At The Western Palace

But how can Maxine find herself if she completely disappears in an entire section of her novel? In “At the Western Palace” there is not even one bit of first person narration, only third person. It is evident Maxine sees herself as Moon Orchid—silent and not having her own voice for Moon Orchid has a struggle in coming to terms with Chinese and American culture which is what Maxine has a struggle with. When the audience compares this to the other sections of the novel, they can tell that Maxine is obviously never mentioned. Since the stories that have been presented were told in a familiar way and knowing the way Maxine acts—never speaking for herself, the audience can read it in in a way of applying what was said to the life of Maxine. Though Maxine identifies herself as Chinese-American, she still struggles with finding a voice,

Usually, reader depends on first person narration to help guide them through the text, but because the “I” changes in this novel, the audience cannot rely on this novel being truthful or not. For example, the reader learns that “At the Western Palace” was told entirely in second or even third person so they question whether this account contains any truth. But what is important is that Maxine was able to grow within these stories and came to terms with them. By just reading the title “The Woman Warrior Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts,” it puts in the audience’s mind that this novel is going to be a firsthand account of her life thus being personal to Kingston. But the audience needs to realize that she feels that this is what her life is made up of, these folktales and talk-stories of her family and culture. These pages are extremely personal to her and Kingston allows the audience to ponder what stories have to do with one’s sense of self and the impact it has. She invites the reader on this journey to find a voice and “it translated well”