Philosopher King - At the Western Palace

In the fourth chapter of The Woman Warrior there are many themes that can be identified. I will identify some of those major themes as I play the role of philosopher king.

Food: This theme was also evident in the past chapter, Shaman, when they talked about how eaters were in heroes. In this chapter, however, this theme can first be seen when Brave Orchid is waiting at the airport for her sister to arrive. The book says, "On the floor she had two shopping bags full of canned peaches, real peaches, beans wrapped in taro leaves, cookies, Thermos bottles, enough food for everybody," (Hong Kingston 113). Brave Orchid brought a lot of food to the airport with her because food and eating is very important to her since eaters are heroes. Also once Moon Orchid, Brave Orchid's sister, arrives to Brave Orchid's home they cook a great feast with more than enough food for everybody.

111 Degrees: In the Shaman chapter it was mentioned that when the laundry reached 111 degrees, the family would sit around and tell stories. In this chapter, when the temperature of laundromat reached 111 degrees Brave Orchid would go outside and eat lunch with Moon Orchid, who would sit on an apple crate outside.

Women Less Superior than Men: The fact that Moon Orchid's husband married another woman and didn't send for her. Shows that men were more superior. The whole time that Moon Orchid was in China alone, she never remarried. This is because it wasn't allowed for women to have two husbands in China, but it was acceptable for men to have two wives in China. In American it is not allowed for men or women to have two spouses.

Traveling: Moon Orchid traveled about four times throughout this chapter. One time on a plane from China to America. Another time was when Brave Orchid's son drove Moon Orchid, Moon Orchid's daughter, and Brave Orchid to LA. The purpose of this trip was so that Moon Orchid's daughter could return to her immediate family and so that Moon Orchid could confront her husband after all the years. The third time that Moon Orchid travels is when she goes back to Brave Orchid's. She returns to Brave Orchid's house because she believes that some Mexican ghosts are trying to kill her in LA. The last time that she travels is when she makes the journey to a California state mental asylum.

Brave Orchid's Soft Side: This theme has only been evident two times in this book. The first time was at the end of Shaman when she talks about how she is sad that her children don't live at home anymore. The second time is at the end of this chapter. She shows her soft side when Moon Orchid returns from LA, when she thinks that some Mexican ghosts are plotting to kill her. This tenderness is evident because she skips work to protect her sister, cries when she tries to comfort her crazy sister, comforts her sister numerous times, holds hands with her sister when she first arrives back from LA, and performs many healing chants to bring her sister's soul back from wandering.

Night Marchers

There was once two friends that decided to go hiking for about six days on the coast of the Big Island. The trail they were going to take was called the King's Trial. One night they decided to camp out in an old fisherman's hut. In the middle of the night both friends woke up because they heard the crunch of gravel. As they regained their conscience, they realized that the sound wasn't of just one person walking across gravel, but that it really was the sound thousands of people walking across the lava field. Both men were terrified because they both knew who were the ones making it the sounds. They were the night marchers, also known as the spirits of dead Hawaiian warriors. The two men laid terrified in the hut, until the marchers finally pasted them. Both men didn't think they were going to survive. Now whenever either of the friends hear the sound of someone walking on gravel, they instantly remember the night they encountered the night marchers.

Feminist - Shaman

In this chapter of The Woman Warrior the theme that women are less powerful than men and have less privileges is still very evident. One obvious place is when the book talks about when Maxine's mom is choosing a slave to become her assistant nurse. All of the slaves at the market are daughters, there are no sons at all. Since there are no sons, this shows thats boys are valuable and no one wants to sell their sons. Another place that we can see the theme of women being less powerful and valuable than men is when Maxine's mom brews a special soup for a certain couple. She brews this soup for them because they are infertile. The soup ended their infertility and also gave them a boy. The soup was made specially so that a boy would be born not a girl because a Chinese couple would much rather have a boy than a girl that is worthless in their eyes. A third time that this theme is evident is when the book says, "Chinese without sons stole boy babies of Japanese settlers," (Hong Kingston 93). This quote shows the theme because it says that Chinese families without any sons often stole sons. The quote doesn't say that they stole daughters, but only sons. This because they only wanted sons, not daughters. Also you can see this theme when Maxine talks about what would happen if her family moved back to China. She says that her and her sisters would be sold. Also she says that her father would get at least two or three more wives. They would sell Maxine and her sisters because in China girls are useless. Also since her dad would marry two or three more wives, this shows that wives would get less attention and catering to than men. It shows this because each of the wives would only cater to their one husband, but that one husband would only partially cater to each of his wives since he has to cater to more than just one person.

Philosopher King - White Tigers Part 2

For the second part of the chapter "White Tigers" I want to do the job of philosopher king. For this job I have to identify the major themes that occurred in the section.

Make-Believe: A major theme throughout the telling of the ballad of Fa Mu Lan there is a lot make-believe wound in with the reality. An example of this is when she fought the giant general and when she cut off his leg he turned into a snake. This obviously is not true because people can't just turn into snakes when their legs are cut off. Another time the general she was fighting was a genie out of a water gourd. This also can't be true. However the fact that she did battle many generals is true, which means that the truth is hidden in the magic that is told.

Woman are Weaker: This theme is very evident many times in this section. One time that it is evident is when Fa Mu Lan goes to kill the baron. When she tells him that she is a girl, he starts quoting phrases about girls being worse than boys. Two of these phrases are "Girls are maggots in the rice" and "It is more profitable to raise geese than daughters." Also we see this theme when Fa Mu Lan finds all of the women in the Baron's house. The women were locked in a room without any light and their feet were bound. Also when we go back into Maxine's point of view this theme is still obvious in many places. One of these places is when her parents are ashamed that they have two daughters in a row before they had any boys. Also when Maxine's brother returns from Vietnam without being hurt, her family hosts a feast and celebration for him. However, when she returned from college and from marching to change the world, her parents did nothing to recognize her accomplishments.

Racism: We can see this theme when Maxine is working for the art supply house that sold paint. Her boss made a remark about the color "Nigger Yellow". This comment was referring to her. She told him that she didn't like that word, but he didn't care at all. Also this chapter mentions that her family was denied food and work just because they were Chinese.

Women's Hidden Strength: This theme is major because Fa Mu Lan is the most famous Chinese woman that used her hidden strength to help many people and to fight as a general. Also the chapter talks about a legend that the women that were held captive in the Baron's house became a mercenary army of swords-women. This means that all of the time that they were captive they were hiding there strengths that they later released when they became a mercenary army.