In The Woman Warrior Kingston learns a disturbing story about her aunt who ended up killing herself and her newborn baby by jumping into the family well in China. This woman would not be named as “it is as if she had never been born” (Kingston 3). This woman is referred to only as “No Name Woman” which is degrading and mysterious considering the fact that she is Kingston’s aunt. Her aunt was not seen to be the “norm” of Chinese society at the time. There is an idea that she was a wild character with loose morals to her societal surroundings since she became pregnant without her husband being around. Women in China at this time did not have much choice in their lives and this is clearly shown with the quote, “After my grandparents gave their daughter away to her husband’s family, they had dispensed all the adventure and all the property. They expected her alone to keep the traditional ways, which her brothers, now among the barbarians, could fumble without detection.” (Kingston 8). The idea of women being “given away” represents a sense of control that women clearly did not have at this time. Her aunt went through this and it may have impacted the views she had on her own life.
Her mother did not go too in depth so Kingston was left to create fantasies or imaginations of what the situation was that her aunt was caught in, one being her aunt had been drawn in by a rapist because women did not have a choice (Kingston 6-7), and she was forced to keep the act a secret, another being that she was a confident woman who worked on her appearance to attract men (Kingston 8-9). Whether what the situation was, it was still seen as something that would effect the stability of the village and over threaten the social order since the villagers “depended on one another to maintain the real..” (Kingston 12-13) and saw her aunts lifestyle as a break in the “roundness” (Kingston 13).
Her aunt’s individuality was seen as a rebellious act in society at the time. Her husband leaving may have sparked that individuality again and gave her an opportunity to be independent, and go against these societal norms. Kingston writes, “When her husband left, they welcomed the chance to take her back from the in-laws; she could live like the little daughter for just a little longer” ( 10). This gives an image of the “no name woman” having a chance to feel young and free again for a little while. Belonging to a family that is not your own can be stressful and make life unwanted and uneventful since there is no choice for you to be your own person. Especially in Chinese society at the time, it was expected for Kingston’s aunt and women at the time in general to settle down with their husbands and have nothing to hide, meaning not having an individual life unseen by the community. Her aunt is truly seen as an outcast as she stepped out of the role that the Chinese society gave to her. The villagers depended on each other to maintain the normal way of life to them and wanted to show her aunt “the break she had made in the ’roundness'” (Kingston 13). Kingston writes, “The villagers punished her for acting as if she could have a private life, secret and apart from them” ( 13). This shows that the people in this society treated the situation as if she had betrayed her community, her family, the villagers, etc. just for stepping away from the “norms”.
The “no name woman” was cursed by her family by them shouting, “Look what you’ve done. You’ve killed us. Ghost! Dead ghost! Ghost! You’ve never been born” (Kingston 13-14). This caused her to run into the wilderness and give birth to her baby in a pigsty. The pain this caused her was tremendous. She had nothing left as everyone saw her as a wild woman who rebelled against societal norms, and betrayed her village. This causes her to kill herself and her baby to protect the child from living a life without a family or purpose. Kingston also believes that the baby is a girl which would be seen as a useless addition to society at the time. The “no name woman” or Kingston’s aunt is now a weeping ghost, lonely from the pain and judgment her society has brought to her.
- Do you see any similarities with the expectations of Chinese women in comparison to the expectations of American women?
- What do think the significance of not giving the “no name woman” was and how do you think that relates to expectations that women have to follow in order to be considered “normal”?
Work Cited
Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior. Vintage International, 1976.
