Throughout her memoir, The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston laments on the gender roles prevalent in both her own culture and the United States, as well as the disdain she feels for the ideology driving these beliefs and the difficulties she’s faced resulting from it. In “White Tigers,” Kingston displays this theme through the use of the epic hero quest and paralleling common staples of the genre in her own story, effectively demonstrating the importance of her own personal message, feminism and female empowerment, through this process. Specifically, Kingston utilizes elements such as the quest itself, the constant struggle and setbacks faced by the protagonist as they attempt to achieve their goal, and the characteristics possessed by the main hero of the tale, Fa Mu Lan, in order …show more content…
Similar to Odysseus and Achilles of the Homeric Epics, Fa Mu Lan symbolizes the highest valued traits of her respective culture, namely bravery, leadership, courageousness, and even, mercy, despite ruthlessness towards one’s enemies. Whether Fa Mu Lan truly embodies her culture though, unlike the Greek warriors, is ambiguous. Though Mu Lan clearly represents the prized traits of Chinese culture, as a woman it is uncertain whether she truly represents them within the context of said culture. As Kingston describes it “There is a Chinese word for the female I-which is slave” (Kingston, 36). In Chinese culture, as Kingston demonstrates with this quote, women are expected to be subservient and meek, quite the opposite of Fa Mu Lan. By emphasizing the qualities of heroine Fa Mu Lan lauded by many in Chinese culture, yet are discouraged for women, Kingston calls attention to the dichotomy between story, or fantasy, and the real
Xiong uses battles, executions, assassinations, and scandals to appeal to readers of any genre. Once a reader gets into the book they are hooked in the epic events of the book and the deep look into the ruling class. Unfortunately, Xiong’s novel might somewhat difficult to get into for many readers with no experience in Chinese history. Xiong also attempts to utilize dialogue that often comes off as underdeveloped or simplistic.
The section begins with Cassie pointing a gun at Evan. After the attack on them during their journey to get back Cassie’s brother, Sammy, from Camp Haven, Cassie starts to realize that Evan singlehandedly killed all of the fighters with one shot. With previous clues given in the previous section and what she is experiencing now, she confirms her suspicion that Evan is indeed her silencer shooter. With this, the hostility begins and Evan starts to explain that he is an Other, but he was one of the few who advocated for a non-takeover of Earth. He relates the plans of the Others to Cassie, and explains the 5th wave to her.
Kingston has rarely seen independent woman and they seem to be very happy every time she’s encountered one. Kingston dreams of one day being able to be like the happy independent woman in the pictures. “A job and a room” seems so simple, but in a life where Kingston is told she can be a wife or a slave this seems like quite the luxury. In another example Kingston, through Fa Mu Lan, reveals how one’s life is more fulfilling if he or she defies the gender norms. In “White Tigers,” Fa Mu Lan is preparing to leave to war as she “[puts] on my men’s clothes and armor and tied [her] hair in a man’s fashion.
The degree of Geraldine’s injuries serves as a wake-up call, a chilling reminder of the grotesque violence Indigenous women face when they escape their attackers. Erdrich creates a tense situation, prompting thoughts of what could have happened to Geraldine had she not evaded her attacker. Unlike the Indigenous sufferers of physical violence in Source A, Whitey’s girlfriend Sonja, a white woman, although also a victim of physical and emotional abuse, never experiences an equal extent of violence. It is true that more than just Indigenous women face violence. Violence against women in and of itself is an epidemic around the world.
Many of the women in these stories are portrayed as strong, independent women who, in many cases, are the hero themselves. Women in Chrétien and La Motte-Fouqué’s stories are given strong roles in order to highlight and emphasize the important virtues of peace, bravery, and power which ultimately transfers the role of the hero from men to women. In order to understand why the women in Yvain and The Magic Ring are considered to be the true heroes, the definition of a true hero must first be fully defined. Many will describe a hero as a character who performs deeds to remove people from danger.
“Her actions remind me that, even under unbearable circumstances, one can still believe in justice,” in David Henry Hwang’s foreword, in Ji-Li Jiang’s memoir Red Scarf Girl, commemorated even during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution anyone can overcome adversity (9). Ji-Li Jiang was a young teenager at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and living through a very political time in China’s history made Ji-Li into the person she is today. Ji-Li’s intelligence, her choices, and family devotion made her into the headstrong and successful person she is today. Even when Ji-li thought she was unintelligent, others saw she was wise. There were many moments when Ji-Li was reminded she was very smart.
Gender role is basically an arrangement of societal standards directing what sorts of practices are by and large viewed as satisfactory, suitable or alluring for a man in view of their real or actual sex. In this paper I will focus on the gender roles with reference to the mini-epic” the tain” This piece of Irish literature presents a very good distinction between the old period and the medieval time period. Formerly, men were the protagonists, leaders or the saviors in the literature. A man had to go to the wars and fights, to preserve the territory and honor (women) was their duty.
Thus Ward is able to address the double edge sword that presents females in stories as “weak” or built upon the “wrath of a woman.” The inclusion of the universality that is associated with Greek mythology allows Ward to shed off the label of blackness from her work. With China, Esch and Katrina all carrying some traits of Medea, it allows the reader to see all aspects of being female from being vulnerable, brave, nurturing and protective. Moreover, Ward insinuates that women should be presented as empowering to one another and through Medea paralleling story Ward articulates her
Uday Sethi English 10 Monday, October 5, 2015 Comparative Essay A seeking for identity shown through evolution takes place in both “The Chinese Seamstress” and “The Handsomest Drowned man”, seen through the development of characters from narrative stories that help them grow as individuals who live in societies that are isolated and unknown from the rest of the world. The way the narratives impact the characters and society in the two stories help them seek a new identity that could not be discovered without them. The novel “The Chinese Seamstress” is a great way to exemplify development of knowledge and character seen through two major characters, the narrator and the seamstress.
ONLY A TEACHABLE HEART VIVIENNE J. WARNER CHALLENGE ENGLISH MRS. PEARSON MAY 18TH, 2016 As the creator of the 25 epic hero steps, Joseph Campbell said: “We must let go of the life we have planned to accept the one that is waiting for us” because every epic hero must put aside his own plans for his life to accept the one that was meant for him. In order to maintain the title of an epic hero, a champion must complete the hero's journey steps. The words from Joseph Campbell describe the journey of our once comfortable hobbit, Samwise Gamgee’s transition to becoming an epic hero in The Lord of the Rings as a epic hero must be willing to step out of something they are traditionally comfortable with.
A Pair of Tickets In “A Pair of Tickets,” Amy Tan described the journey of Jing-Mei Woo, a middle-aged, Chinese-American woman, to China where she experienced a compelling change in herself. The author herself is Chinese-American, which enabled her to use insightful experiences in the story that were similar to her own experiences to better illustrate the emotions that Jing-Mei felt. Reminiscing about her own trip to China, Tan wrote: “As soon as my feet touched China, I become Chinese” (Tan 146). As Jing-Mei made the long travel to her motherland, she experienced a series of events, met her long-lost relatives, reflected on her own memories, and listened to stories about her mother’s past, deepening the connection that she had with her mother
Writer Sherman Alexie has a knack of intertwining his own problematic biographical experience with his unique stories and no more than “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” demonstrates that. Alexie laced a story about an Indian man living in Spokane who reflects back on his struggles in life from a previous relationship, alcoholism, racism and even the isolation he’s dealt with by living off the reservation. Alexie has the ability to use symbolism throughout his tale by associating the title’s infamy of two different ethnic characters and interlinking it with the narrator experience between trying to fit into a more society apart from his own cultural background. However, within the words themselves, Alexie has created themes that surround despair around his character however he illuminates on resilience and alcoholism throughout this tale.
In her essay, “Where I Came from is Like This,” the author Paula Gunn Allen effectively utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to convince her audience, women studies and ethnic scholars, of her claim that the struggles of American Indian women have had with their identities. Gunn Allen uses all three modes of persuasion to describe the struggles of American Indian women. She uses ethos to strengthen her credibility, logos to logically explain the issue, and pathos to emotionally explain the struggles of American Indian women have had with their identities. With ethos she tells us where she is from and how she got her information, which makes her more trustworthy and believable.
Mother knows best. And yet so many daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club feel slighted by what the matriarchal figures in their lives have in mind for them, or rather, what they believe their mothers have in mind for them. A perfect storm of expectation, true and false, about love, about success, about being Chinese. The souring of mother-daughter relationships in The Joy Luck Club stem from unrealistic or ill conceived expectations that both parties hold for the other.
The authority of tradition in the society Kingston lived in is very oppressive. Living in a male-dominated society forces Kingston to live in curiosity and fear due to her aunt 's act of adultery. Brave Orchid, Kingston 's mother, draws on Chinese myths and experiences to teach Chinese traditions and customs to her daughter. They are not usually fact, so Kingston has to decipher what is real from what is fantasy. The story opens up a world of imagination for her about not only what it is like for her aunt, but what it may be like for her.