Within the first few pages of the book, the narrator asks “What is Chinese tradition and what is the movies?” (6). Tradition seems to be a very important matter for everyone living in the village and breaking these traditions will have serious repercussions. This can be seen in the very first paragraph with the narrator’s mother sharing a story of the “no name woman” stating “as if she had never been born” (3). After the village finds out about her pregnancy even though her husband left, they raid her house on the night the baby was to be born and is later found dead in the family well along with the baby. The aunt’s real punishment for breaking tradition wasn’t just her house being destroyed by the villagers, but her own family completely and intentionally forgetting about her. Although, the narrator’s mother wasn’t supposed to tell the story of the “no named woman”, she does this to pass down a story from someone who was once apart of the family, even if it is breaking tradition. After learning about this story of her aunt, the narrator goes on to say, “Unless I see her life branching into mine, she gives me no ancestral help.” (8). The narrator starts to recognize the story of her aunt and how she isn’t too different from herself, by defending the no name woman’s identity because it was taken away from her.
Kingston also emphasizes the importance of identity and having a voice. After being stripped of her identity and her own family shaming her, the “no name woman” no longer had a voice to share. The narrator states, “My aunt must have lived in the same house as my parents and eaten at an outcast table.” (7). The family completely disregards the aunt eating with her own family and makes her sit at another table so she doesn’t feel included. Her identity had been completely destroyed at this point and it was also a tradition for the daughter-in-law to be living with the husband’s parents, not their own. This proves that the family deliberately kept the aunt within their own household and wasn’t allowed to live with her husband’s parents since she broke tradition and doesn’t have a say on what happens with her own life.
Tradition can be seen throughout the entirety of the first chapter and another heavily focused idea within the village is the role of gender. It was seen as tradition for women in Chinese culture to do as they were told. Kingston states, “Women in the old China did not choose.” (6), as we can see here that women didn’t have a voice since this can be tied back to tradition within their culture. Kingston also states about the male’s role in society, “They both gave orders: she followed. “If you tell your family. I’ll beat you. I’ll kill you. Be here again next week””. (7) The role of gender in this society is completely unjust for the female’s side, as they were often told what to do and have things chosen for them. Although, the “no name woman” had her house ransacked by the village for having a baby with a man other than her husband, she was the only one who faced repercussions for this and the other man faced no consequences. Tradition in this culture is bias and unjust towards females.
Discussion Questions
Question 1: Did the Aunt kill herself because she didn’t follow tradition?
Question 2: Do you believe that the tradition in this society will stay the same or change? Why or why not?
Work Cited:
Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior. Vintage International, 1976.
Ryan,
You make some excellent points regarding the theme of tradition within this section of the book and while the story of the aunt took place in China, it reminds me of very traditional American views as well. Many women today are ostracized for having a baby out of wedlock or just getting pregnant “too young” and Maxine Kingston really drives this thought home when she says, ““Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her could happen to you. Don’t humiliate us…””(5). Many families were ashamed to have a young woman in their family be pregnant and therefore instead of gently easing the narrator into a sensitive topic for a young girl, the mother is more worried about the family image and scaring her into submission really which is heavily disappointing but that’s how it is for many families still today. Tradition means too much to some people.
Ryan,
Your blog was well written and you made excellent points. Kingston’s unknown aunt seems as if it’s going to be a major topic throughout the story. I agree that it is a very interesting and controversial mystery. Kingston has a deceased family member that she has no idea about other than that she was shunned by their family. Kingston exclaims, “My aunt must have lived in the same house as my parents and eaten at an outcast table (7)”. The aunt was mentally and physically removed from the lives of her family and they basically pretended that she wasn’t even there. This is proof that all Kingston has about her aunt is assumptions. Her aunt’s identity is a forbidden mystery that destroyed a woman and her baby’s lives. It was like she was completely invisible, so I think her reason for suicide was that she already felt gone. I think it wasn’t about tradition as much as it was her losing her family. She ended her life because she felt hopeless and staying alive with a baby with no family, felt worse than dying together. Tradition is one of the most important things in their lives and once tradition is broken, everything else breaks too. (family, bonds, etc.)
Great blog post!
Isabelle Pastore
Hey Ryan,
I really liked the point you made in this piece about the importance of identity, and it was very interesting how you tied it to the rest of the theme of the post. I think bringing up the point about her having to obey orders from this man in the paragraph about identity would have been sufficient as well. Just for when he said things like “If you tell your family, i’ll beat you. I’ll kill you. Be here again next week.” (7). I feel as though this quote really just shows how much of her identity she has lost. She is forced to obey every command like a dog, almost as if she isn’t even a human anymore. It also shows that her identity can be easily stolen just by one person, and that amazes me.
Hi Ryan, I believe that the societies culture will stay the same due to the fact that the mothers pass the fear down to their daughters and create a toxic environment. The mother tells the child on page five “Don’t humiliate us. You wouldn’t like to be forgotten as if you had never been born.” If the mothers treat their daughters like this and make them fear not following the tradition they may never have the courage to break the cycle. I believe that the only way it can change is if each generation gains a little bit more courage and maybe eventually the woman in society will be able to change the culture.
Ryan,
Nice blog post! I liked how you mentioned and went into detail about how her family disowned her, and went on to talk about tradition. I think since the first chapter was more of a prologue of events that happened beforehand, that maybe in the upcoming chapters we as readers will see how these chapters still affect the Chinese people in their day. I also like how you brought up how traditions can be seen throughout the village. As can be seen in the first chapter when Kingston discusses how their mother said they’re lucky they’re not living in previous times when they would have their feet bound (12). I think that this foreshadows that there may be some changes–good or bad that the current society may want to keep or change.
Hey Ryan,
I enjoyed your point on identity and the “no name woman,” understanding that in this culture and family, the aunt was consistently, “guessing at the colors and shapes that would interest him, changing them frequently in order to hit on the right combination. She wanted him to look back.” (9) Her identity was forgotten, or perhaps never fully developed since their was lack of encouragement or appreciation in this case with her husband essentially not paying attention to her, not allowing her to be herself but frantically searching for a change in herself and identity to make her husband look and be happy.
Ryan,
I 100% agree with your idea that tradition and identity are the two biggest themes in “The Woman Warrior”. Kingston gives readers a very raw and real sense of what life was like as a Chinese-American woman in her memoir. However, I think the most powerful example of what life was like is the story of the “no name woman”, or Kingston’s aunt. The whole story focuses on the theme of tradition by showing the aunt’s repercussions of breaking tradition, even though it wasn’t her own fault. I think this quote really shows how ashamed the woman’s family was when finding out she had broke tradition: “‘Don’t tell anyone you had an aunt. Your father does not want to hear her name. She has never been born,'”. The family is so ashamed that a member of their family had been raped and gotten pregnant that they act as if she was never born. This strips her of her identity which is the worst kind of punishment someone could receive.