The narrator’s mother’s role in“No Name Women” and “White Tigers”is to serve as a protector. However, in “No Name Woman” the mother wants to protect the narrator from shame and in “White Tigers” the mother wants to protect the narrator from being inferior to men. In “No Name Woman”, the narrator’s mother is very fearful of society and being humiliated. Therefore, the mother tells the narrator about her (narrator) aunt who was humiliated by the village people because she (aunt) had a child out of wedlock. Also, the mother tells the narrator about how her (narrator) aunt committed suicide because of the shame. The narrator’s mother says, “‘Don’t let your father know what I told you. He denies her. Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her could happen to you. …show more content…
Don't humiliate us.
You wouldn't like to be forgotten as if you had never been born’” ( Kingston 385). The mother is very fearful that the narrator will do the same thing and bring shame to their family. In their culture, a woman is supposed to be very obedient and be traditional. In addition to that, in their culture if a woman makes mistake then, her whole family is to blame. Unfortunately, if someone does make a mistake they have to be afraid of what their society will do or say to them. For example, the villagers raided the aunt’s home, broke objects, killed animals, and caused embarrassment. Since the narrator started menstruating it causes the mother to worry because now the narrator can have a child out of wedlock Therefore, the mother wants to protect her daughter from the shame the aunt had to go through which caused the aunt to commit suicide and be forgotten by her
family. In, “White Tigers” the mother wants to protect the narrator from being inferior to men. In their male dominated culture, it is usual for women to become housewives and servants to their husbands. Therefore, the mother would tell stories about swordswomen to impress the narrator and show her that women are strong too. In order to encourage her to be strong in life, the narrator’s mother taught her about the swordswomen, Fa Mu Lan. The narrator remembers when her mother would chant about Fa Mu Lan and remember why her mother chanted about Fa Mu Lan. “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 warrior woman”(Kingston 10). The great reason of why the mother told the narrator about Fa Mu Lan is so, the narrator will have inspiration. Furthermore, the mother wanted the narrator to be inspired by a woman who broke gender barriers and did not let culture to decide her role in life. Instead of becoming a housewife, Fa Mu Lan became a warrior. Also, Fa Mu Lan was not just a woman, but a strong warrior who did not let her gender determine her strength.The mother wants the narrator to do great things in life instead of, becoming only a housewife. Without doubt, the mother wants to protect the narrator from stereotypes and imaginary boundaries created by culture. Overall, the role of the narrator's mother in these stories are to serve as a protector.
In a world where the vast majority of cultures are patriarchal, in response to traditional structures, women often find themselves at war in their minds, hearts and in their own actions. 'Yellow woman' and 'The story of an hour' are examples of how women struggle in a male domintaed society. In these two stories, the women fnd themselves wrestling with thoughts and emotions that our society consider unacceptable. The following statements ,ay be asked and considered of these women:
Abortion is the “hot” topic of this book that seems to surround the girls that were unfortunately lost with such procedures. Annie starts hiding the truth when she discovers she was pregnant. Mary was a witness to Annie’s experience and spoke to Deanne about what their school nurse said. “She said nobody had to know and we could get me an abortion right away and nobody would have to find out about it” (140). Annie hiding the truth from her parents did not do good when it came to the Women’s Medical Center, which was where Annie had her abortion, making mistakes and her parents not being able to do anything because of the truth that was being hidden. When the truth was discovered it was already too late, and Annie had died from a septic
The anniversary girl used to have “a mother, real mother, but the mother had to go away"(3). The anniversary girl lost her mother to another concentration camp and even if the night sitter tries to fill that position she can never be her real mother. The anniversary girl lacks basic necessities because the camps do not have“any soap”, “water to wash in", or "any toothbrushes or toothpaste"(4). The anniversary girl"did not have any dresses except the little skirt and pullover"(2). The anniversary girl lacked luxuries, but “they are not crying because they don’t have something to eat. They are crying because their mothers have gone away.”(3) The anniversary girl has nothing, but the thing she desires most is her mother because she needs her mother’s affection to feel safe and secure despite the lack of necessities. The night sitter explains that “the little girl became my little girl because her mother went away”(3). Even though the anniversary girl’s mother’s love can not be replaced she still needs someone to help her feel safe. The anniversary girl helps convey the message that even when you have nothing and are starving you still yearn for the love of a mother more than anything
First of all, Shoeshoe believes that she cannot speak out nor stand up for herself because in her culture, people find it disrespectful as a woman to have such a confident attitude. She also feels obligated to stay quiet almost all the time since males are characterized to be the louder population. In their country, abortion is legal so the men have control over a child 's birth. If a woman accidentally gets pregnant before marriage, she may get an abortion to not disappoint her parents and still be able to manage their reputation.
In “Hills Like White Elephants” and “The Story of an Hour”, the woman in each story imprisons in the domestic sphere. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, the woman in this story conflicts between keeping the baby or getting abortion although the relationship with her boyfriend would not improve as he said. In “The Story of an Hour”, even though Louise Mallard, an intelligent, independent woman understands that she should grieve for Brently, her husband and worry for her future, she cannot help herself from rejoice at her newfound freedom. The author of this story, Kate Chopin suggests that even with a happy marriage, the loss of freedom and the restraint are the results that cannot be avoid.
The second person point of view helps the reader to connect with the girl in this story. It shows the reader a better understanding of this character and how she is being raised to be a respectable woman. This point of view also gives us an insight on the life of women and shows us how they fit into their society. Through this point of view, the reader can also identify the important aspects of the social class and culture. The daughter tries to assert a sense of selfhood by replying to the mother but it is visible that the mother is being over whelming and constraining her daughter to prepare her for
Kingston’s mother takes many different approaches to reach out to her daughter and explain how important it is to remain abstinent. First, she tells the story of the “No Name Woman”, who is Maxine’s forgotten aunt, “’ Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her can happen to you. Don’t humiliate us. You wouldn’t like to be forgotten as if you had never been born”’ (5), said Maxine’s mother. Kingston’s aunt was murdered for being involved in this situation. The shame of what Kingston’s aunt brought to the family led them to forget about her. This particular talk-story is a cautionary tale to deter Kingston from having premarital sex and to instill in her fear of death and humiliation if she violates the lesson her mother explained to her. Kingston is able to get pregnant but with the lecture her mother advises her with keeps her obedient. Brave Orchid tells her this story to open her eyes to the ways of Chinese culture. The entire family is affected by one’s actions. She says, “‘Don’t humiliate us’” (5) because the whole village knew about the pregnant aunt and ravaged the family’s land and home because of it. Maxine tries asking her mother in-depth questions about this situation, but her m...
In the literary, Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros we are able to analyze the short story through a feminist perspective, due to the feminist critical critical theory. A literary criticism has at least three primary purposes in developing critical thinking skills, enabling us to understand, analyze, and judgement works of literature, of any type of literature. It resolves any questions or problem within a literary work that we do not understand from merely reading the literature. Look into multiple alternative outcomes to the literature and decide which the better outcome in the end is. Form our own judgements, our thoughts about what we feel from the literature. By analyzing in depth Sandra Cisneros as an author, we can see her as
Kingston, Maxine Hong. "No Name Woman." 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. 4th Edition. Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 227-39. Print.
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
Although she got pregnant by someone other than her husband they did not look at the good and joyful moments the child could bring. Having a baby can be stressful, especially being that the village was not doing so great. The baby could have brought guilt, anger, depression, and loneliness to the aunt, family, and village lifestyle because having a baby from someone other than your husband was a disgrace to the village, based on the orientalism of women. Society expected the women to do certain things in the village and to behave a particular way. The author suggests that if her aunt got raped and the rapist was not different from her husband by exploiting "The other man was not, after all, much different from her husband. They both gave orders; she followed. ‘If you tell your family, I 'll beat you. I 'll kill you. Be, here again, next week." In her first version of the story, she says her aunt was a rape victim because "women in the old China did not choose with who they had sex with." She vilifies not only the rapist but all the village men because, she asserts, they victimized women as a rule. The Chinese culture erred the aunt because of her keeping silent, but her fear had to constant and inescapable. This made matters worse because the village was very small and the rapist could have been someone who the aunt dealt with on a daily basis. Maxine suggests that "he may have been a vendor
The attempts the women tries so to be in vain till the end when it over boils. The women set herself free in the only way she knew how. Sometimes when people are in tight situation, or when their goals are being blocked, they react even when it doesn’t make sense. The women reacted to being closed up and oppressed and, to her family, it didn’t make
Kingston’s “No Name Woman” is a story that revolves around morals, society and family expectations, and women role in society. Kingston writes the story of her aunt that committed suicide in China and she has never heard of until her mother spoke of her once. The purpose of Kingston story is to show women role in China and how women were trap in their society.
...aughter missed the true meaning of what her mother had been trying to convey. Holding her own femininity safe, she has rendered herself barren, unable to have a daughter of her own not because of infertility but because of fear. Sentence ten and eleven reveal the sad state of confusion the daughter finds herself in. She neither understands what has happened nor does she see a way out of her grandmother's house.
To me, the word “mother” is very sacred and special. Mother is a woman who always protects, takes good care of other people, makes sacrifices for her children no matter what happens. In the story, the main character, Ladydi, was born in a village in which all the beautiful girls were kidnapped and turned into prostitutes. To save them from the human traffickers, all the mothers in the village dressed their girls as boys, using charcoal to draw on their children’s faces so that they looked ugly. They also dug a hole in the backyard to hide all the girls whenever the human traffickers came. Mothers in the story and mothers in my