After reading Chapter 2, “White Tigers,” in Maxine Hong Kingston’s book “The Woman Warrior,” it helped me better comprehend what was happening in Chapter 1 and how confusing it was. It also demonstrates the key point that Maxine Hong Kingston is attempting to make in this chapter. By telling the heroic struggle of Fa Mu Lan, one of the Women Warriors from whom the memoir takes its name, the chapter illustrates a more positive tone in the author’s search for her Chinese American identity. As we continue reading the chapter, I hope that my explanations of some of the symbols Kingston uses will help you, the reader, gain a better grasp of it.
One of the key themes of this chapter is the empowerment of women and how they were mistreated in China, but a figure named Fa Mu Lan demonstrated how they could be equally as strong as men and just as effective leaders. On the first page of the chapter it states, “Perhaps women were once so dangerous that they had to have their feet bound. It was a women who invented white crane boxing only two hundred years ago. She was already an expert pole fighter, daughter of a teacher trained at the Shao-lin temple, where there lived an order of fighting monks” (Pg 19). When men felt they had great authority, you can observe the injustice and maltreatment of women in China. They wanted them to remain at home and take care of them, not even to consider raising an army or engaging in combat in any way. Listening to Fa Mu Lans story makes me upset because of how hard she had trained and how difficult it was to try and get to the point of a woman warrior and there could be so many more with the help of training. It is shown with this quote from the book, “ ‘What would you like to do?’ the old man asked. ‘You can go back right now if you like. You can go pull sweet potatoes, or you can stay with us and learn how to fight barbarians and bandits’ “ (Pg 22).
She ultimately chooses to remain with the two elderly people because she recognizes the freedom in it. She understands that if the training is successful and what they claim is true, she wouldn’t have to slave away but could instead develop into a leader and a warrior. After a long 15 years of training it was time to take back what was rightfully hers. So that people wouldn’t discover she was a woman and lose respect for her, she had to disguise herself to appear like a man. It worked and she began to gain a following of people that would help her on her quest to take over. After defeating everyone, Fa Mu Lan is reunited with her family. You can see the struggles Fa Mu Lan faced throughout the chapter as she worked to earn the respect she desired, but you can also see how proud of herself she was of herself once she finally succeeded in doing so because of the love and respect she had earned from others. Nevertheless, most women will never experience it since they are forced to work as slaves and are unable to showcase their talents. The book immediately made it clear to me that women in China are not treated equally to males.
Towards the end of the chapter it goes into how Maxine Hong Kingston reflects on her American life. She says her American life is a disappointment. As she went away to college in the 1960’s she wanted to change the world like Fa Mu Lan but not have to turn into a boy, but she wanted the treatment that boys get in China, for example her brother that gets welcomed with chickens and pigs. She uses her time in America to escape from the slave life she is used to living back in China. This quote explains it, “Even now, unless I’m happy, I burn the food when I cook. I do not feed people. I let the dirty dishes rot. I eat at other peoples tables but wont invite them to mine, where the dishes are rotting” (Pg 48). This quote shows how the American lifestyle is much simpler for a woman. If she didn’t want to do something she didn’t have to and she proved it, in China a woman couldn’t get away with that.
In conclusion, You definitely see the unfairness women in China are treated with but it is the warriors who make the name for themselves and rise above all. I hope you guys understand the chapter a little more with this information and feel free to comment and help me understand anything I might have misinterpreted or may not understand fully.
Discussion questions:
What role does Fa Mu Lan play in The Woman Warrior?
What significance does the rabbit’s self-immolation in “White Tigers” have for Fa Mu Lan?
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