Review of The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts

by bettworld.com

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts(***) by Maxine Hong Kingston is part autobiographical part Chinese legend. Kingston takes us from village life in China to Stockton, California in the early 60's. Then we see the struggles of a Chinese-American girl finding her place in the two cultures.

We understand the pressure she feels when her mother tells her the story of Mulan. Mulan was the woman warrior who gave up her life to protect her villagers. She was disguised as a man and led an army to throw off the wicked governments. Kingston’s mother was teaching her daughter that a woman must sacrifice everything and never give up.

At the same time that Kingston is being told to give her life for the community, she is made to feel worthless when all of the neighbors tell her that girls are worthless. "Better to raise geese than girls" they remind her mother often. This very negative view of girls is also displayed when Kingston’s mother visits the slave market to buy a girl. The baby girls are free. 

The visit to the slave market was most interesting. Kingston’s mother is a doctor. She worked very hard to become a doctor after her first children died. Her husband moved to America to find his fortune leaving her to fend for herself in a country where women didn’t have much education or freedom. She walks about the market looking for a girl. She finds one, and bargains with the slave trader. She tells him that the girl is no good, and he reduces the price. Then she walks away with her and says, “Now you will be my nurse and I will teach you everything I know.”

Another story in the book gives us a view into the life of another woman who moved here from Hong Kong. It’s Kingston’s sister whose husband left her there and married a new woman in America. Kingston’s mother forces her sister to confront her husband demanding her rights as “the first wife.”

The "ghosts" refer to the white people around her and to the many ghost stories that her mother told her. Ghosts are part of daily life in China as they became part of her life in America. They influence every aspect of their lives.  Even though Kingston’s mother is a doctor she still is very superstitious, although less than the other women in the village.

This story is mostly about Kingston’s mother. She was a fighter and was strong. The woman was cold and emotionless, but she showed the cared by her constant work. Even in her old age, Kingston’s mother refused to retire and worked picking crops in California after the government tore down the family’s Chinese laundry business.

What is sad about her mother’s story is that she didn’t have the things that show “success” to us Americans. She lived in a small house. All her children had moved away. She was still working in her old age. She lost the family business. She had almost nothing to show for all of her sacrifice. But there is something inspiring in the story. Life is not about what you have in the end. It’s about how you lived it. It’s about perseverance. Its about fighting the “ghosts” and winning.

The book takes you on a journey and shows the hardships of finding a balance between two opposite cultures. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Chinese culture and or the struggles of Chinese-Americans.