Hey guys, it's Allison.
As I've been reading The Woman Warrior, (that should be underlined, but I don't know how to do that on the blog) I was shocked by the way in which Kingston's aunt was treated after becoming pregnant by a man who was not her husband. It's so weird to think how different modern American cultural values are from those of the Chinese during the nameless aunt's lifetime. Today, if a woman gets pregnant before she's married, it's no big deal; however, in the aunt's case, the entire village came and ransacked her house. It's interesting to see how the values have changed. Maybe part of this change in values can be attributed to the fact that food is more readily available and cheaper than during the famine that had been taking place at the time. Due to this widespread availability of food today, it isn't a huge burden if a woman has a child that isn't "legitimized" by being the product of a recognized marriage.
I was also surprised that Kingston's mother did nothing to help her sister, even though she knew that she was pregnant. Her mother knew the values held by the community and must have known what was in store for her sister, but did nothing to stop it or get her away before the mob came. I guess that shows how these values were deeply rooted in Kingston's mother; she let her sister be subject to the village mob, even though she might have been hurt by them because she knew that what her sister had done was wrong.
What do you guys think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hey it's Cristy,
I saw the acceptance of the aunt's family to their punishment as confirmation of their total belief and acceptance of the traditions. I think they might have felt that the punishment was just and so didn't run away from it. They definitely stuck by the mob rather than their own family by disowning the aunt. But the author also hinted that the punishment was harsher due to the poor living conditions at the time. She said that because people were hungry the insult was made into a crime. I think this is true in almost any culture and time. When people are hungry and unhappy they are much more likely to use violence. Especially in this case when the shame of the pregnancy was occuring at a time when the community was clinging together so tightly for support. They didn't want their culture and lives to unwravel.The Aunt had broken an old tradition that was becoming more and more sacred as they witnessed modern upheavals in morals. I forget who exactly, Dr. B mentioned in ap euro but a certain dictador or leader, made sure he kept the people fed as a way to prevent violent rebellions against his power. I also think the violence in this case, was an outburst of anger against their suffering. I disagree slightly, in that I believe that the reason why birth before marriage today is more acceptable than in the past, is because of the lengths that woman have crossed, in achieving more equality and image of strength over time. A woman today is seen much more as individual than as the property of a man.
Hey, it's Erin.
Obviously, the aunt did something that was not socially acceptable in China, but that can also be the particular era. Like Cristy mentioned, some things are more acceptable now than they were before. I don't know if the difference is really America v. China or the different values of different time periods.
Post a Comment