Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior

1805 Words8 Pages
Maxine Hong Kingston’s book, The Woman Warrior, is full of culture. Throughout all the chapters there are some forms of cultural influences that play a key role in the life of the people. It contains scenes where characters go against their culture and the standards and codes because of their personal beliefs. These acts of rebellion are met with great consequences from that characters community, village or even family. Through the perspective of the keyword culture, I have decided to analyze and furthermore understand the last chapter of this book. This chapter, A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe, has numerous scenes or parts which can be analyzed and explained through the use of culture and what it connotes. One part that I will be analyzing…show more content…
While arguing the mother says, “I cut it out to make you talk more, not less, you dummy. You’re still stupid. You can’t listen right.” (Kingston 202). “You turned out so unusual. I fixed your tongue so you will say charming things” (Kingston 203). The act of cutting the tongue is seen as a metaphor. It is more figurative as opposed to literal. From the beginning of this chapter the narrator suffers from the inability to speak in school. The narrator says, “When I first went to kindergarten and had to speak English for the first time, I became silent . . . During the first silent year I spoke to no one at school, did not ask before going to the lavatory, and flunked kindergarten.... I enjoyed the silence” (Kingston 165-66). This is a reason why the mother wanted to cut her tongue because she wanted her daughter to not be afraid to talk elegantly and say the right things. This is not a case involving a speech impediment but rather simply being uncomfortable, fearful or intimidated. Having to speak publicly and adapt to a new culture and environment might be reason to blame for her inability to

More about Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior

Open Document