The Woman Warrior Essay

Brittany Tiano
Ms. Wenzel
WLS Tutorial
24 October 2012

Reality vs. Fantasy: Kingston’s use of Juxtaposition in The Woman Warrior

In The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston writes an honest memoir that focuses in on the lives of five woman; the most important being Kingston, and is told in 5 chapters. As a reader, we get a glimpse into the realities of life for many Chinese emigrants in America and their children. Kingston, who is the narrator in the book, creates an elaborate fantasy in the second chapter, called “White Tigers”. In it, Kingston portrays a strong warrior woman, who leads her army to victory by overthrowing the emperor at his palace. In reality, she was in America, struggling to get noticed by the unfamiliar people surrounding her.This section of the book bares great importance because it shows the authors use of juxtaposition on the girls reality and a fantasy world she wishes to be in. Readers feel sympathy that she can’t reach her goal of becoming a warrior, but must be stuck in an unfamiliar country where she is ignored and made fun of. Life in America was not all it was cracked up to be. Kingston learned this pretty quick. Since she was of chinese dissent, she had a very slim chance of ever becoming anything big, maybe an owner of a laundromat, but that’s it. Men would be especially difficult for Kingston to get the hang of as well. She tried to look feminine and be sweet but nothing worked. At school she wasn’t respected. At work she wasn’t respected. While working at an art store, her boss was telling her to order more of a certain type of yellow and he used the “N” word to describe it. She says, “‘I don’t like that word,’ I had to say in my bad, small persons voice that makes no impact. The boss never deigned to answer”(Kingston 48). In America, Kingston is especially down on herself and winey: “Nobody supports me at the expense of his own adventure. Then I get bitter: no one supports me; I am not loved enough to be supported”(Kingston 48). She feels like she has nobody to turn to, nobody to relate to, and worst of all, nobody to love her; which made being in America harder for her. In reality, a woman's place in society was beneath those of men, and then being an Asian-American woman would direct her to the bottom of the food chain. In a quick second though, things would change and she was a whole new person. This was possible in her fantasy world, one which she created in her minds eye and loved to be in.

Imagine being two people at once; only one of them turned off and the other brought to life. That’s how kingston felt when she was in her fantasy world of being a warrior. She trained for 15 years to be the best she could be and impressed all who she met. She had the ability to give life; giving birth to a baby boy, and take life; executing many targets she had seen in the magical gourd. As the author writes this, you can see just how juxtaposed the two worlds are and wish that Kingston lived a better life, or that the fantasy could become a reality. In her fantasy, she has a son, confidence, a killer army (literally), and a loving husband. She has such passion for going after men that had impressed her brother and father: “I watched the baron’s piggish face chew open-mouthed on the sacrificial pig. I plunged my hand into the gourd, making a grab for his thick throat…”(Kingston 45). She was so eager to destroy him and get her family members back. Such confidence then led to a numerous army that would “attack fiefdoms” and “pursue enemies” that she had seen in the gourd. Kingston notes, “I inspired my army, and I fed them...We brought order where ever we went...I won over a goodly number of fighters...” (Kingston 37). She practically had people bowing down to her, and for once in her life, she was loved, a wish she had had for so long. She realized that her “son was so delighted that the shiny general was his mother too” and a sense of accomplishment and honor was brought about her. (Kingston 45). Between this fictional life, and her reality, she was stuck in a rut. Right off the bat, Kingston tells the reader that her American life has been such a disappointment” (Kingston 45). Being an Asian-American was no easy task. Kingston suffered through bias, and it came “to the point that as long as you ‘look’ Asian, you’re open to attack, regardless of which group you belong to...” (Lindsey). The most interesting part of this chapter is the last few pages when Kingston gets back to talking about her fantasy life. She says, “I mustn’t feel bad that i haven't done as well as the swordswoman did; after all, no bird called me, no wise old people tutored me. I have no magic beads, no water gourd sight...My brain had momentarily lost it’s depth perception. I was that eager to find an unusual bird”(Kingston 49). In this last part, Kingston self-reflects on her fantasy and how badly she wants it. She feels like if she just looks hard enough for the signs; the bird, the clouds, the mountains, she’ll find her way to the old people’s home and fulfill her fantasy. As readers, we know this will never happen, which makes us feel sympathetic that her future will never be as appealing as she wants it to be.

There are numerous examples of juxtaposition throughout the book but this chapter most likely held the bulk of them. Maxine Kingston’s writing was filled with stories and unfortunate realities that made a reader understand what it was like to be so different now matter how much she did to blend in. The opposition between the two lives gave us an inside look of a culture’s myth brought to an imagination, and a reality that pain staked a girl to disliking a place that she lived.

Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior. New York: Vintage International, 1976. Print.

Lindsey, Robert. "Asian-Americans See Growing Bias." New York Times 10 09 1983, Special Edition n. pag. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. .