Part of
human nature is to wonder and dig in to your cultural past. Where you came
from, traditions in which your ancestors participated in and so much more.
These are things the author of No Name
Woman wonders as she dives into her family’s past.
Maxine Hong Kingston, a
Chinese-American who wonders how to differentiate Chinese tradition with
reality, writes an essay on her fascination with her past, her roots in China
and her life as a Chinese-American. Kingston writes about a story in which she
sworn to her mother to keep a secret. The irony within this piece of text is
already present, the author is making a family secret public. Kingston’s aunt,
a woman with no name, was married to a man who moved to America. Two years
later, the aunt was impregnated and gives birth to a child. Because of this, the
aunt was proven disloyal to her husband and therefore shun from her surrounding
villagers and her family. This caused an uprising, the villagers came and
raided the aunt’s belongings: her livestock and her clothes. Once the aunt
gives birth, she throws herself and her child to the bottom of a well. This
story stays with Kingston as she grows up. Her mother uses this story to alter
her mind, teaching her to choose the path of loyalty and to keep her family’s
reputation at a constant.
The audience Kingston intended to
reach with this essay is people stuck between whether their traditional past is
fiction or reality. Her purpose is to find an in between of Chinese and
American culture, to come to terms with her individual identity. Kingston uses
rhetorical devices such as imagery and motif. She describes the story of her
aunt in great detail, giving her aunt a real personality that the audience is
able to connect with. An example of a motif also mention in No Name Woman is that of ghosts, people
who are forgotten long ago yet still make an effect on the present day. The
author well supported her purpose to create a meaningful essay.
No comments:
Post a Comment