The Woman Warrior: Maxine Hong Kingston's Girlhood Among Ghosts

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  1. yuen
  2. x_blueberry_x
  3. iris2211
  4. Mavido
  5. edsoulla
  6. tuenyic
  7. sindy927
  8. salinach
  9. wingszekan
  10. catmap

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Top 19.   Oct 2, 2004 8:12 AM

» yuen - No name woman

I would like to ask if the author put the blame of the adultery on Chinese culture?
Does she blame that the "no name woman" is the bad product of Chinese culture?
Can it be the personality of the "no name woman", being passive and pusillanimous, that has caused the adultery?

-- posted by yuen



Top 20.   Oct 2, 2004 7:59 PM

» x_blueberry_x - Re: characters

In response to characters posted by sundreams:

The "I" in the story refers to the author, and sometimes "I" have different imagination like becoming a warrior and so. And for Brave Orchid, she is "I" 's mother. She tells a lot of talk-stories with herself as the narrator. And Moon Orchid is Brave Orchid sister. I think these three characters are more noticeable in the story.

-- posted by x_blueberry_x



Top 21.   Oct 2, 2004 9:10 PM

» iris2211 - Re: no name woman

In response to no name woman posted by suryalaya:

The passage osuryalayaya is about the no name woman of the first chapter of The Woman Warrior. And in the passage there is a question which I found it very interesting, which is “is it right that Brave orchid, tells the story in traditional thinking of way and shdoesn’t’t give a clear ending so the author has to build her interpretation herself of her aunt’s story?”
I agreed that the Brave orchid is telliMaxineine her aunt’s story in a very traditional way, as the author’s mother is a tradition Chinese woman. Butdon’tn’t think her mom is giving an open end story. The aunt’s story is very clear. She is pregnant when his husband is not around so the villagers raid her house, so she commits suicide with her baby. As these causes huge shame to the family, so the father denies her and kept it as a family secret. It is a complete story with a tragic ending but with not much details of how and why the author’s aunt is pregnant.
Brave Orchid exaggerates how angry the villagers are and how violent they treats the livestock, in order to wMaxinexine not to commit this kind sin which will cause shame to the whole family. We can see how the scenario is being exaggerated from paragraph 4 to 8 in the first chapter.
FromMaxineaxine is told not to cause shame to the family, we can see the social condition at that time. The family bond is very strong in the past. If anyone in the family does something that is disapproved by traditions, the whole family has to bear the shame and the guilt. That is very different from the western country as a person is seeing as an individual in the west. Therefore, we can also see how harsh is the punishment is, when she is denies from the family.

-- posted by iris2211



Top 22.   Oct 2, 2004 9:29 PM

» Mavido - no name woman

I'd like to ask for the importance of the imageries in Kingston's "No name woman"...Did they all linked to theme or they have other meanings?

-- posted by Mavido



Top 23.   Oct 3, 2004 6:44 AM

» edsoulla - The Woman Warrior

In "White Tigers" and "Shaman",is Kingston using birds as a symbol of something? If yes,what message does she want to reveal through the birds?

-- posted by edsoulla



Top 24.   Oct 3, 2004 6:57 AM

» tuenyic - The Woman Warrior

1."Those of us in the first American generations have had to figure out how the invisible world the emigrants built around our childhoods fits in solid America."

What is the "invisible world the emigrants built"? How does living in this invisible world affect Maxine?

2. What are the gender implications for women who have a Chinese-American identity?

3. In what ways can The Woman Warrior be classified as an autobiography?

-- posted by tuenyic



Top 25.   Oct 3, 2004 7:23 AM

» sindy927 - The Woman Warrior

Here are some questions that come up in my mind when I read The Woman Warrior. Can somebody help, please????

1. What is the significance of the two symbols/imageries of "ghosts" and "talk-stories"???

2. How can I link up the 5 chapters together?

-- posted by sindy927



Top 26.   Oct 3, 2004 8:16 PM

» salinach - about woman warrior

what is the use of myth in the story?

-- posted by salinach



Top 27.   Oct 4, 2004 5:50 AM

» wingszekan - No name woman

How does Maxine think about her aunt? Jealous of her bravery to be adultery in Chinese society? Sympathize her or also thinks that she is a shame to her family?

-- posted by wingszekan



Top 28.   Nov 8, 2004 6:24 PM

» catmap - Re: The Woman Warrior

I have the same question. If someone could help that would be great.

-- posted by catmap



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