In Maxine Kingston’s “No Name Woman” she retells the story about a tragic past family secret. Kingston reveals the horrible family dishonor of her aunt who committed suicide, and murdered her newborn son, by jumping into the family well in China. She continues to explain her thoughts and emotions evoked from her aunt’s actions. As time passes, Kingston’s opinion and thoughts change and her perspective is altered. Kingston shows an evolutionary change in opinion toward her aunt by explaining her different thoughts in different stages of her life.
Towards the beginning of the book, Kingston tells about her mother informing her of this story of her aunt in a way to prevent her from have sex out of wedlock and betraying her family. "My aunt could not have been the lone romantic who gave up everything for sex (224).” A lone romantic would have slept with a lot of men and Kingston did not want to think of her aunt in that way. Contextual references such as, “Now that you have started to menstruate… (223)” revealed that Kingston’s thought occurred at a young age when her mother spoke to her. It is because of Kingston’s youth and innocence that she would genuinely see the best in her aunt. In order to keep the thought of her aunt pure, she protects the aunt’s virtues by suggesting the possibility of rape. At this point, Kingston defends her aunt by thinking of her as a victim and as someone accused of immoralities.
Kingston believes that her aunt was a caring individual who may not have been perfect, but was a compassionate and loving woman. "She would protect this child as she had protected its father"(231). Stating “its father” instead of “her husband” acknowledges the fact that the child was born out of wedlock. Additionally this quo...
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...Kingston opinion towards her aunt. It is evident that she no longer believes that her aunt is a kind individual, but believes that she is an evil spirit who does not mean her well.
As time passes, Kingston progressively changes her thoughts and views of her aunt that change from innocence to immoral throughout her life. Kingston is much older and no longer contains the innocence she one had. This idea of Kingston’s thoughts from pure and caring to shameful and spiteful is evolutionary. The change of Kingston’s opinion through the story shows that humans can feel very strongly about a topic, but can also be influenced to think differently. Just as Kingston grows older, humans become more mature and their perspectives on life begin to change in many ways. Someone’s perspective can be altered by any influence, with time being the most prevalent related to all humans.
The novel complicates its own understanding of women
Throughout reading this novel, my thought on transgender and transsexual individuals was pretty set and stone. For example, I knew from reading the textbook that a transgender is a person that is born—in Jenny’s case—a male, but was psychologically and emotionally born a female. However, Jenny took things one-step further and became a transsexual, which is an individual that underwent surgery to obtain the genitals that match the psychological and emotional gender within, which in her case was a female. Therefore, Jenny Finney Boylan would be considered a transsexual female. What I did not know prior to reading this book is how tedious the process is to make a sex change. To be honest I never thought about the process a transsexual needed to go through to become one’s self, I did not think about the many steps taken to obtain the voice, or look of a female that Jenny was striving for. I also did not think about the surgery, and how scary that type of surgery could actually be. For example, on page 124 Jennifer is discussing the process of transition with her psychologist, Dr. Strange. On this page Dr. Strange is beginning to inform Jenny, and essentially myself, on how to begin the transition of becoming a female. First Dr. Strange was listing off the effects the hormones will have on Jenny’s body, and I first they made sense to me; softer skin, fluffier hair, but I never knew the physical changes hormones could have on someone, especially a man. For instance, I learned that there is such a thing called “fat migration.” This is when the fat on previous parts of your body migrates to another location. I learned from this novel that fat migration is a result of hormones, and since Jenny was once a man, her face would become less r...
A breathtaking saga of a young girl’s tragic memories of her childhood. As with Ellen, Gibbons’ parents both died before she was twelve-years-old, forming the family. basis of the plot and themes of this novel. The fond memories she possessed of her mother and the harsh ones of her father are reflected in the thoughts and actions of Ellen. The simplistic and humble attitude that both Gibbons and Ellen epitomizes in the novel is portrayed through diction and dialogue.
Stages of Life in My Antonia In the past, critics have demoralized and brutalized every writer they could get their pen on. This is seen from criticisms of Henry Adams to William Butler Yeats. These critics critique everything about the writer and his/her works. For instance, many critics criticize Willa Cather's novel, My Antonia. Their criticisms lie on the basis that My Antonia is based on cyclical themes with no structure holding each of My Antonia's books.
After sifting through records of lives that ran parallel to the young Shakespeares', Greer contends that in their time and place there was nothing unusual in a baby's being born six months after a marriage. She also demonstrates that an unmarried woman in her mid-20s would not have been considered exceptional or desperate. Ann Hathaway, Greer argues, was likely to be literate, and given the relative standing of their families in Warwickshire, she may very well have been considered a more desirable match than her husband.
Moreover, the voice can also be interpreted as writing and even rewriting classic literature in order to deliver a new voice. As Kingston is aware of the importance of women’s voice articulation, besides the silent aunt and No- Name Woman, she describes many women characters that are able to, and dare to express their thoughts by articulation. Among them Brave Orchid represents the strongest voice. She is an intimidating tradition bound mother who in many ways displays the fierce determination, energy and power of the women warriors she often speaks of. She tells the prohibited stories to her daughter. Unlike ordinary Chinese women at that time who are mostly housewives with little education, Kingston’s mother invests money into education. Her spirit for learning is really praiseworthy. She processes her own career and works hard; she has no fear of men and she knows how to defend herself and protect others. For example, when she accompanies her sister Moon Orchid to visit her husband, in answering Moon Orchid’s question “What if he hits me?” she replies: “I’ll hit him. I’ll protect you. I’ll hit him back.” Her own life story represents a strong voice as well as a voice that reveals a brave and respected, powerful
Marie, who is a product of an abusive family, is influenced by her past, as she perceives the relationship between Callie and her son, Bo. Saunders writes, describing Marie’s childhood experiences, “At least she’d [Marie] never locked on of them [her children] in a closet while entertaining a literal gravedigger in the parlor” (174). Marie’s mother did not embody the traditional traits of a maternal fig...
Maxine Hong Kingston's The Women Warrior explores the tension of individual and collected identity through storytelling. In the three short stories, "No Name Woman," "White Tiger," and "A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe," Kingston uses narratives as her main strategy to question the traditional Chinese community that remains undisrupted, and that continues to oppress women. In analyzing the autobiography, Kingston uses silence to show the oppression, while the storytelling serves as a form to find her own voice. Each of the stories refer to women who Kingston has identified with- women without a voice, they serve as a reminder of hope and what she could become. She integrates oral storytelling told by her mother to indicate the unresolved experiences, and to add her own interpretation of them. In a way, her mother serves as the guide for Kingston who wants to find her own voice and break the barriers of oppression. The autobiography is about the
...d longs for her elder sister and mother. Frances is a good person – at heart – and is always looking out for her younger sister. Moreover, even though she has different views that her father and will always do the opposite of what is expected of her, it is seen that this insecurity is caused by James indeed. Frances feels that in order to gain security in her life, she must perform these actions. She feels compelled to live her life the way she does. Frances’s naughty and mischievous behaviour can be viewed as a weakness she possesses, and she longs to correct these weaknesses by her actions. She is not a role model by any means, but she is by no means the Devil’s advocate. A sincere heart – compelled by circumstances – does its best to make the situation turn out for the better than the worse, and Frances, through her love for her mother, inevitably does just that.
Kingston’s “No Name Woman” is a story that revolves around morals, society and family expectations, and women role in society. Kingston writes the story of her aunt that committed suicide in China and she has never heard of until her mother spoke of her once. The purpose of Kingston story is to show women role in China and how women were trap in their society.
“The Silent Passage,” written by Gail Sheehy helps women understand the concerns of menopause. She breaks down the traditional beliefs, myths and fears of menopause with the different life styles and geographical location that one lives in. She helps define the cause, effects and treatments of menopause.
In the story, the narrator is forced to tell her story through a secret correspondence with the reader since her husband forbids her to write and would “meet [her] with heavy opposition” should he find her doing so (390). The woman’s secret correspondence with the reader is yet another example of the limited viewpoint, for no one else is ever around to comment or give their thoughts on what is occurring. The limited perspective the reader sees through her narration plays an essential role in helping the reader understand the theme by showing the woman’s place in the world. At ...
Have you ever judge a book by the cover or made a bad first impression without getting to know the person first? Human beings need to come to the realization that everyone come from different walks of paths. We need to stop labeling people as "the other." No-Name Woman, Kingston 's aunt experienced Edward Said 's concept through the people in her village by them looking at her situation through a one-sided lens. The village that Kington 's family lived in had a preconceive notion on what the people should behave like and adultery was like a sin and a crime no matter of the circumstances.
This feeling intensifies when Mr. Brocklehurst arrives to take Jane away to Lowood School. Her aunt is pleased to see her go, but manages to influence Jane's life even after Jane is settled in at the charity school, by informing Mr.
Yeah, you’re going to have to work because you can’t be a housewife. Somebody has to marry you before you can be a housewife. And you, you are a plant. Do you know that? That’s all you are if you don’t talk. If you . . .” (Kingston 180). While being aggressive toward the quiet girl, she repeated her mother’s threats, from this we can tell that she is taking out her own fears at the expense of the girl. After expressing her anger, Kingston seemingly has no guilt, but says to the older sister of the girl that, “Your family really ought to force her to speak,” (Kingston 181), to a young girl. After feeling some remorse, she believes that she was doing the girl a favor. After this interaction, I believe we start to see the beginning of Kingston’s change, she is slowly finding her voice, by hearing what her mother would scream at her all her life thorough her own ears. We can really see Kington’s “voice,” when she is scolding her mother for trying to sell her off to a less compatible husband, Kingston says, “Do you hear me? I may be ugly and clumsy, but one thing I’m not, I’m not retarded. . . I’m smart. I can do all kinds of things. . . I can make a living and take care of myself,” (Kingston 201). Kingston understands that she is someone, not