reveal what she needed to say. Kingston proves her
point at indirectly to the reader even without having a plot. No Name Woman, the first story
Kingston talks about, is about her aunt. Kingston first learned about her aunt's existence, but did not
get to learn more about her because it was forbidden by Kingston's father. Kingston tries to learn
more about her ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Although the stories have no connection with one another, they somehow connects to the way
Kingston wants it to be. The stories talk about the problems of different Chinese women and what
they did. Each story in the book varies from folklore to personal experiences, but they all relate in
some way to make a united, understandable tale. The narrations in the book are different in every
anecdote. The first two chapters and the last chapter, Kingston utilizes first person point of view.
Kingston writes each chapter smoothly by imagining her in the character's shoes even thought there
are different characters in each chapter. In the third and fourth chapter, Kingston uses third person to
explain her stories that were told from her mother and aunt. Kingston's novel uses more than one
vital characters while they all relate back to just one main character, which makes her writing style
unique. She usually makes one story branching into five other stories. Kingston's idea of using five
kinds of anecdotes explains that she is clever and educated, because proving sexism and inequality
in different short examples are easier rather than one long narrative. The author uses pathos
throughout her novel, which then brings sympathy from the readers from unfair cruelty. When
Kingston gave an example of slave girls and sexism from the uncle, it grasped the attention

The Woman Warrior: The Role Of Silence In The Woman Warrior
The role of silence in text can be interpreted to various different meanings. The Chinese culture in
The Woman Warrior embrace silence, as the people see it as being respectable and keeping privacy.
Kingston incorporates the archetypal role of silence in The Woman Warrior to present how
destructive the quality of silence can be, as it stifles identity and expression. From the beginning of
the novel, the main protagonist Kingston is silenced from knowing the truth behind her family's
history. Her mother secretly mentions the talk–story of her aunt who was neglected and bashed upon
because of her unexpected pregnancy. The townspeople doubted the pregnancy because her husband
sailed for America, and having an affair was unfathomable. When her

Kingston's Memoir, The Woman Warrior
In the memoir, "The Woman Warrior", Kingston explores the different forms of adversity faced by
women. She attempts to understand and come to terms with the rituals, practices and attitudes of
rural Chinese culture of her parents in order to reconcile herself to American society and, finally, to
achieve her Chinese–American identity by becoming a writer. As a writer, Kingston peers into the
looking glass and views other women's stories to understand her cultural history. Being a first–
generation Chinese American, she struggles to reconcile her Chinese cultural heritage with her
emerging sense of herself as an American.
Kingston's search for her personal identity begins with a tale of an aunt, simply known as a no name
woman, to whom the title of the first chapter refers. "You must not tell anyone . . . what I am about
to tell you," Kingston's mother warned her. Ironically, Kingston does not keep silent. In her quest to
uncover this Chinese cultural history, she ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Perhaps her mother fabricated the facts to impress Kingston? However, rather than her aunt merely
being a victim, Kingston believes she had some control over her destiny. She interprets her mother's
story according to her moral values, individuality, and the qualities of a woman that define her.
Kingston believes that her individuality is defined best through language, or the lack thereof. If she
does not express her own voice, she might be a substitute for No Name Woman, who was voiceless
in her whole life. Her inability to express herself freely leads to lost identity, an identity that she
ultimately hopes to find.
"Don't tell anyone you had an aunt," ironically, is exactly what she does not do. Kingston purpose in
writing "The Woman Warrior" is to grab hold of her Chinese American identity. For her to remain
silent about her aunt would be counterintuitive, synonymous with rejecting

Ghosts In The Woman Warrior

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from Melissa Williams

More from Melissa Williams (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Ghosts In The Woman Warrior