"When we Chinese girls listened to the adults talk-story, we learned that we failed if we grew up to be but wives or slaves. We could be heroines, swords women."(19). The story of Fa Mu Lan was very popular to young girls in China. It gave them hope and the power of courage, along with the knowledge that they can actually succeed in life. .
Girls in China were thought to have little significance or personal value, other than the duty of bearing sons. Kingston's mother describes this role of Chinese women as being a slave. The legend of Fa Mu Lan told the story of a girl who took her father's place in battle. This story, so far-fetched from Chinese culture in regarding to women, inspired young Chinese girls to become like Fa Mu Lan, and to stand up for what they believe in. These young women could then become warrior women, instead of wives and slaves. .
Kingston writes about the story that her mother used to tell her when she was a young girl. She would follow her mother about the house, "the two of us singing about how Fa Mu Lan fought gloriously." (20.) Kingston recalls that her mother told her that she was to grow up into a warrior woman, instead of being a wife and slave. .
The point of view of this particular story is in the first person. Kingston first begins by saying that her mother had told her the legend of Fa Mu Lan, and then later becomes Fa Mu Lan. The point of view is always in first person, however the actual person shifts character, from being Maxine Kingston, to Fa Mu Lan. By doing this, the telling of the story becomes easier, and slides right into place. .
When Kingston describes the mountains that Fa Mu Lan comes across in her venture, she uses an interesting style of imagery. "When the mountains and the pines turned into blue oxen, blue dogs, and blue people standing." (21.) The blue oxen, dogs, and people standing probably depict the shapes of the mountains and pines. The color displays the time of day, and how the sun gives the mountains a blue tinge.