All of us that live in the United States are known as Americans. But where do we really emanate? For people such as myself, are mixed with other nationalities. Those nationalities consist of other cultures that also consist of ancestors that have also come along with it. We always wonder where or what we came from. What our ancestors were like, where they important to life, or did they make a huge impact on their nation. In The Women Warrior Memoirs of a girlhood among ghosts, Maxine Hong Kingston tells about her ancestry from her mother’s point of view. She puts the story in a way that it was supposed to remain a secret. This novel is a book based on Maxine’s discoveries about her family’s journey to the U.S. Her mom brings her closer to detail with everything and catches her up on history about how her family got where they are now. The things that they encounter on their trip where more than outrageous.
Growing up in California and raising a family in Honolulu, Kingston has a truly interesting background. The Women Warrior goes into great detail about the history on her life. The reasons why they came to America and how they reached the states are expressed. When she says her mother said “You must not tell anyone” (Kingston3) it was known that the story was not supposed to be told to Kingston because her mom wasn’t equivocating. Even though Kingston’s mother was not supposed to tell her child this story according to her husband, she seemed to be very blunt with it, not holding back and kept restating that Maxine was to not speak about the situations being told to her. Because her father’s sister (aunt) killed herself and her child they vilified the family member. She was not to be spoken of and was meant to be forgotten because of her decisions. Her aunt was pregnant by someone no one knew. No one asked or spoke on the pregnant women they just went on with their days. Everyone figured that it had to be someone they knew in the village because the everyone seemed to know everyone. They started to believe that because her aunt committed suicide the dark spirits where traveling with them. They experienced their village being raided and everything being taken away from them. Because of all of this they blamed the aunt. Kingston says “When my mother had to warn us about life, my mother told stories that run like this one, a story to grow up on”. (5) Just like the saying never judge a book by its cover, never judge someone by their outside. You never know what journey they have come across in their life.
Growing up in California and raising a family in Honolulu, Kingston has a truly interesting background. The Women Warrior goes into great detail about the history on her life. The reasons why they came to America and how they reached the states are expressed. When she says her mother said “You must not tell anyone” (Kingston3) it was known that the story was not supposed to be told to Kingston because her mom wasn’t equivocating. Even though Kingston’s mother was not supposed to tell her child this story according to her husband, she seemed to be very blunt with it, not holding back and kept restating that Maxine was to not speak about the situations being told to her. Because her father’s sister (aunt) killed herself and her child they vilified the family member. She was not to be spoken of and was meant to be forgotten because of her decisions. Her aunt was pregnant by someone no one knew. No one asked or spoke on the pregnant women they just went on with their days. Everyone figured that it had to be someone they knew in the village because the everyone seemed to know everyone. They started to believe that because her aunt committed suicide the dark spirits where traveling with them. They experienced their village being raided and everything being taken away from them. Because of all of this they blamed the aunt. Kingston says “When my mother had to warn us about life, my mother told stories that run like this one, a story to grow up on”. (5) Just like the saying never judge a book by its cover, never judge someone by their outside. You never know what journey they have come across in their life.
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