Metaphors In The Woman Warrior

When first receiving the rubric for The Woman Warrior writing assignment, I was appalled. Not that the book didn’t peek my interest and prove fascinating. I just loathed the idea. This book to me is a giant metaphor wrapped in metaphorical bacon. The problem I face with metaphors isn’t that I don’t understand them; I believe metaphors are more personal than we give them credit. I know that the way I perceive a certain metaphor is totally, indisputably and irrevocably different than the way someone else understands the exact same metaphor. After receiving this assignment, I couldn’t fathom how I was supposed to break down this book in five different ways and explain to you why and what it meant to me as though it was a science. I was slighted by this. Quite honestly, I resented you for it the moment I read the …show more content…
Knowing the pain first hand, I can tell you it isn’t. With someone’s death, say its accidental, there are always those dreaded last words followed by regrets and memories. With suicide, you get all of that with a side of blame. Was it your fault? What could you have said? If only you had been there. My brother tried to hang himself and spent days paralyzed, unable to speak, move, or breathe on his own. On his last days, he was hooked up to life support and was more machine than boy. My brother went through a life of sadness and felt his it was worthless. That isn’t painless. It’s just easier to cope if we believe differently. I found this tale sad mostly because they pretended that the woman never existed. As though she had done something so wrong she didn’t deserve to be alive. I can’t find peace in that and I understand why Maxine couldn’t either. “”You must not tell anyone,” My mother said,” what I am about to tell you. In china, your father has a sister who killed herself. She jumped into the family well. We say that your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born.” The Woman Warrior page