I think that the theme of The Woman Warrior that stuck out to me the most was the concept of women having no value to society. I took everything that Maxine Hong Kingston had to say about the childhood of females in Chinese society very seriously. As a sociology major, I took a "Marriage and Family" course a few semesters ago. In this class we were given a small book which took a close look at 4 different cultures' ideas of how a marriage and family should be run. It looked at the Iroquois, traditional Chinese, Tibetan, and a tribe in Africa which I forgot its name (woops). Although all of their practices seemed incredibly foreign and a tad bizarre to me, what struck me the most was the traditional Chinese due to the fact that they are such a huge culture, unlike the other 3 groups that were studied, and many of these abusive (in my opinion) practices still occur. In The Woman Warrior we are first presented with a woman who has been disowned by her family and driven to killing herself and her baby girl because of an act which "disgraced her family" aka adultery. She chooses to kill the baby as well as herself because she knows that the life ahead for her child, because she herself committed the disgrace against the family, would be one of loneliness and isolation. Plus, as the baby was a girl she already had a strike against her in a society which viewed woman as useless besides for the conception of male children. Even by Maxine Hong Kingston naming this chapter the "No-Name Woman" she is illustrating how valueless women were in traditional Chinese society.
I was a little confused with the next part of the story, because I was not sure if the narrator really was a warrior or just fantasizing about being one. Either way, all I could picture in my head the whole time was the Disney version of Mulan. But I found it depressing that no matter how hard she worked to please her parents, she still felt worthless. Perhaps this upset me because I believe many children growing up all over the world have the same worthless feelings due to their parents lack of attention or approval.
I would have to say that my favorite part of this novel was not so much the plot that evolved, but the narrator's mother's "talk-stories." They were all so vivid and completely out there that they were really interesting to read. I actually found the novel as a whole to be a little boring, not really my style, but the random cautionary tales and talk-stories made it easier to get through because I was able to imagine these incredibly odd stories.
I agree that the most vivid message sent by Kingston was the little value that women had in the Chinese culture. There were many times in which I found myself getting angry because I am such a strong-willed women and I stand up for anything and everything I believe in. This feeling occurred many times but the two most intense ones occurred with the no name woman and again with Moon Orchid and her inability to tell her husband how she felt. Her not speaking her mind inevitably drove her insane in the end. I was so annoyed that she didn’t just lay into him and demand respect, I understand that that is not her cultures belief but I found it so hard not to be angry for her. I guess what I am trying to say is that even though I too didn’t love the book; I learned to respect the culture that I have grown up in. Even though women are viewed negatively in American and as objects we are still able to stand up for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWomen have bee subject to lesser everything since the beginning of time. Its the idea that women are weaker and need to be submissive. That is what Kingston was writting about. Women have greater opportunity than ever because of women in the book. Bold women like the Fa Mu Lan and Brave Orchid. I like what you said about the woman nbot being able to please her parents. That is a problem that this generation is faced with and has a potential to perpetuate.
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