No Name Woman
In the essay "No Name Woman" by Maxine Hong Kingston, she explores the life of her aunt, piecing her life and her aunt's together to find meaning and to try and figure out a connection between her life and her aunt's. Having been told the story of her aunt, Kingston realizes that there was a point to why her mother has told her about her aunt. Maybe it was because her mother didn't want the same to happen to her and she used the story as an example, a lesson to be learned or her mother wanted to establish a feeling of support to show that she is behind her daughter all the way. Kingston's mother cared so much for her that she didn't want her to end up in a situation similar to the aunt's.Kingston comes up with different scenarios for her aunt and relates her aunt's story to her own life. In this passage, "If I want to learn what clothes my aunt wore, whether flashy or ordinary, I would have to begin, "Remember Father's drowned-in-the-well sister?" I cannot ask that. My mother has told me once and for all useful parts. She will add nothing unless powered by Necessity, a riverbank that guides her life."(325) Kingston realizes that she has no clue about what her aunt was really like. All she knows is that h
" (327) In this passage Kingston speculates that her aunt had feelings bottled up inside her and as time passed on she could no longer hold her feelings inside and so followed her heart. She is also trying to figure out why her aunt has this big impact on her life when she barely knows anything about her. By speculating different versions of the aunt's story, Kingston creates a sense of understanding of the possible stories of the aunt. Just watch their passing like cherry blossoms. Living here in America Kingston had to "establish realities," she had to act a certain way depending on the environment she was in. Whether she was in school or at home Kingston was expected to act a certain way, either by her parents or peers. Knowing that Kingston doesn't have any answers about her aunt's life creates a drive to search deeper within her family's history to find the truth. Chinese communication was loud, public. The aunt was distant from the rest of the family according to Kingston. She is portraying her aunt as being this woman of love and that the only way her aunt could have been happy was to go with her emotions. " (327) In this passage Kingston is trying to imply that when her aunt was married she was expected to keep a suitable manner, but when her brothers had to leave her attitude changed and she did things in her own way. A complete moment of total attention is due everyone alike. Children and lovers have no singularity here, but my aunt used a secret voice, a separate attentiveness. She explains that even after her aunt's death her family and the villagers still choose to forget and why they make it seem as if she had never existed.
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Acceptance Essays
