The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

In his masterpiece work, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts , Maxine Hong Kingston uses fiction to address female rebellion. Predominantly, the story is rooted in Kingston’s family memoir and experiences growing up in California with a Chinese heritage. The book blends myth, memoir, and fiction in innovative ways. As a pacifist and feminist, the author campaigned against the war in Vietnam. Kingston’s book talks about various themes amongst them, voice and silence. 

The theme of voice and silence is evident from the onset. The first words in the memoir state, “You must not tell anyone” (Hong-Kingston, 2015). It is paradoxical and ironic because the memoir is based on telling as the author is determined to give a voice to the Chinese past life, traditions, and customs. As emigrants, her community members keep their guard up and perhaps fear that disclosing so much about themselves could disrupt their lives. The children mostly carry this burden of silence. The author is socially awkward and naturally quiet. In the book, she talks of how she struggled to find her voice. Her mother, in particular, is both a hindrance and help. While her mother cut her tongue to help her talk more, the author believes she did it for the exact opposite reason (Hong-Kingston, 2015). As time passes, Kingston finds confidence and start to tell talk-stories herself. Eventually taking the liberty of writing her story is an indication that she finally finds her voice. 

Through the memoir, the author is reaching out to the Chinese Americans that share her views. She felt very frustrated by how things were turning out. By speaking, she became the voice of many that experienced frustration and displacement. For the emigrants growing in America, it was very challenging to reconcile the relative freedom of American life and the restrictive traditions of the Chinese culture. 

References 

Hong-Kingston, M. (2015). The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts . Picador.