In the novel The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hing Kingston writes about the Chinese stories that her mother told her growing up. Her mother tells her all of these stories so that Kingston does not make poor life choices. These stories focus on the Chinese tradition, but Kingston wants to focus more on the American tradition. The first two stories that are told in the novel have an impact on Kingston’s life and the way she makes choices in her life according to the Chinese tradition.
The first talk-story we read about is about Kingston’s aunt, but she is referred to as No-Name Woman because she is not spoken about in their family because of a decision she made in life. Her mother is telling her this story because Kingston is starting to menstruate, and she does not want her hormones and emotions to get in her way of making a poor life decision. Kingston wrote, “Whenever she had to warn us about a life, my mother told stories that ran like this one, a story to grow up on” (Kingston p.5). Instead of just having a talk about a certain situation, Kingston’s mother used horrific stories like the one about No-Name Woman so it would have a different effect on her. Stories like this one can haunt a person if it is told aggressively like Kingston’s mother did, especially since she emphasized the pigsty that the villagers left after breaking into the house and killing all of their livestock. After this story, I think that Kingston is cautious about some of her life decisions, especially after she gets married. In addition, Kingston also is torn between wanting to live the Chinese tradition or both American Chinese traditions. Her mother obviously wants her to live the Chinese tradition because of the stories that she keeps telling her, but they live in America now, so Kingston wants to also live the American tradition. Kingston described, “Walking erect (knees straight, toes pointed forward, not pigeon-toed, which is Chinese feminine) and speaking in an inaudible voice, I have tried to turn myself American-feminine” (Kingston p.11). Kingston described both the Chinese way and then the American way because she wants to fit in with everyone else, but the stories that her mother is telling her are affecting the way she wants to live. Kingston also wrote, “If I made myself American pretty…” (Kingston p.12). She is again comparing the American to the Chinese tradition and it is making it hard for her to make decisions and it is impacting her way of living.
The second talk-story is about a woman warrior named Fa Mu Lan, a heroic warrior. When we read this story, Kingston is dreaming/living this story personally as her mother tells it to her. This story impacts her a lot more than the first one because she wants to be different like the Fa Mu Lan, she does not want to be the typical traditional Chinese woman. Kingston said, “I did not plan ever to have a husband” (Kingston p.47). She did not want a husband like her mother wants her to have. She wants to be independent and strong like a woman warrior. She does not like to do traditional women’s roles like cook and cleaning. Whenever Kingston would bring up something other than being a wife her mother would change the subject and talk about something different. Here is an example from when Kingston and her mother were talking, “My American life has been such a disappointment. ‘I got straight A’s Mama.’ ‘Let me tell you a true story…” (Kingston p.45). Her mother did not care that she got straight A’s because it was only for the good of her future husband’s family. Her mother wanted her to focus so she could succeed on become a great wife to her future husband, but like said before, Kingston does not want a husband. Kingston wanted to make her American life work, so she was different than the original Chinese woman. She wanted to be different like Fa Mu Lan and become that woman warrior that is different than everyone else.
Kingston wrote about stories that her mother told her growing up to help her make good decisions and these stories impacted some of her life choices. Kingston had some tough choices to make throughout her life and impacting it was making the Chinese tradition choice and the American tradition choice. Both had huge impacts on her life because she did not want to disappoint her mother; however, she also wanted to be different and not be the traditional Chinese woman.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you think that the title The Woman Warrior was from Fa Mu Lan or the person that Kingston is going to be?
- Do you think that Kingston will follow the Chinese tradition, American tradition, or both? Why?
Work Cited
Kingston, M. H. (1985). The woman warrior. Vintage International.
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First off, I loved how detailed and expressive all of your evidence was! I felt like I left your blog post having a lot more knowledge of the novel than I had going in.
I found it very interesting how every time you brought up something Kingston wanted, or dreamed of, it always seemed like her Mother was pushing for the opposite. Especially with Fa Mu Lan, the warrior we are told about in the second chapter, Mu Lan really resonates with Kingston and seems to be a lead role model for the proceeding chapters. Unfortunately, it seems her mother would like the exact opposite for her. Her mom wants her to become a typical Chinese woman who is low spoken, cooks and cleans, and marries young. She also tells the story of the “Unnamed Woman,” strictly to scare a young Kingston out of having potential sex with a man before marriage.
While these sound like terrible things to all of us, who where brought up in a completely different world were a lot of these things are normal, and sometimes praised. We have to remember the kind of world Kingston’s Mother must have been brought up in, to see these kinds of things happen first hand. She is telling Kingston all of these things, in her mind, for Kingston’s own benefit. So, ironically, it is actually her Mothers love for her that untimely reinforces all of the gender stereotypes and “old world” ideas in the novel so far.
Hannah, I liked the quotes that you chose to use in your paragraph talking about the Chinese and American traditions. While reading, both of those quotes also stood out to me. I think Kingston will follow the American tradition, but will still value some Chinese tradition. Ever since she moved to America, she has been able to see the difference between how females are treated in China and America. In China, females were considered useless and people would actually be shamed if they had daughters. Kingston said, “I minded that the emigrant villagers shook their heads at my sister and me. ‘One girl–and another girl,’ they said, and made our parents ashamed to take us out together” (Kingston 46). Chinese tradition favored males very much over females, and Kingston did not like that. American tradition is not horribly like that. Yes, there are flaws in the workforce that Kingston really disliked. However, Kingston was exposed to so many gruesome things growing up that is much worse than an ignorant business man. Therefore, I believe she will follow the American tradition, but still keep a little bit of her Chinese traditions with her out of respect for her childhood and her parents.
Hi Hannah, I really loved your blog post and believe you put so much time and thought into it. I really enjoyed reading your insights on the text and the quotes that you used. To answer your first question I feel that Fa Mu Lan is a model for Kingston. Kingston wants to be this strong powerful and independent women but her mother doesn’t want her to be that way. To answer the second question because I believe it ties into the first one, Kingston wants to adapt to the American culture because shes allowed to be herself. However, she is still in her mothers house and knows she must stick to her culture. However, like Fa Mu Lan Kingston finds this as an opportunity to yes still have aspects of her culture but she also wants to embrace this new culture of being an American, of being free.
Hi Hannah, I really enjoyed your blog and thought you outlined it very well. I like how you took the time to talk about the two stories and explained them both with evidence that truly supported your claim. As for the question of whether the title The Woman Warrior is from Fa Mu Lan or who Kingston is going to be, well I believe that it is both. Fa Mu Lan in Kingston’s memories was the woman warrior. She says how she remembers singing about Fa Mu Lan with her mother when she was a child and remembers the stories about Fa Mu Lan. Kingston also wrote “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 woman warrior” (Kingston 20). So her mother tells her many stories in which are meant to be lessons for her to learn from, but tells her the story of Fa Mu Lan, which goes against the stories she’s been telling. Kingston’s mom teaches through stories, but what was she trying to teach in telling this story. To me it seems as if her mother was almost giving her a chance. You must either be Fa Mu Lan, the woman warrior, or you must be like every other traditional Chinese woman. Fa Mu Lan is the woman warrior, and Kingston believes that she has to be like Fa Mu Lan, meaning she must become the woman warrior.
Hello Hannah,
I like how you started off with the post the first introduction is really intriguing because it shows us that there is some conflict between the two. Her mother is all about Chinese tradition and she wants to explore the American tradition but also has some Chinese customs. No matter what she wants to do with her life now, she always returns to the Chinese tradition. The first two stories stated how she would always go back to how her mom does it. She does these things because she is getting conflicted with her mother and her mother doesn’t want her to forget what the Chinese traditions are. I really like how you touched up on how she came to America and she noticed how Chinese women were treated or valued in America more than in China. In China, Women are treated with no respect and are useless and unworthy to do stuff, but in America, they are treated better and with respect. “Walking erect (knees straight, toes pointed forward, not pigeon-toed, which is Chinese-feminine) and speaking in an inaudible voice, I have tried to turn myself American-feminine (1.31).” This quote I think means that Kingston feels defeated by different ideas of females are treated in America and china. I believe she will follow the Chinese Tradition because she knows how important it is to her mom and to her mom’s culture, She wants to feel like shes at home and this is how she does.
Hey Hannah, Great post. I love your insight about the characters in the book. To answer your first question, I think she will follow both Chinese and American tradition. To start, her mother is a very big influence on her choices. Her mother, no matter how hard she tries, she cannot get away from chinese culture. She always returns to her life.But, because of the stories her mother has told her her whole life, I believe Kingston will continue to follow the chinese tradition because of how much it means to her mother and her family and her culture. Also there is a danger outside of their culture “Don’t let your father know I told you.” (Kingston page 10) There is danger outside of the safe knit community if she leaves.
Hi Hannah, I really like your blog post. Especially how you pointed out that the book of The Warrior Woman by Maxine Kingston was a bunch of stories within a story. The book itself is about Maxine trying to find some sense of identity as a Chinese American. The stories are the ones she grew up hearing from her mother.“Whenever she had to warn us about a life, my mother told stories that ran like this one, a story to grow up on” (Kingston p.5). You mentioned how “Her mother tells her all of these stories so that Kingston does not make poor life choices.” It reminds me of the TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called “The Danger of a Single Story.” Adichie talks about how she grew up reading British books and how that influenced her to write books about foreigners. “What this demonstrates, I think, is how impressionable and vulnerable we are in the face of a story, particularly as children. Because all I had read were books in which characters were foreign, I had become convinced that books, by their very nature, had to have foreigners in them, and had to be about things with which I could not personally identify.” (The Dangers of a Single Story Ted talk, Adichie, 1:36) Both Adichie and Kingston are aware of how stories shaped their identities.