The Woman Warrior, Book by Maxime Hong Kingston
This paper will discuss the narrative strategies in The Woman Warrior by Maxime Hong Kingston. Particular emphasis will be placed on the controversy of the genre, the informative aspect of the content and the narrative intent of the text.
The Woman Warrior has generated much controversy since it was first published in 1976 (Wong 249). Much of this controversy is about its generic status. The book was meant to be an autobiography instead of a work of fiction. However, it does not fulfill the basic definition of an autobiography which is an account of the actual life of an individual (Wong 249). Several famous critics have given negative reviews of The Woman Warrior by pointing out that is a work
``The woman warrior`` written by Maxine Hong Kingston is a collection of memoirs. It has a hybrid form: it is a myth, fiction, as well as autobiography. ``The woman warrior`` is a book about finding and discovering yourself in the circumstances of a Chinese family and an American upbringing, always fluctuating between the two worlds, wondering about your true self. In ``A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe`` a very important theme is the Identity Plot.
Throughout this book there are countless examples of the common gender issue in today’s society exploited. Today it is widely believed of equality in rights for all people regardless of heritage, race and gender. A majority of people in the world are in the support of female lead characters and an increase in the books regarding females. As time continues literature has introduced female leads with problems outside the typical house or friend issues. The only female characters introduced in the book with at least one quote is
In the First American Army by Bruce Chadwick, he writes of the many stories and experiences of the men and women that fought in the revolutionary war. The examination of these experiences creates an overwhelming feeling of great determination for the colonist’s freedom and liberty from the opposing military of Great Britain. Chadwick also writes of the many disease epidemics that occurred. In addition to that he includes copious examples of the hardships of war and what the numerous enlisted soldiers, doctors, lawyers, ministers, and officers endured while living in the camps of the Colonial Army. Overall, the experiences of the men and women that fought reveal their bravery and how much they wanted liberty.
Maxine Hong Kingston's use of talk stories in The Woman Warrior emphasizes that individuals will find a more fulfilling life if they defy the traditional gender norms place on them by society. While contemplating beauty standards in Chinese society in “No Name Woman” Maxine Kingston thinks, “Sister used to sit on their beds and cry together… as their mothers or their slaves removed the bandages for a few minutes each night and let the blood gush back into their veins” (9). From a young age girls are expected to be binding their feet and are told that it is to look beautiful, but in reality that is not why. When a womans feet are bound they are restrained and silenced. These girls could be free and happy but they are restrained by men through this binding.
In The Woman Warrior, Kingston describes the everyday ghosts she sees as a symbolic reference to the unknown people who she cannot identify with in order to illustrate to the reader how isolated she felt around the ghosts. As Kingston and her family continue to live in America, they perceive everyone as unknown because they are very different by culture, race, and way of living. Kingston feels isolated because she is not able to speak English very well, everyone around her thinks she is "strange" because she does not look "normal" in an American society. In addition, her parents do not pay as much attention to her as they do with her brothers because they cherish them over her. She does not care about her grades because her parents would only
Women should not be allowed to join certain parts of the military because of the physical liabilities. In the article, “Sending Women to War” by Mark Thompson, He explains how the controversy about women in the army. Women have not been able to join the military for hundreds of years, and ,in 1993, the air force finally accepted a women and started a movement. Women are now allowed to participate in many sections are the army but some sections are off limits to them. Women are not allowed to join certain sections of the army because of their physical structure.
Justin Lau (Wingkit) Professor Rogers History 100AC 29 September 2015 Response Paper: “The Women Is as Bad as the Men- Women 's Participation in the Inner Civil War.” , “General Benjamin Butler and the threat of Sexual Violence during the American Civil War”, “General Butler and the Women” and “The Other Side of the Freedom” A lot of North Carolina women showed uncooperative actions on the disorderliness by participating the protest in order to maintain their communities and social orders. These women would prefer to join the conflict that separated state and community rather than being its victims. Thus, their loyalties to husbands and sons, and strong determination of protecting their own property prompted them to disregard the female’s conventional behaviors.
The women of the american revolution share many common characteristics with Sophia Calderwood the main character in the novel Sophia’s War By Avi. Three characteristics Sophia shares with these women are bravery, determination, and self-sacrifice. One characteristic Sophia shares with the women of the american revolution is bravery. Sophia had to leave her family to become a spy for the patriots during the american revolution, this was a very brave act especially for a 16 year old, because of the danger she could be in if she were to be caught. “thus, I made up my mind.
The Woman Warrior, Memoirs of a girlhood among ghosts, explores Kingston’s identify formation in relation to her mother and female relatives. Kingston uses the first person to narrate five distinct short stories. Each of them contains a central female character. The unique feature of this book is the rearrangement of the traditional Chinese myths, legend of Fa Mu Lan and Ts’ai Yen. The combination of fantasy and reality is closely intertwined in the stories.
In The Woman Warrior, it states that “Women in the old China did not choose. Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil” (6). This quote shows the interpersonal relationships that enforce the ideology of women being inferior to men. Women in China didn’t get to choose their paths. They were forced into adultery if a man wanted them, which could even be along the lines of rape.
In regards to the historiography of gender politics in the Victorian era, the social position of women and femininity had become a problematic issue. Similarly, the gender apartheid instilled prior to the civil war in Afghanistan. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, initially published in 2007, is set in Afghanistan from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. In this, it explores the story of Mariam and Laila as the protagonists, who teach the reader the reality of life as a woman in a backward Islamic country. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny seen from the perspectives of these two women and observes how they become to create a bond, despite having come from previously living in very different backgrounds.
In the progressive modern world, the ancient mindset of men’s superiority exists in many societies. Women who are opposed to such ideology are, in some cases, perceived as rebellious when words such as feminism has come to acknowledgement for over a century. Through the struggles that the characters of A Thousand Splendid Suns faced in the patriarchal Afghani culture, Khaled Hosseini delivers his feminist ideas. For her whole life, Nana endured the troubles given by men, and she is one of the “fallen female warrior” of the novel because she fought against the oppression and lost, due to the unfortunate circumstances of her life. Mariam also suffered the torments imposed on her by the men in her life, sharing a similar fate as her mother, Nana, in a way.
The novel aptly portrays the fight of Afghan woman for her rights to education, health, freedom, choice and
A Thousand Splendid Suns’ was written by an Afghan American writer, Khaled Hosseini. The novel narrates the strength and resilience of two women who endure physical and psychological cruelty in an anti-feminist society. It also demonstrates how The Taliban uses fear and violence to control the people of Afghanistan, particularly females. Throughout this story the novel exposes the way customs and laws endorse Rasheed’s violent misogyny and it tells the tale of two women who endure a marriage to a ruthless and brutal man, whose behaviour forces them to kill him. The protagonist Mariam is a poor villager who lives in a remote area in Afghanistan, in contrast to Laila who is a smart, educated daughter of a schoolteacher.
The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.