Symbolism In The Woman Warrior

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The woman warrior was an interesting novel of memoirs that gave her audience a new perspective on feminine values, and while there might have been various themes throughout this book, the main focus revolved around Kingston's femininity and struggles of finding one's own, personal voice. Throughout its five chapters there are numerous references to her everyday emotional and physical struggles of growing up as a chinese woman. Kingston's implementation of literary devices, such characterization, metaphors, and symbolism are used in order to brilliantly set the theme in The Woman Warrior.
At the beginning of this novel, Kingston’s first chapter “No Name Woman”the entire family is silenced with secrecy, because of an aunt who had not only disgraced her family, but the entire village, when she became pregnant by someone other than her husband, who has been absent in her life for years. This shameful deed drives the woman into committing suicide soon after childbirth by throwing …show more content…

Her struggle continues when she decides to work for an art supply house, after refusing racist demands from her boss, she alone attempts to fight back by using her not so persuasive small voice as protest. Her “voice is unreliable” and whispered, and as can be expected has no impact on the situation what so ever, and results with Kingston unfortunately out of a job. As her book progresses Kingston talks about the many women in her life who have had the same experiences from being a woman and tells of their stories of having little to no voice against their husbands or male figures in their lives. For the many women who do not have a voice in kingston's story, she honors them by giving each individual a story and identity of their