Kingston follows the brief talk-story of the outlawed knot with a discussion between her mother and herself concerning Brave Orchid's supposedly cutting Kingston's frenum, the membrane under the tongue that restricts the tongue's movement. Likening herself to a knot-maker who, long ago in China, would have continued to create a special, intricate knot even after the emperor banned its being made, Kingston tests the boundaries that her mother, Chinese culture, and American culture erect to manipulate her every thought and action. "His version of the story," she writes, "may be better than mine because of its bareness, not twisted into designs." However, she relishes her talk-stories' involved and complicated designs because they emphasize the complexity of both the talk-stories and, more important, their narrator - Kingston herself. For example, Kingston recognizes that her brother narrates Moon Orchid's story differently than she. She then amends this admission: "In fact, it wasn't me my brother told about going to Los Angeles one of my sisters told me what he'd told her." This passing on of stories demonstrates the always-changing nature of talk-stories, whose telling is dependent on the teller. "A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe" begins with Kingston admitting that she heard about Moon Orchid's disastrous confrontation with her husband, which Kingston related in "At the Western Palace," from her brother. Once free, she can develop an identity of her own. Throughout her identity-forming process, she also finds that she must assert herself by breaking away emotionally from her mother, who has been the center of her life.
At the close of the chapter, she draws on a talk-story about the legendary Chinese female poet Ts'ai Yen to demonstrate her own achievement of a delicate harmony between two competing cultures. She searches to locate a middle ground in which she can live within each of these two respective cultures while doing so, she creates a new, hybrid identity between them. Greatest among these challenges was learning to speak English to non-Chinese people, while struggling to confront traditional Chinese culture, represented by her mother, which inhibited her efforts to integrate fully into American culture. I dont believe my eyes! THEE Stan Bush?! Comment by Katze276īest inGame of ShadowWarrior 2 Comment by Thracian TendencyĬAN'T BREAK THE WILL Comment by Bee_SawdĨ0's GOD and still shows he has the TOUCH! Comment by xlr8weįuckin' great track! Comment by Corey Fox 12Īh, I was wondering where the guitar solo was.In this final chapter of The Woman Warrior, Kingston discusses further the difficulties she experienced growing up as a Chinese-American female. This song turned a typical boss fight into an epic one. Although this should be in a movie, dammit!!!) Comment by Benjamin Eugene NElson Time for some Wang! Comment by Jazzi MarzcatĮPIC AND AMAZING! I'll be an 80s girl forever! Love this sound!! <3 (And it looks like I'll have to put another game on my wishlist.
Who wants some WANNNNNG Comment by SynergyKim Genre Soundtrack Comment by Harley Lindsay