Out of all the recent readings covered in class, the one I
gleaned the most from would be have to The
Women Warrior.
At first glance, I couldn’t make much sense of the story and
what exactly the author was trying to get at. However as I dug deeper,
immersing myself in the narrator’s tale, I steadily gained clarity, and as I
did, garnered interest in one particular theme, Ghosts.
Now the motif of Ghosts is no doubt the narrative’s most recursive,
however it also it’s most elusive, an oxymoron if there ever were one.
Ghosts in their
traditional sense refer to the dead, be it humans or animals and in Women
Warrior, author Maxine Kingston focuses this elucidation upon American and
Chinese, humans and animals. However Kingston, interpretation differs in the
regard that it applies to both the living and the dead. Now ghost don’t
necessarily cause any harm however it is their elusiveness that make them so
powerful especially in the memoir.
An interesting
observation to note of the ‘Ghosts’ in The
Woman Warrior would be that their demeanor and from vary from eye to eye.
To the Chinese everyone in America who was not Chinese was a Ghost, and to the Americans
and Chinese-Americans it was the Chinese who were the Ghosts.
Tying this concept
back to language we can identify the correlation between language, power and
identity.
Without the ability
to effectively converse and communicate with those around you, you are like a
ghost, ineffectual, disconnected from society and unable to leave any
impression. Despite this one can still go through life like this and author
noted a number of those around her who opted for this lifestyle hence, the
title of the chapter “Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts.”
Moreover it is
important to note that The Woman Warrior is not a chronicle of Chinese
culture, rather a reflection of the experiences of a Chinese-American far
removed from the culture and traditions she writes off, offering a glimpse into
the realities of life for many Chinese emigrants and their families.
Additionally, as with countless other ethnic groups entering America at the
time, these newcomers faced severs social, economic, and legal discrimination,
limiting their rights and opportunities, delimiting them if you would, to Ghosts
in a foreign land.
