Woman Warrior Analysis

In English, “‘I’ is a capital and you is lower-case” (167). American social norms put the individual first, revering openness of expression over the suppression of one’s feelings. On the other hand, Chinese culture values allegiance to familial and conventional rules and expectations, which forces individuals to stay silent to protect their honor and to adhere to etiquette. In the memoir Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, Maxine, a girl raised according to Chinese conventions but growing up in an American world, must reconcile the extreme differences between the two worlds and develop a coherent sense of self. Kingston recounts how Maxine struggles while stuck surrounded by two opposing ways of life to establish that in a world that values …show more content…
When Maxine begins to list off all of her transgressions to her mother, her mother cuts her off and brushes the babbling off as nonsense; silenced, Maxine “[shuts] her mouth, but [she] [feels] something alive tearing at [her] throat, bite by bite, from the inside” (200). “[Shuts]” signifies a turning off or an ending: the ending of the brief moment of self assertion. Next, “tearing” indicates ripping apart, showing that the silence leads to destruction; furthermore, “bite by bite” implies that the damage occurs over an extended period of time, meaning that silence hurts people progressively. Finally, “inside” demonstrates an internalization of one’s problems instead of outwardly displaying them. Additionally, deep inside the throat lies near the heart and soul, which symbolically contain one’s identity, meaning that the failure to speak endangers Maxine’s sense of self. Thus, when Maxine ceases to speak, catastrophic events follow; repression destroys Maxine’s identity “bite by bite,” and her ability to speak wanes and faces its own destruction. When shut down too many times, people internalize their challenges, shattering themselves and their sense of self worth from the …show more content…
At the end of the memoir, Maxine recounts a tale, half old Chinese myth and half her own, of a woman taken from her native land who becomes stuck living between multiple cultures. A song the woman sang passed down to modern day and crossed the language barrier, and “it translated well” (209). “[Translate]” signifies to move or to alter; moreover, “[translate]” means to change from one language to another. Languages share close ties with their corresponding cultures, so “[translating]” correlates with bridging a gap between societal norms. The first definition of translate reveals that Maxine has progressed since finding her voice and identity. By learning to translate between Chinese and American rules, Maxine has learned to change between the two cultures and live among both. Kingston tells the story to liken Maxine to the woman in the myth, so like the woman, Maxine has found peace among both cultures. The cultures one chooses to live among serve a principal role in defining one’s identity; this hints that Maxine has balanced the factors pulling at her identity, and she can finally remedy the clash of customs that has followed her her whole life. One must learn to accept and succeed while integrating both cultures in order to fully form a stable sense of self and to move forward in

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