Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior

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Written in the late 1900’s, The Woman Warrior is a compilation of memoirs written by Maxine Hong Kingston. The story constantly switches between fiction and reality, which often gives the reader a sense of harmony between the two. Kingston is heavily influenced by the stories her mother tells her and Chinese folktale. The Woman Warrior is split into five different sections that each influences her in different ways. In the first section titled No Name Woman her father’s sister commits suicide after becoming pregnant. In the story the villagers heavily harass the No Name Woman because of her scandalous acts. She is pregnant yet is not married. Not being able to take the harassment, the No Name Woman kills herself and her child in the…show more content…
The next story is about the legendary Fa Mu Lan. The story is about a woman named Fa Mu Lan who takes her father’s place in battle and becomes extremely high in rank in the process. In the end she gets her revenge against the man who took the men from the village and moves back home to be a mother again. Kingston strives to be more like Fa Mu Lan but is actually disappointed to see that she does not even compare to the legendary woman. In the end however she concludes that her and Fa Mu Lan are actually quite alike. The third story focuses more on Kingston’s mother. Her mother, also known as Brave Orchid meets a Sitting Ghost at school and after seeing this, refers to all white people as “ghosts”. Kingston also discusses her reluctance to go to China and how Brave Orchid would never be able to go back to China either. The fourth short story is more focused on Brave Orchid and her sister, Moon Orchid. Moon Orchid had recently moved to America 30 years after her husband did. Brave Orchid then convinces Moon Orchid to go and meet her husband face to face. Once they meet Brave Orchid’s husband tells her to get out of his life because he has already remarried and that she has no place in America. After this Brave Orchid’s mind

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