Sunday, July 18, 2010
Reader Response: Woman Warrior
I found Woman Warrior to be a quick read. Its story line was jumbled at times and it took me a few pages at times to recognize exactly who was speaking, what was going on, when the story was being told from and who was speaking. The opening chapter about the narrator's aunt was terribly heartbreaking. To know that there is so much discrimination in part of the world regarding gender is stunning. I understand that in a different time adultery was seen as unacceptable and death or exile would be the punishment but to me it seems difficult to read. Throughout the book the insecurity the narrator felt simply due to her gender was frightening. I find it tough to understand the struggle she experiences, because rarely if ever in American society do we see such discrimination. In the world we live in today nothing is out of reach for anyone, regardless of race gender or any other circumstance. This just goes back to the American Dream we defined at the beginning of the class. Even once she moves to America she still feels inadequate compared to other men. Its sad really that a society can brain wash a society into thinking that a huge group of people are less than another. I have heard that due to this brain washing 52% of China's people are male. This seems like a small difference but when you consider the fact that China's population is over a billion this means that there are 20 million more men in China then woman. Meaning that there is vast amount of bachelors in China that will never be able to find a love or a mate.
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I also believe the discrimination was a result of brainwashing a society. They probably used this as a way to protect themselves against outsiders (ghosts). It's a great thing for Kingston that she had a mother that used talk stories so that she was able to find her individuality in America. It is also confusing that the father was the only one of the four brothers to stay in America and never go back to China. This fact allows readers think about it. Did he not go back because his sister disgraced the family name by having a baby out of wedlock? or did he have something to do with his Aunt's death and remained silent. ambiguity was used alot in this text. The fact that a single message could be capable of being understood in more thatn one sense. The story about the Aunt really leaves you hanging. Questions such as: What were the consequences of the pregnancy?, Who was responsible?, and Why did she kill the baby? teased me and I could only speculate but never was given an entire understanding. At least her language afforded the oppurtunity to speculate.
ReplyDeleteI read this book in a couple of days. It was a interesting book it wasn't boring. It had a little bit from all of the other books in one. There was a lot of story telling in this book so it was hard to follow sometimes. I had to go back over some of the book. I wish they would have made a movie out of this book. How they did in Fear and Loathing and Beloved. There was a lot of discrimination in this book like some of the other books we read. In Woman Warrior how the males are far greater than the women. Also, how you can only have one child in China. If you have a girl there upset because they want there name to be carried on. How you said there are way more males in China then females because no one wants them. Also, in the book it sounded like women couldn't do as much as men. Today anyone can do athing they set there mind to. There is still racism going on today not just race, there is also gender discrimination too. If we can look past all this discrination then there would be less tension.
ReplyDeleteI agree that her insecurities are really sad. I think this kind of treatment and abuse really does make you think of our lives as luxuries. The American Dream becomes even more important after reading these kinds of stories. Reading these stories opens your eyes and you can see the attraction much more clearly than ever before why so many people long to come here; I know that I would had I been born in a different country.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is sad that 52% of China's population is male and many will not have wives or companionship. You'd think that this would change their view on women and make them want to have a few more baby girls. You'd think they have a little more reverence for the woman's ability to have children or their race could be eventually wiped out. Doubtful but possible, especially if there are environmental changes that started wiping out many of the Chinese population.