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 her aunt was pregnant with another man's child and she and her baby where found dead in the family well. She is curious to know about her aunt's life but there isn't a possible way that she can bring up the topic. 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. The fact that her aunt was unknown leaves Kingston with the feeling of emptiness. Kingston believes she can't compare her life with her aunt when in fact she
             does when she speculates about her aunt's life.
             "After my grandparents gave their daughter ...