Woman Warrior Rhetorical Analysis
Madeline Blackburn
Ms. Hurley
A.P Language and Composition
29 October 2012
The Woman Warrior: Slashing Silence With a Steel Pen
In her postmodern autobiography, Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston narrates her life as a Chinese American struggling to find her identity in a home permeated by ambiguity. As Kingston matures, she comes to recognize the destructive nature of silence, and is able to articulate the malignant cause and effect relationship silence has on the individual human psyche as well as the well being of others.
Kingston begins her autobiography by describing silence as a double-edged sword, meaning that while silence has the capability to be used as a deadly weapon, it is also harmful to one that uses silence as a tool for censorship in an effort to change the past. In the first chapter of her autobiography titled “No Name Woman”, Kingston opens up to a scene between Kingston and her mother. When the two of them are alone, her mother imparts a terrible secret about Kingston’s Aunt’s infidelity, then forces her daughter to take a vow of silence, urging her to never speak of her Aunt or to even acknowledge her existence: “ …they want me to participate in her punishment. And I have…the real punishment was…the family’s deliberately forgetting about her” (16). By refusing to discuss Kingston’s Aunt, the family is effectively terminating her existence, but also giving the terrible secret more power. The memory of Kingston’s Aunt is so stigmatic that topic of sex is unspeakable, and even the word "Aunt" has the potential to strike her father with misery, forcing him to delve into his painful memories. This view of silence as formidable power reflects Kingston’s perspective as a young, impressionable youth, racked with trepidation about the world around her. As Kingston grows into an independent adult, she begins to see silence as an impediment on her self-expression, and grows to view silence with resentment rather than with fearful reverence.
Ms. Hurley
A.P Language and Composition
29 October 2012
The Woman Warrior: Slashing Silence With a Steel Pen
In her postmodern autobiography, Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston narrates her life as a Chinese American struggling to find her identity in a home permeated by ambiguity. As Kingston matures, she comes to recognize the destructive nature of silence, and is able to articulate the malignant cause and effect relationship silence has on the individual human psyche as well as the well being of others.
Kingston begins her autobiography by describing silence as a double-edged sword, meaning that while silence has the capability to be used as a deadly weapon, it is also harmful to one that uses silence as a tool for censorship in an effort to change the past. In the first chapter of her autobiography titled “No Name Woman”, Kingston opens up to a scene between Kingston and her mother. When the two of them are alone, her mother imparts a terrible secret about Kingston’s Aunt’s infidelity, then forces her daughter to take a vow of silence, urging her to never speak of her Aunt or to even acknowledge her existence: “ …they want me to participate in her punishment. And I have…the real punishment was…the family’s deliberately forgetting about her” (16). By refusing to discuss Kingston’s Aunt, the family is effectively terminating her existence, but also giving the terrible secret more power. The memory of Kingston’s Aunt is so stigmatic that topic of sex is unspeakable, and even the word "Aunt" has the potential to strike her father with misery, forcing him to delve into his painful memories. This view of silence as formidable power reflects Kingston’s perspective as a young, impressionable youth, racked with trepidation about the world around her. As Kingston grows into an independent adult, she begins to see silence as an impediment on her self-expression, and grows to view silence with resentment rather than with fearful reverence.