THE WOMAN WARRIOR MEMOIRS OF A GIRLHOOD AMONG GHOSTSMaxine Hong
Kingston
MAXINE HONG KINGSTON
Born in Stockton, CA on October 27,1940. Chinese-American author
and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.
Graduated with a BA in English in 1962. Contributed to the feminist
movement with The Woman Warrior. The Woman Warrior (1976), awarded
the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and China
Men (1980), awarded the National Book Award. Influenced by Walt
Whitman, Virginia Woolf, and William Carlos Williams, who were
inspirational influences for her work, shaping her analysis of
gender studies.
TALKING-STORIES
I- No Name Woman : Dishonor, Death. II- White Tigers: Woman
Warrior, Vengeance, Love.
III- Shaman: Womens Independence, Womens Value, Immigration. IV-
At the Western Palace: Mental Disorder, Peer Pressure. V- A Song
for a Barbarian Reed Pipe: Bullying, Cultural Beliefs, Finding ones
voice and place, Insanity.
CHARACTERS
Maxine Hong Kingston Brave Orchid No Name Woman Moon Orchid The
Silent Girl Fa Mu Lan Old couple Moon Orchids Husband
THEMES
The Role of Women in Society The Journey to find personal
Identity
Mental Disorders Family Acceptance
Immigrant Experience/Cultural Clashes
SYMBOLS
Ghosts The Warrior Birds Bound Feet Silence and Voice
Talk-Story
HERITAGE & IDENTITY
Chinese-Americans, when you try to understand what things in you
are Chinese, how do you separate what is peculiar to childhood, to
poverty, insanities, one family, your mother who marked your
growing with stories, from what is Chinese? What is Chinese
tradition and what is the movies? (The Woman Warrior 5,6)
THE BALLAD OF MULAN
THE END
Thank You!
A book holds a house of goldChinese Proverb
