Philosopher King - A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe

My class just recently finished the last chapter of The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston. For my literature circle entry for the last chapter I am going to do the job of philosopher king, meaning that I will identify the major themes of this chapter.

Voice: One time when this theme was evident was when Maxine's voice was repetitively compared to the sound of a quacking duck. Another time was when Maxine was trying to get the shy Chinese girl to talk, while they were in the bathroom after school. Also, in this chapter Maxine talks about how her mother cut her tongue when she was little. Maxine's mother did this to her because it was said that if you cut your tongue you will be able to talk in many different dialects and you will talk gracefully. "We American-Chinese girls had to whisper to make ourselves American-feminine." (Hong Kingston 172). This quote shows that Chinese girls had to change their voices in order to fit in.

Power: This theme is shown when Maxine is bullying the quiet Chinese girl. She has power over the quiet girl because Maxine is able to talk and the quiet girl doesn't talk. Maxine abuses her power when trying to make the girl speak by pulling the girl's hair, pulling at her face, and screaming at her. Maxine shouldn't have done this because if the girl doesn't want to talk, then she doesn't have to.

Looking Out for Each Other: Maxine claims to the quiet Chinese girl that she is trying make her speak because she is looking out for her. She claims that if the girl doesn't start speaking soon, she says if she doesn't speak she will never get a job or get married. In the chapter, it later says that the family of the quiet Chinese girl, took care of the girl her whole life, they looked out for her.

Secrets: Another theme is secrets. This theme is first mentioned in the chapter when Maxine mentions her sixth grade teacher. her teacher showed them their files and family records, which are things that are supposed to be kept secretive. Another part of this theme, was when Maxine planned to tell her mother all of her secrets. She ended up only telling her a few, until she got annoyed and told her to go away.

Craziness: This theme is shown when she talks about her crazy woman neighbor that is sent to an asylum. When the woman returns home, her husband brings her a son to raise. She is thrilled to be able to raise a son. Another crazy person that is mentioned in the chapter is Crazy Mary. Crazy Mary was born in China and left there until her parents could raise enough money to bring her to America. Since she was left in China and then later brought to America, she became crazy. She also had a mole on the front of her face and wore a bib.