The Woman Warrior is a tale of a Chinese American girl-child, called Maxine, born in the United States. Transplanted from their roots in China, her parents naturally drew from their Chinese culture and traditions in raising Maxine. These traditions have been passed on from generation to generation, dating back to 221 BC. The Chinese culture and traditions have many facets, a weaving of reality and fantasies. In The Woman Warrior, Brave Orchid utilizes the Chinese traditions of talk story to shape and affect the life of her daughter Maxine, who is growing up in America. .
Maxine's mother uses several talk stories for parental instruction just as the Chinese have done for centuries. She still drew from her ancestors" culture, even after living in the United States for years. The idea of ever returning to China was a distant dim hope cherished by Maxine's parents. She still thought of her true home as being China. Rufus Cook's critical essay agrees with my interpretation of using a past culture to raise children. " when it came to bringing up their children, they tended to pass on attitudes and values appropriate more to Guandong fishing village- (Cook 136). Brave Orchid's own disrupted memories, or talk stories, of the past dominate Maxine's life. In the first chapter, Brave Orchid uses the talk story "No Name Woman" to teach Maxine about how the Chinese people handle adultery. Before she even begins the story she warns Maxine ""You must not tell anyone-" (Kingston 3). .
Kornemann 2.
I agree with Rufus Cook on his point of the children always being cautioned about not telling, but for a different reason. Cook cites, " Kingston's parents were always cautioning her as a child, although in most cases she had no more idea than anybody else what it was she wasn't suppose to tell"( Cook 140). In contrast, I think Maxine knows what she is not supposed to tell, but she does not know why.