Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior
The compilation of stories that Kingston offers in this autobiographical exploration seem to evoke inquiries as to whether they truly add up into a cohesive whole. However, it becomes clear that Kingston intends for the reader to delve deeper into the stories in order to ascertain purpose. Particularly, the section titled White Tigers offers some salient points of consideration to the comprehension of this work.
In this section, Kingston creates a very involved analogy that expresses her hopes, ideals, and understandings. This is the very story in which she characterizes the “warrior woman” of the title’s implications. Clearly, Maxine sets about showing the reader the inequalities of her existence and notes the changes that she believes would make life not only tolerable, but ‘perfect’; in fact, it may be said that White Tigers relays her perception of “Utopia”. During her vigorous and fantastical training, she has developed a high degree of self-mastery. This seems to be a key element to her “Utopia” for she fantasizes about a society that is capable of being mastered by the individual with the mere application of discipline on the individual’s part. Thus, society is placed within her capacity to direct and does not serve as the controlling feature that it actually plays in Maxine’s reality.
On the political level, her revolutionary tactics are meant to bring order where chaos had hitherto ruled; instead of pillaging, the army “âÂ?¦brought order wherever [they] went (Kingston 37).” This signifies that although violence seems to be a necessary part of this revolution, it must be disciplined and not reckless aggression. The political adjustments she desires are precise in effect and direct in method; they are not confined to simple acts of rage borne of oppression.
On the personal level, she envisions the perfect husband, the ideal recognition from her parents of her individual worth, and performs the role of mother without giving up her individual identity as a warrior-a fairly all-encompassing vision.
Furthermore, in this Utopian world, Maxine is a distinct leader of men. She isn’t limited by race or gender, and thus is able to display her emerging qualities of leadership. She is venerated for who she has become-a skilled warrior. Apparently, this is the ultimate gratification for Maxine-to actually be recognized for her individuality and inherent worth; a ‘warrior’, as used here, seems to simply assert an achieved status of independence.
However, more than the physical, Maxine suffers inner turmoil. As White Tigers progresses the reader becomes increasingly more aware of how the analogy signifies her mind as the central point of conflict; she clearly suffers intense inner turmoil. As the “enemy” ambushes her, rather than the physical implications, she feels the impact solely in her mind.
�two more swords appeared in midair. They clanged against mine, and I felt metal
vibrate inside my brain. I willed my sword to hit back and to go after the head that
controlled the other swords. But the man fought well, hurting my brain. (Kingston 41)
Even in her fantasy musing the pain is not physical but manifests at the core of conflict-her mind. As an analogy, she may have chosen to create physical sensations of pain during this portion of the narrative; her distinct choice to emphasize mental anguish reveals a powerful measure of internal distress plaguing the narrator. To say that each impact of the swords were injurious to her brain only, indicates her constant internal struggles in light of the ‘violent’ opposition she faces in society to possess an individual status.
This story also serves as an intense microcosm of the entire scope of the novel, for the remainder of the text can also be summed up as essentially an inner conflict that possesses the narrator to find identity. She weaves together tales and creates her own reality based on the processing of external stimuli. However, these external factors surrounding her are paradoxical. On one hand, she fights her mother who represents her heritage and literal origin. On the other hand, she battles the “ghosts” or American society, which is as intangible as a specter but a very real factor of influence. She does not want to fully become a “ghost”, just as she does not fully want to be seen as “Chinese”, but must learn to live “among” them as the subtitle suggests as her own person outside of these categorical labels.
Obviously, these two spheres of influence do not blend well. Positioned in discomfort between these two worlds, the narrator cannot seem to formulate goals to motivate her forward. Since her mother expects a certain type of behavior and American society another, it is nearly impossible to gauge what constitutes success. Maxine is constantly attempting to distinguish between what comprises the facts and what designates the “stories”. She states in an appropriately exasperated declaration, “I continue to sort out what’s just my childhood, just my imagination, just my family, just the village, just movies, just living (Kingston 205).” This implies that it is a perpetual undertaking in deciding what category each experience and story should be placed in. Ultimately, she is striving to categorize these points in an attempt to hold on to her remaining shreds of sanity; in categorizing them she is ordering that which is beneficial while rejecting that which is detrimental.
Also presented in White Tigers, revenge is carved out on her skin in a literal sense during the extensive analogy. Her parents are the inflictors of these words and the injustices become a physical manifestation of the wrongs done to her family in both the Chinese and American nations. She eloquently describes, “The list of grievances went on and on. If an enemy should flay me, the light would shine through my skin like lace (Kingston 35).” The effect of these words is a sort of affection for her heritage as much as there is pain connected to it. Lace is usually considered an admirable craft, composed of material that is woven intricately to form an attractive pattern. Similarly, these grievances are woven meticulously into her flesh, embodying the pain of decades, as a tangible testament of injustice; if the ‘enemy’ should overtake her and attempt to mutilate the remains of her character the design would still testify in defiance. The image of the sun’s light filtering through the scars juxtaposes pain and beauty with a haunting effect. But just as the sun reveals all things in natural light and unmasks the truth, this image illuminates the injustices as displayed through Maxine’s experience in Chinese-American ‘skin’ as a permanent scar “at her back”.
However, there are further implications to this Chinese-American blending that serve as an onerous disturbance for Maxine. Her mother instructs her, “Whenever you go, whatever happens to you, people will know our sacrificeâÂ?¦And you’ll never forget either (Kingston 34).” It is clear that she cannot remove herself from this heritage because it is inherently manifested in her skin or her outward Chinese appearance. She can’t change the distinguishing marks of her skin, just as she cannot remove the words carved into her back. Every time she glances into a mirror she will remember her heritage; every time a passer-by regards her on the street they will know it, however superficially, also.
Although both the American and the Chinese cultures are at constant war inside her, she is admonished to deal separately with their influences to emerge as an individual. The old man of her White Tiger analogy instructs her to, “Hold the peasants back with one hand and kill the warrior with the other (Kingston 30).” The peasants seem to be representative of her Chinese heritage; while the warriors are the American influences she is closer in combat with. She is suppressing or “holding back” her parents’ culture and warring against the American society to emerge as who she is beyond these identities; the “Woman warrior” must defeat all adversity to be recognized for her true power.
Nevertheless, as she is a first generation Chinese-American she has no examples to refer back to in dealing with this blended identity; she must be a traveler in uncharted lands. Consequently, there is trepidation in embarking into the unknown. Fear arising from striving for this new identity proves as an impediment to her progress. During the scene of the previously mentioned ambush by the enemy, the reader sees a break down of the warrior persona.
My fear shot forth-a quick, jabbing sword that slashed fiercely, silver flashes, quick
cuts wherever my attention drove it. The leader stared at the palpable sword swishing
unclutched at his men, then laughed aloud. (Kingston 41)
Here her fear is noted as a hindering factor. Her self-discipline is dissolved as she loses control of herself and thus the environment. It is clear that this sword, symbolizing her fear, is acting out of a frantic desire to ward off the enemy and is not representative of her “skilled training”. Although she has the discipline inside of her, by panicking she loses the regard of the enemy as being seen as a formidable foe and consequently they laugh and mock her. She has learned that if she allows the ‘enemy’ to see that she is afraid, and thus not collected into an individual of self-possession, she is allowing them to ‘ambush’ her and take away her remaining security. Clearly, she must exorcise all fear because it supports a loss of individuality and reduces her to a collective category of the spineless masses. She is desperately striving to be an individual and her own fears of failure impede this goal at every junction.
After she elaborates on her ‘warrior woman’ status in such spirited imagery, she abruptly comes back to ‘reality’ as living in American society. She notes with acrimony, “My American life has been such a disappointment (Kingston 45).” What she seems to dislike about living in America the most is that it will not completely accept her, but she cannot fall entirely back on Chinese culture because it is only part of the whole. She is achieving what the society she lives in values, by getting all A’s, but it is of no consequence as her mother holds another sense of what success is. The text illuminates these struggles by presenting both the pros and cons of each separate identity, forcing Maxine to filter through and locate her defining points. However, it can be seen that conclusively she includes every influence, both good and bad, into her collective whole. She does not seek to magnify the positive or exaggerate the negative, but rather relays them through her perceptions and lets the reader decide what to do with them.
It is apparent that the tensions created within Maxine are stressed throughout the expanse of the text. The adversity she faces comes from both the society she lives in and the one her parents instill upon her-developing a painfully conflicting assortment of values and motivations. Her ideal expression of individuality is embodied by the “woman warrior” who can make sense of the world as well as order it, while maintaining a distinct identity all of her own. This text presents Maxine in the act of sorting out her inner demons by verbally exorcising the damaging collision of influences from her internal and external environment. Nevertheless, surfacing above the proverbial debris she is projecting her character with the distinction and power that are inherent features of her true “warrior” self.
Works Cited
Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior. New York: Vintage, 1989.
