In The Woman Warrior, Kingston describes how she overcame a period of silence and low self-esteem in order to illustrate how personal motivation is of greater importance than societal boundaries. Beginning in kindergarten, Kingston went through a period of silence in order to conform to the female peers in America. Societal oppression is the cause of the silence according to Kingston. Kingston fears of not being accepted by her peers as well as deportation back to China, and thus she is silenced. Kingston recalls the manner in which the silence hindered her everyday life in her description of the silence, "When I went to kindergarten and had to speak English for the first time, I became silent. A dumbness––a shame––still cracks my voice in …show more content…
Kingston also stated that her silence may have been caused by fear of deportation and thus she also obtained a 0 IQ as well as drew black paint over all of her artwork. Societal oppression caused her voice to "crack in two" and turn her voice into a cacophony. Kingston desires to speak and makes a list of actions Kingston has done that her mother wouldn't approve of yet has trouble saying anything. Kingston finally has had enough and her intrinsic motivation to speak influences her behavior more than the imposed silence. Kingston describes her will to speak leading to her behavior in the following, "Ha! You can't stop me from talking. You tried to cut off my tongue, but it didn't work.' So I told the hardest ten or twelve things on my list all in one outburst" (Kingston 202). This quote displays how Kingston overcame her silence and cracked voice. Kingston stood up to societal boundaries and put her silence to rest. Kingston goes as far as challenging her mother's previous behavior of cutting her frenum. American femininity would classify this behavior as despicable but this is a big step in Kingston using her
The non-violent way is the most logical line of attack of defeating oppression by rising above it and proving to the oppressors that they were not any better than those they tyrannize. Although the nonviolent resistance is the most challenging way to deal with oppression because of its lengthy process, but the long term result of equality and justice can be achieved successfully, peacefully and effectively. Consequently, Houston is first of her family to receive a college education. She marries a man other than her ethnicity, and has three children. Houston struggles and abilities to reconcile her Japanese heritage with the American culture play a very crucial role in finding her true identity.
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by, Zora Neale Hurston Janie, strives to find her own voice throughout the novel and she succeeds even though it takes her time to do it. Each one of her husband’s has a different effect on her ability to find her voice. Janie had noticed that she did not have a voice when Jody was appointed mayor by the town’s people and she was asked to give a few words on his behalf, but she did not answer, because before she could even say anything Jody had stated “ ‘Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ’bout no speech-makin’/Janie made her face laugh after a short pause, but it wasn’t too easy/…the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything on way or another that took
Kathy was once a woman prepared and willing to fight any battle. After experiencing the trauma of Zeitoun’s false imprisonment and staring racism right in the eyes, Kathy prefers to “retreat, reinforce her defenses” and “double the
Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say. " This quote relates to the title of the book "speak" it shows how Melinda believes that she will benefit from being silent. The quote shows that Melinda actually have a voice but only inside her head not anywhere else.
Joy Kogawa's Obasan is a representation of the silence Japanese Canadians experience specifically in the past as they have been repressed from telling the stories of the internment camps in Canada due to the government's pressure to not talk about what happened to them, leading to the negative and generational consequences of silence as a trauma response. In addition to showing how Japanese Canadians have covered up traumatic events through silence. Obasan also demonstrates how silence has not solved anything, but has made the traumatic events worse, and that healing can only occur when people begin to speak about them. Silence is shown by the family secret about Namois's mother being absent, as well as Namoi never wanting to tell anyone about her sexual assault from an Old Man Grower, the difference between Namoi’s aunts in how they choose to be vocal or silent in their life. Finally, how Joy Kogawa herself uses Obasan as a way to use language to share her story as a Japanese Canadian.
In Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba is more devastated by Link’s silence in public than the hurtful things he says. One example of how Link’s silence impacts Melba is when she realizes that he is friends with Andy. When Melba sees Link with Andy,“it both frightened and saddened [her] to see Link among those hoodlums. [She] stared at him in disbelief and anger. Had he pretended to be a nice person when he was just one of them.
Another quote that shows this well is “What woman here is so enamored of her own oppression that she cannot see her heelprint in another woman's face?” She asks the audience why they are so interested in seeing women hate each other. This brings the audience out of the ‘story’ and starts to connect back to real life. It is also successful because of this. One last quote to show this is “What women’s term of oppressions have become precious and necessary to her as a ticket into the fold of the righteous,away from the cold wind of self-scrutiny?”
Kingston has rarely seen independent woman and they seem to be very happy every time she’s encountered one. Kingston dreams of one day being able to be like the happy independent woman in the pictures. “A job and a room” seems so simple, but in a life where Kingston is told she can be a wife or a slave this seems like quite the luxury. In another example Kingston, through Fa Mu Lan, reveals how one’s life is more fulfilling if he or she defies the gender norms. In “White Tigers,” Fa Mu Lan is preparing to leave to war as she “[puts] on my men’s clothes and armor and tied [her] hair in a man’s fashion.
Patriarchal societies silence women by reinforcing structural violence against women through projecting discriminatory gender roles that often place limitations on how far they can go. Zora Neile Hurston, an African American author, Maxine Hong Kingston, an Asian American author, and Louise Elriche, an author with Native American heritage speak up against the struggles that women of color encounter on a regular basis by exploring themes of Sexual assault and rape. In “Their Eyes Are Watching God '' by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie, a female protagonist, grew up in a society that discriminated against women of color by their gender and race. In the memoir “The Women Warrior” by Maxine Kingston, Kingston, the narrator, three books portray the devastating
Even though the teachers tried to encourage him to “Stand up… Speak up. Speak to the entire class.” (513). His
Well said, my hearts.—You are a princox, go. Be quiet, or—More light, more light!—for shame, I’ll make you quiet.—What, cheerly, my hearts! TYBALT. Patience perforce with willful choler meeting
Jody controlled major aspects of Janie’s life, such as her appearance, when he forces her to keep her hair up. Janie does not like that Jody feels the need to control her: “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it... that was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was” (Hurston 55).
Throughout the course of the book, Janie experiences oppression as a woman, revealing the hidden gender roles in American society that help form the American
It takes a very confident, secure, and brave woman to stand out in a world where women were to hide behind their husband. However, Jordan does not entirely express the best choice of character while opposing her expectations throughout the entirety of the
Bonnie Tucker and Matt Hamill; How are They the Same and How are They Different In the book, The Feel of Silence by Bonnie Tucker, you see the story of a young woman growing up deaf. Although medically and physically she is profoundly deaf, in the mind and heart she desperately wants to be a part of the hearing world. Even in her older years she never really accepted her deafness totally. On one hand you have the Deaf people in the world who are like Bonnie, but on the other you see people like the hammer, formally known as Matt Hamill.