The Woman Warrior Critique In The Woman Warrior, the author, Maxine Hong Kingston, uses stories that focus on five female characters. These stories are used to depict her experience as a Chinese-American and the cultural aspects of both her past and present. Kingston uses themes, motifs and talk-stories to deliver her purpose to the audience. Her use of literary or stylistic devices in the book reveal an in depth portrayal of Chinese-American society. Each of the female characters of Kingston’s stories comes from talk-stories that her mother shares with her. The first story is called the “No-Name Woman.” The character is the author’s aunt who kills both herself and her baby by jumping down the family well. The aunt was never brought up in
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One occurring motif in the book is ghosts. These ghosts can represent many things in Kingston’s stories. The ghosts that Kingston describes in “Shaman” are the Americans, while ghosts can also represent Moon Orchid or the “No Name Aunt”. Unlike her mother who is not affected by ghosts, Kingston presents herself like a ghost, insecure about her cultural identity. Another topic that reappears in the book is the struggle of Chinese- American culture. Throughout the book, the talk stories address the effort made by Kingston to try to fit into the Chinese-American culture. When her family first arrives to “the Gold Mountain”, they feel alienated from other people, which is why the non-Chinese people are addressed as “ghosts.” In “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe”, Kingston talks about how silent she was when she first spoke English. “Silence” is a reoccurring theme in the book. The first phrase of the book immediately addresses the importance of not questioning and accepting. The theme of silence is connected to the theme of expression. In “Shaman”, Kingston realizes the strength of words. She states that “the reporting is the vengeance-not the beheading, not the gutting, but the word”
One occurring motif in the book is ghosts. These ghosts can represent many things in Kingston’s stories. The ghosts that Kingston describes in “Shaman” are the Americans, while ghosts can also represent Moon Orchid or the “No Name Aunt”. Unlike her mother who is not affected by ghosts, Kingston presents herself like a ghost, insecure about her cultural identity. Another topic that reappears in the book is the struggle of Chinese- American culture. Throughout the book, the talk stories address the effort made by Kingston to try to fit into the Chinese-American culture. When her family first arrives to “the Gold Mountain”, they feel alienated from other people, which is why the non-Chinese people are addressed as “ghosts.” In “A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe”, Kingston talks about how silent she was when she first spoke English. “Silence” is a reoccurring theme in the book. The first phrase of the book immediately addresses the importance of not questioning and accepting. The theme of silence is connected to the theme of expression. In “Shaman”, Kingston realizes the strength of words. She states that “the reporting is the vengeance-not the beheading, not the gutting, but the word”