"No Name Woman" by Maxine Hong Kingston is a story that immediately grabs your attention in the opening paragraph. Kingston begins her story by quoiting her mother who says "You must not tell anyone" (Kingston,1). Kingston's mother tells her a story about her aunt with such great detail that you can create an image in your head. Without Kingston's asking, Kingston's mother tells her exactly why she told her the "forbidden" story. Kingston's mother states that she does not want what happened to her aunt to happen to her. After hearing the "forbidden" story from her mother's point of view, Kingston goes on with the story and offers other versions to the "forbidden" story. Kingston does this to counter her mother opinion of her aunt and to offer a different image of the story to her readers.
Kingston's mother states that the family was basically humiliated by the actions of her sister in law and that she has become a forgotten soul because of her lack of loyalty and trust. After telling Kingston the story, her mother immediately states, "Don't let your father know I told you. He denies her. Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her could happen to you. Don't humiliate us."(Kingston,9). This "forbidden" story is about Kingston's aunt who was pregnant while her husband was away on a journey which meant that she cheated on him and when it came the time that she was ready to have the baby the people from the village raided her house. The village people threw rocks and eggs at her house, slaughtered her stock, then they broke into the house and broke some items and stole the others. Kingston's aunt fled the house and gave birth by the family well and the next day that is where they found the aunt and her child dead in the well. Then after telling Kingston the story her mother says to her Also the women in the family decided to never tell anyone about this family secret because they didn't want their family name to continue to be tarnished and humiliated.