Maxine Hong Kingston

“The first thing you have to learn,” the old women told me, “is how to be quiet. (pg. 23).” This is what Maxine Hong Kingston is told as a young girl. Throughout the book young Maxine is told stories where the absence of voice is a factor. Whether it’s affecting her family or her (Maxine) personally, the theme of having or not having a voice is an impact in her life.

The story starts “You must not tell anyone. (pg. 3).” Her mother is telling her the story of her “forgotten, disregarded aunt.” Her aunt apparently had a child with another man, because her husband left China years before. Everyone knew the child was illegitimate. When the villagers raided the family’s property, the aunt had her baby in a pigsty. The next morning Maxine’s mother
“My silence was the thickest-total-during the three years that I covered my school paintings with black paint. She had one classmate who was very quiet, but she know she could talk really loud. Maxine walked by her house and heard her screaming, in not just English, but Chinese. The young classmate was also able to read out aloud. It seemed to me that Maxine didn’t want to help the young girl, but get all the attention as the quietest girl in school. She decided to follow her young classmate into the bathroom one day after school and beat her up. Maxine squeezed her fatty, fleshy cheek in between her thumb and finger. She called her stupid, pulled her hair, and kept yelling at her to talk. “ You do have a tongue,” I said. “So use it. (pg.178)” No matter how much Maxine tried to force her, her classmate just cried but said no
Moon Orchid is Brave Orchid’s more timid younger sister. Brave Orchid has more energy and optimism than Moon Orchid as well. To me, Moon Orchid has been somewhat silenced by her husband marrying other women, she feels like she shouldn’t bother her husband and doesn’t really have any control as the First Wife. “Don’t leave me by myself. You can talk louder than I can. (pg.144)” This quote shows that Moon Orchid has very little confidence in herself. When she went to go talk to her husband he had no idea why she was there. Moon Orchid tried to talk but nothing would come out. On the other hand Brave Orchid would not stop talking, she spoke for her sister. Her husband doesn’t exactly support Moon Orchid’s feelings either. “You can’t talk to them. You can barely talk to me. (pg.153).” He doesn’t even want her in his house. This is just unfair. He married her first, he shouldn’t just throw her out on the street, because of all this she went to a mental hospital, and