The Woman Warrior
In order to understand her relatives, and ultimately understandherself, Maxine Hong Kingston records the stories of her family in amusingand fanciful tales that point out the gap between the Chinese culture ofher mother, and the American culture of Maxine and her siblings.Kingston's story is more than simply the age-old contest between mother andgrowing daughter, it is a struggle to understand a culture she is part of,and yet has never known. Often, her mother's actions make no sense toMaxine, living a comfortable life in the U.S. She has no understanding ofhunger and want, and does not understand her mother's obsession with food,waste, and eating. She writes, "We'd have to face four- and five-day-oldleftovers until we ate it all. The squid eye would keep appearing atbreakfast and dinner until eaten. Sometimes brown masses sat on everydish. I have seen revulsion on the faces of visitors who've caught us atmeals" Kingston 108). Maxine reacts by rejecting her mother's love of allfood, and turns away from the stove as a method of silent protest againstthe things she does not understand. She notes, "Even now, unless I amhappy, I burn the food when I cook. I do not feed
With an Asian appearance, she willnever be fully American in America, and American in outlook, she will neverfully fit in Chinese culture. Early in the story, her mother tells her the tale of the "noname woman. The mythology and fantasy woven throughout this book help keep the gapbetween necessity and extravagance ever-present in the reader's mind, andhelp create a deeper understanding of just how wide the gap is betweenmother and daughter, and Chinese and American culture. She blames themythical and fantastic "ghosts" so prevalent in the novel for corruption,too, and the ghosts are always "non-Chinese. Just as Maxine does not understand manyof her mother's actions, Brave Orchid does not understand Maxine's seemingindifference to important Chinese customs, and she cannot bring herself toadapt to a world where her daughter is more proud of good grades than goodfood, noting sardonically, "You can't eat straight A's" (Kingston 54). Such vast differences betweencultures cannot help but breed misunderstanding and misconceptions, and thestories of "The Woman Warrior," as closely woven as silk, help point outthe great difference and the great difficulties in merging two such diversecultures. Her mother is consistentlyguided through her life by "necessity," an old-world concept born out ofhunger, poverty, and need. This mythology upholds thestrength of the Chinese character, and what they perceive as the weaknessof a much more opulent American society. In contrast, Maxine grows up in a verydifferent world guided by extravagance. Their lives have been spent in so much necessity, that they cannot enjoythe moment, as Maxine notes when she shares the anecdote about Chinese inphotos. As the book continues, it is clear to see Kingston is becomingmore enmeshed in her Chinese culture as she relates the stories of hermother and other female relatives. Kingston uses great imagery and Chinese folklore to help illustratethe differences between cultures while attempting to understand her femalerelatives. Their faces command relatives in foreign lands-'Sendmoney'-and posterity forever-'Put food in front of this picture'" (Kingston68). She can never rest, andher daughter simply does not understand why.
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