About this book
The Woman Warrior is a memoir written by Maxine Hong Kingston. It was published in 1976 and follows the story of Maxine growing up as she tried to balance the expectations of two cultures, Chinese and American. It’s a story about finding your own identity while trying to please people on both sides.
My Experience
From the moment I started this book I was hooked. The story Maxine’s mother told her about her aunt was so shocking and exposes the harsh realities that Maxine goes through. I had an emotional reading from a few pages and on. What I believe got to me most was when Maxine spoke about both of the harsh Chinese and American beauty standards/standards placed on women in general. The author’s writing is so impactful, her words hit the reader hard in a way that’s hard to describe. She knows how to move her reader and make them feel what she felt through writing alone. She uses words like American-feminine and Chinese-feminine that really add in another layer when describing beauty standards. I think it was especially effective for me because I’ve never heard someone use those terms before. I found myself relating to her in more ways than one, especially when it came to living up to the expectations of two different kinds of cultures. Perhaps that’s why only the first few chapters of this book already left me feeling a whirlwind of emotions. After reading more I still love the details and emotions present in the writing all throughout this book. But, what captivated me in the first chapter started to become non-existent. Not to say I didn’t like the book however, I felt like it lost that magic somewhere. I felt this especially in the second chapter where one moment she is talking about Fa Mulan and suddenly it feels as if it’s a completely different story. It’s not explicitly described if this was a dream but, I felt like this chapter started out strong and began to become really confusing because of the little context. I hate to say but reading that chapter made me unmotivated and it was hard trying to read other chapters. Perhaps I was biased coming out of a really strong first chapter and then reading an okay second one that I just viewed the rest of what I read as nothing special. I found myself just trying to get it over with, which was really disappointing. Perhaps I could give it another try some time else but for now, I’m just a little upset that I got kind of bored.
Classifying my experience
I’d classify my current experience as Empathy, the feeling of understanding another person and/or their actions. I previously described how I can understand how Maxine feels because I’ve had a similar experience, especially what she described in the first chapter. The amount of pressure put on her as a child, being told such a sad and slightly graphic story about her aunt, all so she wouldn’t humiliate their family. I believe because I understand her experience I have much more of an emotional reaction to things described in this story and that’s why I feel such empathy for her. I haven’t finished reading yet, but I’m expecting my experience to change or that I’ll end up having a multitude of different experiences. This story can be off putting in a way I also can’t quite describe, hopefully with time I can better describe that part of my experience as well. Similarly I found Identification to be a good example of this as well. I can connect some experiences of mine with Maxine’s, especially in that first chapter, and I like that’s what made it such a good read at first. Another experience I had was Confusion, during that second chapter it felt like suddenly I was dropped into the middle of another book. There was no clear clarification if this was a dream or just her imagining herself as Fa Mulan and that made it really hard to tell what exactly was happening. The writing itself was still great but the odd out of nowhere drop into another story left me feeling disoriented and lost. The chapter ended this leaving me confused and unmotivated to read other chapters. Perhaps it was the plan to make the reader confused but it just felt like the wrong way to do it. In fact, I don’t believe confusion was the author’s intent at all.
Features prompting my experience
The features prompting my experience is the way she describes and the words she uses to describe the harsh and sometimes conflicting standards she/other women in this story experience. The author has such a way with words, the way she uses them is incredibly powerful and affects the reader. Due to that fact it can inflict this feeling of empathy, simply because the detail she uses helps the reader more accurately feel what she feels. I think this is really beautiful even if the topic is really emotional.
- “Women looked like great sea snails—the corded wood, babies, and laundry they carried were the whorls on their backs. The Chinese did not admire a bent back; goddesses and warriors stood straight.” (p.g. 12)
When I read this I was hit with so many emotions. This sentence perfectly describes the beauty standards set on women and how some can’t meet those beauty standards because of the other exceptions society has set on them. The way the author chose to word this specifically was what really made it all the more impactful.
- ”It was probably a girl; there is some hope of forgiveness for boys.” (p.g. 15)
This was another quote that made me experience empathy and identification. As someone who comes from an immigrant household and has seen many others, I am well aware that boys are favored. I feel awful for her aunt because she knew her baby had no place in this world since she was both illegitimate and a girl.
Narrative technologies prompting my experience
I’ve found the best narrative technology I found is Empathy Generator, which suits my experience quite well. I believe through her words Maxine does allow the readers to experience the remorse of not only her but other characters in this story. She goes into details of what she believes happened to her aunt, changing the narrative from she cheated on her husband to she was forced to sleep with another. The more Maxine described her aunt and the more she theorized about who was the man who forced her I felt increasing empathy for her. Turning her from a person that was simply supposed to be a lesson to Maxine to a tragic character. The same could be said for Maxine and the way she describes her experiences as well. Even after reading there many experiences that can connect to this technology dispute the confusion I felt in later chapters. The writing was still amazing and did still evoke feelings, even if I was confused by some things.
Sources
Experiences – WonderCat. https://wonder-cat.org/experiences/ Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
Technologies – WonderCat. https://wonder-cat.org/technologies/ Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior, 1976, Alfred A. Knopf
Featured image
The Woman Warrior cover, Maxine Hong Kingston, Alfred A. Knopf. All Rights Reserved.
