I was wondering if anyone had given more thought to the end of Woman Warrior. We only briefly got to talk about it in class and, I must confess, I don’t think I’m any nearer to reaching a conclusion (or even an understanding) about the narrator’s motivation for ending the novel with this story.
My initial thought was that this was about being Chinese living in America. With this type of analysis, white Americans would be analogous to the barbarians. However, I’m not sure if the term “barbarian” is used as a derogatory representation of white Americans, or if it is simply for the sake of the story. It would be simple to say that this was a derogatory term because the barbarians are described as primitive, and “barbarian” immediately conjures negative imagery. However, it feels as if Ts’ai Yen becomes comfortable with these people.
Again, following with this metaphor, what is the symbolism of the song? I was thinking that it may be it could be symbolic of self-identity or understanding the past or history of an individual. If this was the case, it makes sense that the barbarians could understand the underlying sentiments and emotions of the song, even if they couldn’t understand the words. These are like “universal truths” that, as the narrator says “it translated well” (Kingston, 209).
In Frank Chin’s article, “Come All Ye Asian American Writers,” he discusses the song about Mulan and its references to the twelve years that Mulan spends fighting. He also mentions that twelve years is “one full cycle around the lunar zodiac—a lifetime in microcosm” (Chin, 7). I think that this point is important to note for this reference as well. For Ts’ai Yen, she spends a lifetime amongst the barbarians.
And, if all of this is a legitimate interpretation of the final story, why would the narrator discuss it in such an oblique manner?
2 comments:
I thought that the end was interesting in a number of ways. First, when the family is at the dinner table and Kingston begins to list off the list of grievances she has against her mother, it reminded me of when Fa Mu Lan's father tattooed his list of grievances in "White Tigers." Also, I think that the way she begins her final talk story with "the beginning is hers, the ending, mine" illustrates the continuous impact her mother has on her life while incorporating her own words and story to make it unique.
In response to your comment suggesting that Kingston labels white people as "barbarians", I think that could be supported by the title itself "The Woman Warrior." The word "warrior" suggests that she is surrounded by other barbarians- so maybe barbarians aren't just white people, it could also be referring to the American culture, etc.
I'm stuck at seeing the connection between ts'ai yen and kingston. I can see that ts'ai yen was forced to live with the barbarians and even adopt some of their cultures but that experience seems to be a more similar to the experiences of Kingston's parents. any thoughts?
i was going to bring up what jenny brought up and that was the beginning of this last story. as we know, one of the big themes in this novel is voice, silencing, language, speech. and i agree with jenny in that this ending addresses the complications by which a lack of voice or an abundance of silencing has conjured.
she is taking a story that her mother has given her. by doing so she is acknowleding her mother and the impact her mother has had on her in a positive manner. she has learned from her. she has taken what she has learned and is relaying that to those around her in talk story.
story telling is a verbal art form, so in this way, the narrator is also forming her voice. both by verbalizing a story and also by recreating a story that she has internalized.
my question is regarding that last sentence, the last sentence of the story that is the last sentence of the novel. "It translated well." in some ways i see this as a parrallel to story telling (and story telling fascintes me). each time a story is told, the teller cant help but to add a bit of him or herself in the story thus altering it and personalizing it. when translating a piece, the main content and meaning may be similar but bc languages are not and can not be exactly equivalent, some things are bound to be left out or added in. eh, what else do people have to say about this last sentence and how it relates to themes from the novel?
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