Author: MicheeG

After reading the Chapter ‘Shaman’ in the woman warrior, it gave me a good understanding of who the mother is and who the mother wants Kingston to be, as well as how similar they are. The mother was a very strong-willed person who persevered mostly during her old age it seems. When the mum went to study medicine, her age wasn’t told true, she did not want anyone to know her age, ‘My mother did not let it be known that she had already had two children and that some of these girls were young enough to be her daughters’(125). ‘Older people were expected to be smarter;’ (127). Though she studied for 20 years before going to school for medicine, she told them it was just 10 years. She did not want her age to affect how she got her education. Looking at this, it reminded me of the previous chapter ‘White Tigers’, how Kingston compared herself to Fa Mu Lan, and how they had to change their identity just to succeed in life as a woman. Fa Mu Lan had to disguise herself as a male in order to fight in the war just to help her family. Kingston refused to give in to the pressure women were given just to be called a wife or slave. Now learning the story of her mum, having to lie about her age so she could peacefully learn medicine as she wanted to.  

There were a lot of Ghost mentionings in the book, from when the mum went to medical school, straight to when they migrated to America, yet in America, the ghosts seemed to take a more defined shape than the ones in China. In China they had names for the ghosts, ‘Boulder’ or ‘Sitting’ ghost, ‘Sit Dom Kuei’ and such, yet in America, it was very simple, ‘Police Ghost’, ‘Bus Ghost’, ‘Taxi Ghost’ and such. This gives the idea that China seems complex yet simple, while America was simple yet complex, meaning in China when it comes to its culture, or ancestral history, it seems very complex from an outsider’s point of view, while the living style for the most part, is simple, yet in America, things just seem straightforward, this is that and that is this, while it is hard to have a good and simple life from an immigrant’s perspective, yet, in the end, it all comes down to a person’s perspective, whether they are native to a specific country or not. Kingston though doesn’t seem to like hearing about ghosts, or seeing them anymore, she stated to her mum, “I don’t want to hear Wino Ghosts and Hobo Ghosts. I’ve found some places in this country that are ghost-free”. It may have been fun or interesting to her when she was little, but she seems to lose interest in ghosts now.

The mum also expressed what it’s like migrating to a new country, how the minute she stepped into America, she started working, she started to regret moving there, stating how time seemed to move more slowly in China than in America and how you wouldn’t seem to rush a lot as they do in America. “This is terrible ghost country, where a human being works her life away”(208), implying that she simply worked her life away, just to make a better life for her children. “I have worked too much. Human beings don’t work like this in China. Time goes slower there.”(210) which gives us an immigrant perspective of what it’s like working in a different country than their own. “I can’t sleep in this country because it doesn’t shut down for the night.”(210), 24/7 people are working just to make ends meet. 

Kingston also made a connection to her parents and grandmother, how her grandmother always send letters to her parents to come back to China, and how she misses them, and the parents refused, now that the mum is growing old she also would love to see her house full of relatives, her children, her children’s children, and her in-laws, yet they haven’t been, so the mum is feeling so lonely, the same way the mum is feeling. “The gods pay her and my father back for leaving their parents. My grandmother wrote letters pleading for them to come home, and they ignored her. Now they know how she felt.”(207), which leads to the question, would this continue along their family line, would the gods pay her, and her siblings, back as well for not going back to their parents, or would there be a change along the line. 

This whole chapter was definitely a bit confusing, and I am not sure if this blog post helps clear up anything based on this chapter for anyone but hopefully, this helps and as well gives some helpful insight to anyone.

Questions

1. How did the story of the “spy” who was stoned play into Kington’s mum’s story? Did her death play into the reason her mum left China?
2. Do you think that the setting or time that the mum gave birth to Kingston (Middle of World War 2), played some type of role in how she wanted her to grow up, and why she told her all these stories? 

Citations

‘Shaman’, The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston

I am a Sociology Major sophomore here at SUNY Cortland. I don’t really have many interesting facts about myself. I am the last born of a triplet. I like studying Japanese on my own time as well as K-pop dances. I am a part of the Cortland Dance Company here on campus, as well as the SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir, and the newly founded Praise Dance team here on campus, founded by both my sister and I. I am originally from Jamaica and came here 6/7 years ago. I am a Christian. I like K-pop, cats, cute stuff, pastel colours, dancing, and reading. I will advise others who would want to get to know me, APPROACH WITH CAUTION!!! 🙂