Term Paper on "Woman Warrior"

Term Paper 5 pages (1626 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Woman Warrior

Night after night my mother would talk-story until we fell asleep. I couldn't tell where the stories left off and the dreams began, her voice the voice of heroines in my sleep," (19). Maxine Hong Kingston's surreal memoir Woman Warrior weaves between dream life and waking reality, especially in the two chapters "White Tigers" and "Shaman." In these two chapters of the book, Kingston includes the rich imagery, content, and themes of her dreams, nightmares, and fantasies to more clearly illustrate her mundane daily experiences as a Chinese immigrant in the United States. In many ways her dreams more accurately reflect her psychological development, dreams, and desires than her real-life narratives do. For example, in the "White Tigers" chapter, Kingston begins by introducing the story of the mythical female warrior Fa Mu Lan. Kingston then "becomes" Fa Mu Lan in a vivid waking dream, demonstrating her alter-ego through her intimate identification with the warrior hero. The author contrasts the glorious and heroic life of Fa Mu Lan with her mundane and depressing life as a Chinese-American. At the close of the chapter the author segues from the dream to her waking life: in real-life she is powerless to stand up to the bigoted attitudes of her fellow American citizens as well as to the sexist attitudes of fellow Chinese. On the other hand, Fa Mu Lan promptly cuts off the head of a man who killed her brother and then said that women are "maggots in the rice," (43). In a similar fashion dreams indicate Kingston's psychological development in the following chapter, "Shaman." Shaman centers on the life of Brave Orchid, Kingston's mother. Kingston is clearly afraid of her mother and their relationship is strained. The mother -daughter relationship is in fact one of the major themes of Woman Warrior, one that is more powerfully evoked through symbolism and dreamlike imagery than by pure narrative. "Shaman" is filled with tales of her mother's experiences as a doctor, midwife, and exorcist, causing Kingston to have terrible nightmares. Moreover, the grotesque imagery of her nightmares evokes the darker aspects of Kingston's psycho-social development, development that derives from her traumatic experiences as an immigrant trying to forge a solid identity. In Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston employs dreams, visions, and fantasies to convey her cultural and gender identities and to clarify her self-image.

White Tigers" portrays Kingston on a fantasy vision-quest. Lines between worlds are blurred and the story includes dramatic supernatural imagery. It is unclear whether or not the fantasy sequence occurs in an altered state of consciousness or not. Kingston does a remarkable job of seamlessly integrating real-life narrative and dream life narrative. In this case, the full life story of Fa Mu Lan is told without Kingston having to come right out and state that she is using the fantasy sequence as a way to explain her wish of being a warrior. Kingston opens the chapter by briefly outlining the legend of Fa Mu Lan to prepare the reader for what is to come, however.

The dream begins with Fa Mu Lan as a young girl, about seven years old. She has been wrested from her family and has been taken in by an old man and woman who live in the middle of nowhere. Right at the onset, Kingston uses the fantasy sequence to comment on her sentiments about Chinese cultural norms. When the old couple asks if she has eaten rice that day, she responds politely that she hasn't, even though she is very hungry. Kingston comments that in real life she would not have shown that type of humility: she is "mad at the Chinese for lying so much," (21). In this instance, dream sequences allow Kingston to make broad commentary on her culture of origin without bluntly coming out and saying so.

The fantasy sequence in "White Tigers" in which Kingston identifies with Fa Mu Lan demonstrates her ambitions to be a woman warrior; through this chapter the author also indicates that she feels inept as a woman warrior in her real life in America. In the dream sequence, she is offered the choice of being a warrior or returning home: the old man presents her with the option of returning to her parents, whom she misses, and remaining with the couple for spiritual training. She chooses to remain with the couple and not "pull sweet potatoes," (22). The aspect of choice is a key for Kingston, who feels that many of her life experiences were a result not of her personal choice but rather, the choices of others.

When she is ready, the budding warrior woman undertakes a solitary journey to White Tiger Mountain, where she learns to fend for herself, fast, and endure all manner of harsh living conditions. Through her fasting she receives bountiful spiritual gifts and also receives a plethora of visions that prepare her for the real, physical fighting of her warrior future. The vision quest stimulates her thirst for self-development and expands her mind. From these dreams-within-dreams, Kingston creates for herself an alter-ego of immense strength that she hopes to draw upon in real life.

After she comes down from the mountain the young girl craves revenge on a ruthless group of bandits harassing Chinese peasants. She ends up fighting as a man would, in her father's stead. The symbolic gesture of fighting in her father's place transforms Kingston as well as the young girl's psyche. She woman warrior develops immense strength and confidence. However, she does so remarkably without sacrificing essential aspects of womanhood. During her training with the old couple, she describes her first menstruation in positive terms that she would never use in her real life: "Menstrual days did not interrupt my training: I was as strong as any other day," (30). Menstruation, and by extension, womanhood, are positive experiences for the woman warrior. During the course of her battles, she meets her husband and soul mate and soon becomes pregnant. Forced to leave the child with her in-laws, she later returns to family life when her stint as fighter ends. The woman warrior is proud of her accomplishments but she balances out her fighting with motherhood and family life. Kingston uses the life experience of the woman warrior to illustrate her hopes: she wishes she could be warrior and woman, fighter and mother. When the fantasy ends and her real life narrative picks up again, the stark contrast between the two worlds is poignant. In fact, the first sentence of the final segment reads: "My American life has been such a disappointment," (45). Especially when viewed in conjunction with the life of Fa Mu Lan, Kingston's American life might feel disappointing. Kingston also contrasts the role of women in her real life and Fa Mu Lan's life. In real life she relates the shame of being a girl in China: "When you raise girls, you're raising children for strangers," (46). Also she states, "I did not plan ever to have a husband," (47).

White Tigers" incorporates many dream-within-dream segments; the chapter is filled with timeless and supernatural imagery. For example, the old man often shows the young girl images of her parents mirrored in the gourd, as if it is a crystal ball. Moreover, the young girl dreams of her parents while on her vision quest on White Tiger Mountain. Kingston presents dreams-within-dreams to demonstrate the fluidity of the different worlds. It doesn't matter if a story actually happened or if it is a dream or fantasy; the full impact of a narrative or "talk-story" is in its symbolic import and psychic impact.

The "talk-stories" in "Shaman" provide powerful symbolic and psychic content for Kingston's memoirs. Brave Orchid "was midwife to whatever spewed forth...she was not squeamish...and deftly caught spewings that were sometimes babies,… READ MORE

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