The Women Warrior
Significance and Analysis:
In Maxine Hong Kingston’s book, The Women Warrior, men characters are intentionally absent. Obviously, the book, The Woman Warrior, is focus on female characters. Compared with other Asian American writers, Maxine Hong Kingston’s writing works put more emphasis on Chinese women figures. Diverse Chinese female character presented in myth, history, talk-stories, or biography shapes the Kingston’s self culture identity about both Chinese and American figures. Though the depicting of different women, the stories in the book presents one theme about Chinese women’s struggling in traditional society.
The first story, No Name Woman, presents the small conservative village with strict manners. The woman, who is not intentional to be pregnant, faces the punishment from not only her family but also the whole village. Those serious condemnations cause her death indirectly. The more significance of this story is that her family tends to hide the woman’s name just because of her shameful behavior. This story, No Name’s Woman symbolizes silent denouncement against the pitiless of Chinese traditional society.
The story of Fa Mu Lan, apparently it can be seen as a peaceful story with a successful ending. However, essentially the story is ironical to Chinese patriarchal tradition. The question why Mu Lan needs to pretend as a man that she can be accepted by the society reveals disdain for Chinese women.
The third story of Kingston’s mother, Brave Orchid, presents the issue of disadvantages women faces. In addition, it also reveals the marginalization of being immigrants. The disadvantage of gender and the marginalization of immigrants push her mother, though she is the successful doctor, into the predicament.
The story of her sister, Moon Orchid, reflects the helpless of Chinese women. Though her sister’s has the patience and loyalty to her husband, the final response of her husband is just the indifferent rejection. The context of peremptory of Chinese men and helpless of Chinese women in the immigrant society highlights the story without talkative words.
The final section is from Kingston’s recollection to her releasing mind. Actually this part can be seen as Chinese women’s elasticity for fixing themselves to the Chinese tradition and the immigrant society.
Significance and Analysis:
In Maxine Hong Kingston’s book, The Women Warrior, men characters are intentionally absent. Obviously, the book, The Woman Warrior, is focus on female characters. Compared with other Asian American writers, Maxine Hong Kingston’s writing works put more emphasis on Chinese women figures. Diverse Chinese female character presented in myth, history, talk-stories, or biography shapes the Kingston’s self culture identity about both Chinese and American figures. Though the depicting of different women, the stories in the book presents one theme about Chinese women’s struggling in traditional society.
The first story, No Name Woman, presents the small conservative village with strict manners. The woman, who is not intentional to be pregnant, faces the punishment from not only her family but also the whole village. Those serious condemnations cause her death indirectly. The more significance of this story is that her family tends to hide the woman’s name just because of her shameful behavior. This story, No Name’s Woman symbolizes silent denouncement against the pitiless of Chinese traditional society.
The story of Fa Mu Lan, apparently it can be seen as a peaceful story with a successful ending. However, essentially the story is ironical to Chinese patriarchal tradition. The question why Mu Lan needs to pretend as a man that she can be accepted by the society reveals disdain for Chinese women.
The third story of Kingston’s mother, Brave Orchid, presents the issue of disadvantages women faces. In addition, it also reveals the marginalization of being immigrants. The disadvantage of gender and the marginalization of immigrants push her mother, though she is the successful doctor, into the predicament.
The story of her sister, Moon Orchid, reflects the helpless of Chinese women. Though her sister’s has the patience and loyalty to her husband, the final response of her husband is just the indifferent rejection. The context of peremptory of Chinese men and helpless of Chinese women in the immigrant society highlights the story without talkative words.
The final section is from Kingston’s recollection to her releasing mind. Actually this part can be seen as Chinese women’s elasticity for fixing themselves to the Chinese tradition and the immigrant society.
The Women Warrior punished in 1975 not just inspirits feminism of Chinese women but also help Chinese American find their cultural identity. The connection between past and present, legend and reality, or story and biography colors Kingston’s literature work. However, this technique of writing also accentuates the themes in the book. The introspection on Chinese women not merely arise the feminism for generation but bring the recollection for immigrant Chinese. To make a conclusion, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior is the significant literature work in Asian American history.
