Breaking The Oppressive Silence

Silence and its coming to voice are themes that pervade The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, the Chinese American woman writer. They are widely noticed and discussed by literary circle. And the significance of breaking this silence by the author has also been recognized. However, these studies cannot be considered as thorough and complete. Based on the theories of Post-Colonialism and Adam Jaworski's study about oppressive silence, the author of this thesis attempts to make an in-depth and thorough research into the silence of the four female characters in the novel brought about by sexual and racial oppression. She also values the ways provided by the writer to break this oppressive silence. The paper finally makes clear the significance of breaking this silence.The thesis is composed of four parts:Part One is an introduction to the author, the plot of the novel, the critical reception of the novel, and some literary theories that will be employed in this thesis. It first introduces Maxine Hong Kingston and her major works. It then gives a brief summary of The Woman Warrior. Next it presents a survey of the critical reception of the book, which has always been controversial. The interpretive differences of the book, in its essence, has been a contest between the white and the Chinese male communities, for both the authority and agency of Chinese American women's articulation. Racism and sexism are so ingrained in the consciousness of the mainstream white critics and the Chinese American male critics that in whichever criticism they pick up to approach The Woman Warrior, there are always overtones of these two devils. The priorities of the opinions of these two critical groups severely limit other possibilities of interpretation. They again result in an attempt to silence Chinese American women, which is exactly what the author of the novel intends to get rid of. The part finally explores the influence thatPost-Colonialism exerts upon the study of literature, and introduces a theory about oppressive silence, both of which are to be employed to study The Woman Warrior.Part Two focuses on the analysis of the oppressive silence of the four female characters in the novel within the social and historical backgrounds from three aspects: the oppressive silence imposed by sexism; the oppressive silence imposed by racism; and the oppressive silence imposed by sexism intertwined with racism. It then explores their destructive effects inflicted on the female characters.Part Three analyses the possibilities of breaking this silence, then reveals the ways sought by the daughter to break the oppressive silence and the process of her coming to voice throughout the whole book.Part Four reaches the conclusion: the oppressive silence resulting from the oppression of sexism and racism is unbearably destructive with its hideous effect on the silenced person; the way Kingston seeks out to break it proves effective.