“Daring” (166) and “noisy” (166) personalities are of high value in the United States. By sharp contrast, the expectation of silence and secrecy govern Chinese culture. In Maxine Hong Kingston’s memoir entitled The Woman Warrior, Kingston illustrates a childhood spent caught in between the two dissenting communities; one of solid America, and the other of the invisible world of stories her family knows and retells. The author uses the two sets of imposing values to show that those faced with harshly outlined societal expectations often grapple with developing an individual voice, causing internalized discontent. This struggle eventually brings a reconciling of the established societies, and a discovery of their own powers of expression. In …show more content…
a world where a communal system is valued, a person who does not observe its norms ordinarily feels the necessity of acquiescence and struggles to express a sense of individuality. Kingston illustrates the narrator’s lack of cultural understanding to highlight that conflicting cultures create communal pressures that prompt people to lose themselves in a shape molded by society. When the narrator asks about her mother’s talk story, her mother responds with the Chinese saying that “‘A ready tongue is an evil’” (164). The word “ready” suggests a fully prepared motion, words simply waiting to be heard. The Chinese despise those who speak freely, themselves only articulating ideas when absolutely necessary. Thus, the narrator’s exposure to Chinese customs through the influence of her own mother, heavily impacts her own desires. In order to fit into the mold of her heritage, Maxine bites down on her ready tongue and tries to continue on in silence, the Chinese way. However her mother’s lesson creates a disparity between the her Chinese upbringing, and the life she witnesses at American school. When asked to speak, only “The barest whisper with little squeaks come out” (166) of her mouth. The word “barest” evokes a sense of invisibility and implies an internal concept that cannot be expressed with a firm assertion. The bold words and well-phrased sentences Kingston can hear so clearly in her mind, turn to imperceptible whispers in the ears of her surrounding, more zealous American counterparts. With this knowledge, the author then realizes that Americans hold those who are vocal in high esteem, and alienate those that do not fit the outspoken ideal. Because of this criterion, the characteristics that years of meticulous Chinese breeding crafts for Maxine does not have a place in this foreign society. Henceforth, she desperately searches for a voice that conforms to both customs, neglecting and suppressing her own voice in the process. Furthering the fact that whilst entrapped by two incompatible forces, one uncompromisingly forfeits their own sense of expression in favor of acquiescing to the paradigm that encompasses them. The author utilizes her own tribulations to accentuate the fact that those presented with colliding belief systems wrestle with their internalized longings and external pressures, and ultimately respond with the reconciliation of both.
As Maxine Hong Kingston plays after school with the silent Chinese girl, their innocent games turn to vindictive bullying as Maxine aims to physically force the girl to speak. Finally, “sounds did come out of her mouth, sobs, chokes, noises that were almost words” (178). The word “almost” implies an in between area, something that is neither this nor that. For the author, this lack of distinction symbolises her own ambiguity in terms of her place in two separate communities, and consequently also embodies her search for a resolution to the duality of her identity. The clash of customs that controls her, ultimately causes a violent response portrayed through the tormenting of the quintessential Asian girl. The harassment of the silent girl reflects the surfacing of Maxine’s internalized rejection of the hold both cultures have on her. For the author, the other girl epitomizes all that she abhors about Chinese culture; the way the Chinese appreciate the silence, and the secrecy that it maintains. Not only that, her softer, quieter peer also delineates all that she resents about herself, especially her inability to conform to what she believes to be, the more powerful American society, despite her best efforts at speaking louder. Susan Cain corroborates the narrator’s needing to adapt without the obstruction of “a double consciousness- part Asian and part American- with each side calling the other into question” (Cain 198). Maxine Hong Kingston’s desire to satisfy the warring sides of her personality manifests in the attack on the mute girl, revealing that the weight of a collective’s standards ultimately culminates in a direct challenge of the restraints placed on
her. The author employs the outcome of the narrator’s struggle to further the notion that when facing a rift between opposing cultures, contriving a harmony between them results in the eruptive expression of one’s individuality. Kingston recounts the talk story of the kidnapped Chinese poetess and her life amongst the barbarians that abducted her. Because they cannot communicate, the desolation wrought by loneliness weaves itself into a song sung by Ts’ai Yen the poetess. The effect of the music on the barbarians is extensive. Despite the incapacity for understanding her language, the primitive sorrow she conveys through her haunting song allows them to truly hear her as “it translated well” (207). The word “translated” suggests the reaching of complete and utter understanding by all parties regardless of the language. Much like the barbarians and the meaning of the song that resonates with them, the author inevitably comprehends that although the two communities each imposing conflicting standards are irrevocably divergent, they are also providing balance when together. Once the yin and yang-like nature of an extroverted America and an introverted Asia makes itself clear to Maxine Hong Kingston, she begins to live a life unbounded by their grips, finally interpreting their presence as a guiding force rather than a destructive one. Thus, she uncovers her own personality through the powers of her expression, molding her unique place in the worlds that previously seemed foreign to her. Maxine Hong Kingston’s memoir Woman Warrior characterizes her struggle to outline the certainty that the growth of external pressure from varying customs prompts a subdued individual in a world that values the community mindset to eventually develop and cement one’s individualism.
Soon after Papa’s arrest, Mama relocated the family to the Japanese immigrant ghetto on Terminal Island. For Mama this was a comfort in the company of other Japanese but for Jeanne it was a frightening experience. It was the first time she had lived around other people of Japanese heritage and this fear was also reinforced by the threat that her father would sell her to the “Chinaman” if she behaved badly. In this ghetto Jeanne and he ten year old brother were teased and harassed by the other children in their classes because they could not speak Japanese and were already in the second grade. Jeanne and Kiyo had to avoid the other children’s jeers. After living there for two mo...
Within Megan H. Mackenzie’s essay, “Let Women Fight” she points out many facts about women serving in the U.S. military. She emphasizes the three central arguments that people have brought up about women fighting in the military. The arguments she states are that women cannot meet the physical requirements necessary to fight, they simply don’t belong in combat, and that their inclusion in fighting units would disrupt those units’ cohesion and battle readiness. The 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act built a permanent corps of women in all the military departments, which was a big step forward at that time. Although there were many restrictions that were put on women, an increase of women in the U.S. armed forces happened during
In the novel The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston uses ghosts to represent a battle between American and Chinese cultures. The two cultures have different views of what a ghost is. The Chinese believe the ghost spirits may be of people dead or alive. Chinese culture recognizes foreigners and unfamiliar people as ghosts because, like American ghosts, they are mysterious creatures of the unknown. Americans view ghosts as spirits of the dead that either help or haunt people. American ghosts may or may not be real. There spirits are there but physical appearance is a mystery.
Chang Rae-Lee, author of "Mute in an English-Only World," moved to America from Korea when he was only six or seven years old. He adopted the English language quickly, as most children do, but his mother continued to struggle. "For her, the English language…usually meant trouble and a good dose of shame and sometimes real hurt" (Lee 586). It is obvious, though, that his mother was persistent in her attempt to learn English and deal with her limited culture experience, as Lee accounts of her using English flash cards, phrase books and a pocket workbook illustrated with stick-people figures. Lee sympathetically connects with the audience through his mother, and forces them to make a personal conclusion when he ends the article with a lingering question in the reader’s mind; what if they had seen her struggling? Would they have sat back and watched or stepped up to help?
Imagination is a quality that everyone has, but only some are capable of using. Maxine Hong Kingston wrote “No Name Woman” using a great deal of her imagination. She uses this imagination to give a story to a person whose name has been forgotten. A person whose entire life was erased from the family’s history. Her story was not written to amuse or entertain, but rather to share her aunts’ story, a story that no one else would ever share. The use of imagination in Kingston’s creative nonfiction is the foundation of the story. It fills the gaps of reality while creating a perfect path to show respect to Kingston’s aunt, and simultaneously explains her disagreement with the women in her culture.
Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of America, but instead as an alien, outsider, and the like. Therefore, Asian Americans and other immigrants feel the need to mask their true identity and imitate the native language as an attempt to fit into the mold that makes up what people would define how a native of America is like. Throughout the novel, Henry Park attempts to mask his Korean accent in hopes to blend in as an American native. Chang-Rae Lee suggests that a person who appears to have an accent is automatically marked as someone who is not native to America. Language directly reveals where a person is native of and people can immediately identify one as an alien, immigrant, or simply, one who is not American. Asian Americans as well as other immigrants feel the need to try and hide their cultural identity in order to be deemed as a native of America in the eyes of others. Since one’s language gives away the place where one is native to, immigrants feel the need to attempt to mask their accents in hopes that they sound fluent ...
The story tells that the girl did not speak for three years in school. During the three years, she covered her school art paintings with black paint. She painted black over houses and flowers and suns and she made a layer of chalk on top when she drew on the blackboard. This black paint shows the symbolism of wanting to cover up and hide herself from the challenges of her new life. The artwork represented her inner self and the black the covering she felt was necessary in her current world. Note that the blindness and the darkness were like the artwork she drew (her true self) and painted over each with black paint. She imagined pulling the curtain or opening the door to what was beneath. Kingston described fear feeling and strong emotions through the painting. It was deep, dark and helpfulness. To the Americans at school who only saw the black, she was being stubborn, depressed, psychotic maybe, or developmentally challenged. Moreover, in the American school, she did not know that she was supposed to talk. When she realised that she had to talk in school to pass kindergarten she became more miserable. Reading out loud was easier because she didn’t have to make up the words. Simple words like “I” were hard because in Chinese “I” had seven strokes but only 3 strokes in English. It was a hard concept to understand. She was punished for not saying them right which added to her insecurities. The girl liked the Negro students because they treated her well and thought she spoke well. They protected her from mean Japanese kids who hit her and chased her and called her
“Whenever she had to warn us about life, my mother told stories that ran like this one, a story to grow up on. She tested our strengths to establish realities”(5). In the book “The Woman Warrior,” Maxine Kingston is most interested in finding out about Chinese culture and history and relating them to her emerging American sense of self. One of the main ways she does so is listening to her mother’s talk-stories about the family’s Chinese past and applying them to her life.
Oftentimes the children of immigrants to the United States lose the sense of cultural background in which their parents had tried so desperately to instill within them. According to Walter Shear, “It is an unseen terror that runs through both the distinct social spectrum experienced by the mothers in China and the lack of such social definition in the daughters’ lives.” This “unseen terror” is portrayed in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club as four Chinese women and their American-born daughters struggle to understand one another’s culture and values. The second-generation women in The Joy Luck Club prove to lose their sense of Chinese values, becoming Americanized.
Amy Tan’s ,“Mother Tongue” and Maxine Kingston’s essay, “No Name Woman” represent a balance in cultures when obtaining an identity in American culture. As first generation Chinese-Americans both Tan and Kingston faced many obstacles. Obstacles in language and appearance while balancing two cultures. Overcoming these obstacles that were faced and preserving heritage both women gained an identity as a successful American.
Chinese Cinderella is a compelling autobiography by Adeline Yen Mah, a struggling child, yearning for acceptance and love in her dysfunctional family. In this novel of “a ‘secret story of an unwanted daughter”, Adeline presents her stepmother Niang, as a violent, impatient, biased, domineering and manipulative demon. Analysing the language used by the author, we can discover how effectively she does this.
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston portrays the complicated relationship between her and her mother, while growing up as a Chinese female in an American environment. She was surrounded by expectations and ideals about the inferior role that her culture imposed on women. In an ongoing battle with herself and her heritage, Kingston struggles to escape limitations on women that Chinese culture set. However, she eventually learns to accept both cultures as part of who she is. I was able to related to her as a Chinese female born and raised in America. I have faced the stereotypes and expectations that she had encountered my whole life and I too, have learned to accept both my Chinese and American culture.
In Maxine Hong Kingston’s autobiographical piece “Silence”, she describes her inability to speak English when she was in grade school. Kindergarten was the birthplace of her silence because she was a Chinese girl attending an American school. She was very embarrassed of her inability, and when moments came up where she had to speak, “self-disgust” filled her day because of that squeaky voice she possessed (422). Kingston notes that she never talked to anyone at school for her first year of silence, except for one or two other Chinese kids in her class. Maxine’s sister, who was even worse than she was, stayed almost completely silent for three years. Both went to the same school and were in the same second grade class because Maxine had flunked kindergarten.
The patriarchal repression of Chinese women is illustrated by Kingston's story of No Name Woman, whose adulterous pregnancy is punished when the villagers raid the family home. Cast out by her humiliated family, she births the baby and then drowns herself and her child. Her family exile her from memory by acting as if "she had never been born" (3) -- indeed, when the narrator's mother tells the story, she prefaces it with a strict injunction to secrecy so as not to upset the narrator's father, who "denies her" (3). By denying No Name Woman a name and place in history, leaving her "forever hungry," (16) the patriarchy exerts the ultimate repression in its attempt to banish the transgressor from history. Yet her ghost continues to exist in a liminal space, remaining on the fringes of memory as a cautionary tale passed down by women, but is denied full existence by the men who "do not want to hear her name" (15).
It is as though Asian Americans are succumbing to the thought that America is the only place to be and that they should be grateful to live here. On the other hand, keeping silent due to pressures from the white population means being shunned by the members of the Asian American population. I disagree with Chin’s assertion that “years of apparent silence have made us accomplices” to the makers of stereotypes (Chin 1991, xxxix). I agree with Hongo’s argument that the Chin viewpoint “limits artistic freedom” (Hongo 4). Declaring that those writers who do not argue stereotypes of the good, loyal, and feminine Chinese man or the submissive female, are in any way contributing to or disagreeing with them is ridiculous.