Cultural relativism in Warrior Woman
The violent description of the raid of the aunt's house in Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior at first seems horrific and unjustified no matter the cultural norms. Upon closer examination however, it becomes simply a safety force sprung into action to preserve the general welfare of the village. Kingston's description of the raid of the aunt's house may or may not have been a normal action on the part of the villagers. She shows no signs that before the birth of the child, the aunt tried to get rid of her child, run away, or commit suicide as she ended up doing. Had she known that her house would be disgraced, would she have not simply ignored any sort of signs? It seems like a lack of responsibility on the part of her and her family to go on. "No one said anything. We did not discuss it" despite the fact that of "her shirt pulling and the white tops of her black pants showing." (3) Later on Kingston writes "Adultery, perhaps only a mistake during good times, b
She could have simply endured the raid and lived to raise the child. It was not the focus on the justification of the aunt but on the reality of women's condition in Chinese culture. The villagers were to a point justified in the raiding of her house. "She told the man, "I think I'm pregnant. ecame a crime when the village needed food. She could have left with her child alone later on. "Both the aunt and her lover failed; she in her inaction and he in his action. Is it really possible for a mother to say "This is the best I have found the world has to offer you; a life of submission and passiveness. In the other side of the story, the villagers were not justified. She could have told some one about being raped. In her story-talking, her mother is able to weave the lessons of Chinese life into an interesting tale. " (13) It seems that by committing adultery, the aunt committed a crime against more than her absentee husband. This, I believe is what was the main issue of the aunt's story for the mother.
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