The Women Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston

Rosalina Serrano

3/14/15

Essay #1: The Women Warrior

        The Novel “The Women Warrior” by Author Maxine Hong Kingston focuses on five different women, both in China and in Chinese-America. Kingston speaks upon herself, as well as her mother Brave Orchid, her aunt who the book refers to as “No Name Women”, her aunt Moon Orchid, and a mythical female warrior named Fa Mu Lan. While the story carries many themes such as silence, ghosts, and talk stories, I believe it is important to focus on the themes of “Women in China” as well as “growing up in Chinese America” as well as just the Chinese culture in general. In the novel, our main character Kingston, speaks upon her feelings of some of the cultural “norms” in Chinese society, and demonstrates her desire to break away from them.

        In the first chapter of the Novel entitled “No Name Woman”, Kingston’s mother Speaks to her about her aunt who has shamed to family. She becomes pregnant, though her husband has been away for years, and the family disowns her. After telling Kingston the story as a “cautionary tale” she tells her “What happened to her could happen to you. Don’t humiliate us. You wouldn’t want to be forgotten as if you had never been born...” (Kingston 5). After reading this novel you get a good overview on just how strict the Chinese culture is when it comes to women, in the male- dominate society you could be shunned and even killed for stepping out of the box that women are put into. As we learn in the beginning of the chapter her aunt ended

up committing suicide, bringing along her new born baby. Even after death she was still used as an example, I believe, to scare young women who are beginning menstruation to stay within the boundaries given by the Chinese society.

        The role of women in the Chinese culture seems to be very basic, as we would have lived life in the 1920’s. The women are expected to cook, clean, bare children (only boys), and obey their husbands. They’re also subject to “hurry up weddings” in which they have no say in the man or time in which they get married. Women in this society I believe are barely respected. The novel even speaks about how, at times, women would stand next to the man’s “proxy” instead of the actual man himself at these weddings. For example, in the novel on page 7 of chapter one Kingston speaks of her aunt who “stood tractably beside the best rooster”. It was not only the males of the generations spoken about in the novel that had to do with the way women were perceived and also treated during this time, but also previous generations who made the tradition so powerful. It was to the point, demonstrated in the novel even, that women themselves were carrying these beliefs on to their daughters and so forth. We could see that this was evident in the novel when they made comments such as “better to have geese than girls”. Even the tradition of women having their feet bound can be seen as way to restrict women, though it is shown to be something that attracts men to them because of their small feet. The beginning of chapter two entitled “White tigers” bring up a very interesting point about women, and their actual true strength, which may have been intimidating to the men in the Chinese society.                                                                                                                                            In chapter two Kingston says “When we Chinese girls listened to the adult talk stories, we learned that we failed if we grew up to be but wives or slaves”. Again going back to a familiar point of the power of the tradition carried on by both men AND women throughout generations. The point brought up that I feel is very significant is the one where women are actually feared because they are so powerful, which is why they are put in this “box” and their feet are bound. A great quote said by Kingston supporting this idea is “Perhaps women were so dangerous that they had to have their feet bound” and how “swordswomen got even with anybody who hurt her family”. Usually when we think of a warrior we would assume whomever we are speaking with is referring to a male, but in this novel Kingston as well as her aunt and mother can be seen as such. Kingston’s mother who became a doctor and took care of her family can be seen as a warrior, though she then attempts to reinforce the fact that girls are disappointments no matter what they accomplish. I believe Kingston is a warrior in this novel because of the fact that she is able to speak out and even write this novel in the first place. She also speaks out, as we see in the chapter entitled “Son of the barbarian windpipe” about how she’s tired of her mother wanting to place these traditions upon her. Her ability to be able to finally be one of the few women to speak out against the culture shows strength.