The Narrator's Revolting Sprit in Kingston's The Woman Warrior

Abstract

The Woman Warrior by Hong Kingston tends to display the fragile condition of the Chinese immigrants, especially that of the women in America. Through the help of mythical characters like Fa Mu Lan, Kingston seems to have drawn a picture of the Chinese superstitions and unfair prejudices practiced in the Chinese culture. In the meantime she has equally emphasized the behaviors shown to the first generation Chinese immigrants in America. Her endless efforts in presenting the cultural clashes and gender discriminations seem to have been much remarkable in the text, The Woman Warrior. Furthermore, the contrastive nature of women grown in two different cultures, i.e. Chinese and American, seems to be equally significant in this concern. Brave Orchid and Moon Orchid are contrastive in nature. Brave is bold and revolting whereas Moon is submissive and fragile. The very situation may vary due to the cultures’ distinct structures, norms and values. Her way of presenting typical and exemplary characters such as Fa Mu Lan, No Name Woman, Brave Orchid, Moon Orchid and others discloses her own intrinsic character that she has been revolting against both Chinese social superstitions that is of knotting the tongue of female children and American white people’s biased behaviors in terms of race, culture and gender. This thesis is totally directed to justify the fact how the narrator has expressed her revolutionary spirit throughout the text.