Maxine Hong-Kingston's The Woman Warrior

The Woman Warrior Survival In 20th Century Maxine Hong-Kingston’s novel/autobiography The Woman Warrior uses fictional female characters that depict her own struggles. Many of these women are empowered and give Kingston confidence that she can succeed in the male dominant world she lives in. The less powerful women give her a chance to learn from their mistakes. Both groups of women enable Kingston to what traits to value and mistakes to avoid when growing up in America. Kingston uses the character Fa Mu Lan as a role model for young Chinese woman like her self. Fa Mu Lan is a brave/courageous warrior that is the opposite of what Chinese women are supposed to be in society. Thanks to Fa Mu Lan the narrator and other young Chinese girls growing

She is Intelligent, Aggressive, and determined to succeed in life. Brave orchid is one of the most intelligent students in her class at the Keung School of Midwifery. Hard work and high intelligence is an extremely useful trait for a young Chinese girl growing up in the mid 20th century. Higher education usually correlates to a stable income making life less stressful for the family. Brave Orchid also shows her aggressiveness when she kills a vicious ghost. Aggressiveness is a useful trait for a young girl growing up in this era because if you’re timid you wont accomplish anything. Even though Kingston was timid as a child she applied this trait later in life when she finally had enough and told her mother what she felt. She eventually becomes more mature later in life and due to her intelligence she becomes a strong independent writer. Brave Orchid also showed compassion at times. For example, (Maxine Hong-Kingston, The Woman Warrior) states, “Good night, Little Dog”(Pg.32). Kingston had not heard that from her mother in years. This is important for a young Chinese girl growing up in the 20th century because being angry all the time might affect you’re quality of life. This trait helps Kingston in the present because as a mature Adult she can see the world logically and see where her mother was coming