Wednesday, June 11, 2008
No Name Hero?
Today Mr. Lazarow began talking about the "hero of one thousand faces"- the hero archetype. While we haven't finished notes, what we have learned seems to apply to Kingston's "White Tigers." On the other hand, it seems that an almost opposite effect is taking place in her more disturbing "No Name Woman," for the unnamed aunt haunts, instead of inspires, her descendants. The first condition used in the hero archetype is that the individual must come from outside of a community, or have a hidden difference within a community. Surprisingly, it seems that this step is fulfilled. The aunt is the only daughter in her family, and cares immensely about her looks, often harming herself to become more beautiful. The second condition, however, seems to be misused. Normally, the hero is neither a fool nor invincible, but possesses a great degree of common sense. The aunt seems quite foolish and lacking in "street knowledge." These characteristics not only lead to her unfortunate fate but also give an image of a person to be condemned, not lauded. Finally, it does not seem clear that the aunt has any path to follow. She is led almost entirely by tradition- a tradition that forcefully subdues her because of the subservient place of women in "Old China." The narrator recognizes the situation as tragic, but is also fearful that her aunt is haunting her. Clearly, as the author summarizes, "Goods are not evenly distributed among the dead."
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Hey, it's Erin.
We never actually know what the aunt does, whether she tries to enhance her beauty or not. I thought it was interesting that the narrator portrayed her aunt two ways (that were polar opposites): first, as that of the victim, and second, as that of one in love. I think that the second option is more believable (although we don't really know and I could be wrong) because the aunt never reveals her lover's name, so that he can be punished with her.
Another thing that I thought was interesting was that the author describes the legend of Fa Mu Lan in the first person - it took me until the part where she sent her husband home with the baby until I realized. She sees Fa Mu Lan as her parallel; she IS Fa Mu Lan (she says "my American life has been such a disappointment"). There is a big contrast in the attitudes toward women in "old China" - they are both (I guess) seen as unimportant and yet the narrator says that "we learned that we failed if we grew up to be but wives or slaves; we could be heroines, swordswomen." Fa Mu Lan basically is a strong, independent woman who saves her people, a polar opposite to the "regular" woman.
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