Woman Warrior 3

I've moved a lot as a child, so I know how it feels like to constantly have to adapt to another culture. You have to change a lot of mental models because it's not only a new lifestyle, but a new culture also has a different outlook on life. Everything you hold true can possibly go straight out the window! You have to be your own warrior and fight to keep your roots, or in contrast, you fight to turn over a new leaf. Either way, there's going to be a struggle. The struggle is wherever you see it and in whatever you see it. For The Woman Warrior, there were quite a few battles which manifested within individuals trying to fit in. Whether it be in Kingston or Moon Orchid or Brave Orchid, the cause of these battles is due to culture clash that occurs.

A Culture Clash Splits a Person, literally!


The one thing that drives people into the most dramatic battles is fear. Fear for safety or fear of identity. Consider Moon Orchid, she's paranoid that there is someone after her. "'I am so afraid.' said Moon Orchid. 'There is no one after you,' said Brave Orchid, 'No Mexicans'" (Kingston, 156). Later on, Moon Orchid digs deeper into this paranoia, and the fear changes her completely. She loses the battle. Her fear for safety consumes her to the brink of insanity and beyond. Kingston too has a fear - that of separation. She fears the Chinese traditions, particularly how women were treated who wouldn't obey their parents or husbands. To be fastidious, consider the Confucius theory: "'A husband may kill a wife who disobeys him...' [and] Confucius [was] the rational man" (Kingston, 193). Another prime example is when Kingston believes her parents will marry her to the 'retarded' boy; ".. my parents would only figure that this zombie and I were a match... this birth defect" (Kingston, 195). This fear causes her to change the way she acts around her parents; one fear forces her to overcome another. Fear has great power over people.

People can be afraid of ANYTHING!


From No Name Woman to A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe, change is evident. First, its location. The essence of the book changes for the reader, from the unfamiliar to the trivial everyday. The most important side effect of this was the language change. Brave Orchid didn't try to be a doctor in the States because "she could never learn English" (Kingston, 149). She's so bright but unable to communicate at even a proficient level; this is her handicap in the new land. She still manages to live happily to a certain extent. That is her victory in the battle. It's not a simple task to be successful or even semi-successful without being able to fully understand what's going on around you left and right. Stories of ghosts are used to help her understand this ghost world around her. In a way, Brave Orchid familiarizes this new landscape and that's how she succeeds in it!

This is how language creates a barrier...


It's the drifting mental models that cause people to go through these emotions and changes. They're own fundamental beliefs (such as security and identity) are challenged due to a culture clash that one experiences. For some, it's too much while others manage this exceptionally well. The problem is deciding how fast to change. People worry about losing their identity, yet at some level, they are willing and ready for change; the pace of this change is what causes the turmoil like suspense in a horror film!