Woman Warrior Analysis

Kingston struggles to express her ideas and beliefs rationally because she never had a teacher, which in turn makes her feel weak and powerless in comparison to the knowledge and self control of the Woman Warrior. While the Woman Warrior lives with the old people they teach her many lessons. One of those lessons is on self control and how to make the right decision that is beneficial to the majority of people. Kingston describes the Woman Warrior’s struggle to control her emotions when her loved ones are drafted, and get revenge on the Baron. She says,“I plunged my hand into the gourd, making a grab for his thick throat … ‘Why can’t I go down there now and help them?’ I cried… ‘No’ the old man said… ‘You’d get hurt for nothing’ … ‘You will …show more content…
This is an important lesson for the Woman Warrior because it teaches her when it is the right moment to act, and how to be certain she is making a decision that will help the greatest number of people. If the Woman Warrior had returned to her village at that time, she would have only been able to save a few people, rather than the hundreds she has the potential to aid. Thanks to the discipline of the old people, the Woman Warrior is able to become even more powerful by controlling her emotions. In Kingston’s real life however, she is incapable of rationally deciding how to express her opinions and emotions. For example, she tries to protest the expectations set on women by being as un-feminine as possible and not doing any cooking or cleaning. She lets her house become filthy, and has to eat at other people's houses because of this. Often she exaggerates her message, as shown above, or she fails to stand up for herself regarding her boss’s racism. Kingston describes why she thinks she acts this way, “I haven’t done as well as the the swordswoman did; after all, no bird called me, no wise old people tortured