The Woman Warrior

I actually liked this book. I thought it was one of the better ones that we read this semester. At first, I didn't think I was going to like it because I thought it was just going to jump around quite a bit and be confusing. But, I liked how each chapter was kind of its own story. The first chapter, was a little disturbing. The girl had become pregnant outside of marriage, which was and probably is frowned upon in Chinese culture. I think it is horrible that she felt like she had to kill herself as well as her child because people would not except her. Kingston made it out like the mother killer her child because she thought it was going to be a girl, which would have been useless to society. It is so sad that women were seen as useless to Chinese society. I suppose this is still the case somewhat currently, due to Chinese people wanting a boy to carry on the family name.

I also liked the second chapter, Two White Tigers. I thought it was cool how Kingston dreamed of being a woman warrior. This chapter reminded me so much of the Disney movie, Mulan. I liked that movie, so maybe that is why I liked this chapter too? I'm not really sure. I just like how she would have done just about anything to become a woman warrior. I think she wanted to do it more just to prove to people that women can do what is perceived to be a "man's job."

I did not care for the last three chapters quite as much. I am just not big into stories when ghosts are in the picture. But, then I started to think.. Are the people that the Chinese women are calling ghosts, all the American people that treat them differently? That is kinda what I took from it. I thought it was horrible that Moon Orchid's husband came to America and found some other woman and told Moon that he wanted nothing to do with her and could get in trouble over their marriage.

Overall, I found The Woman Warrior to be pretty interesting and a pretty easy read. I think it is horrible how women were treated in China. However, I think that a lot of this still goes on not only in China, but around the world. Even in the United States, there is discrimination against females. While I wish this could stop world wide, that is just not realistic. But, I think Kingston did a good job portraying Chinese society/culture from a woman's point of view.

Eric