外国语毕业论文-论汤亭亭《女勇士》中的和谐观

The Woman Warrior is composed of five chapters, The No Name Woman, White Tiger, Shaman, At Western Palace and A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe, in which each part is independent to another and connected by Kingston’s growing experience and her mother’s talk-story. Therefore, the complete development of her self-consciousness is lined by the five parts. And Kingston presents such writing of her autobiography itself as her success, her act of making peace with her family and the around society, and seeking who she is and where she fits in the world around her.

For Kingston’s particular identity, she is advanced to see that holding a harmonious attitude would be her survival technique. And in subcontext understanding, the concept of harmony in The Woman Warrior is the final concern of Kingston, and how to keep harmony in pursuing self-identity is the highlight of this paper. Thus, harmony is the fundamental pillar to analyze women’s self-esteem in The Woman Warrior while turning on a landscape of several women’s destinies.

I. Sexual Harmony—from Opposition to Balanced Position

A. Female and Male to Be One Unity—from the No-name Woman to Fa Mu Lan 1. The Tragedy of the No-name Woman

It is no doubt that No Name Woman is one of the significant parts in The Woman Warrior. Kingston’s aunt, a no-name woman, has no voice and name from the beginning to the end. She may be forced to have an extramarital relationship with another man and gives birth to a baby alone in outside pigsty, and finally suicides with her baby in the family well. She never tells the truth, and keeping silence to death seems to be her most effective way to express her sufferings at that time. In a patriarchy society, as a woman, the most humiliating thing is to be disloyal to her husband. However, the no-name woman does not escape such a fatal destiny after violating the prescribed moral codes. Unfortunately, the last hope to survive

disappears when she gives birth to her baby, because her new-born illegitimate baby is supposed to be a girl as Kingston portraying that ―It was probably a girl; there is some hope of forgiveness for boys.‖(Xu Yingguo, 2004:151) As a mother, in order to protect her baby’s unfavorable fate, she drowns herself in the family well with her baby without hesitation.

Women and men are not placed in the same parallel in the no-name woman’s days, it seems that only death would be her choice to avoid her villagers’ evil and sharp eyes. As a man, he would be forgiven for having extramarital affairs, and even allowed lawfully to have more than one wives. However, the no name woman gets no mercy at all. At the end, she finds her place and comfort in the family well, because, for Chinese, the drinking water is from the family well which is the source of life. There would be two meanings of the no-name woman’s action, one is that she still wants to belong to her family although she is expelled out; the other is that she wants to destroy the family unequal moral code and to be a silent woman warrior. Her recognition of self-identity is somehow a tragedy. She is forgotten forever in the family list just as the mother says ―You must not to tell anyone… What I am about to tell you. In china, your father had a sister who killed herself. She jumped into the family well. We say that you father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born. ‖(Xu Yingguo, 2004:137), which reveals the reason why family members talk about her with secreted voice and unlawful feeling. Therefore, it is considered that this no-name woman still lives in the family members’ conceded heart, but is labeled as a shame and dirty mark in the family list.

Obviously, the time Kingston’s aunt lives through is unharmonious and the roles of the two sexes are unbalanced. It is clever that Kingston chooses converse art technique to illustrate the importance of harmonious position of the two sexes. She adopts the unharmonious to identify harmony which would be novel and powerful. The voice is essential to elaborate one’s selfhood and it is a distinguished feature to one another, but in an ancestral village, to keep silence represents a woman’s grace, and expected and proper manner. Therefore, women have to learn to keep silence all the way. Kingston notices that ―She would protect this child as she had protected its

father‖ (Xu Yingguo, 2004:151) which is the no-name woman’s protecting way to her loved people in silence. Consequently, the no-name woman becomes the victim of men’s wrongdoings in the situation of the unbalanced sex position.

There is a valuable Chinese theory to exemplify harmony of two sexes’ position. Eight Diagrams has been divided into two parts, one is called Ying, and the other is called Yang, the two are mutually influenced one another and make up of an unseparated whole circle in Daoism. Moreover, the dividing line is not vertical but turns on camber. Thus, it avoids the sharp point and forms a harmonious position. The two divided parts seem to be two fishes swimming freely and peacefully in that circle. Therefore, the Eight Diagrams can be used to illustrate the relationship between the two sexes. Unfortunately, the environment of the no-name woman’s self-esteem is not harmonious, which is the fundamental reason of the no name woman’s tragedy. Kingston smartly takes advantage of the converse to show that only harmonious position of the two sexes could bring a scenery of two fishes swimming freely and happily.

Yang is represented by the male and the pen is defined as Yang. Therefore, the language power is always in the male’s hands and women’s voices would be unseeing and oppressed. Consequently, it is no exception that the no-name woman’s voice is ignored and her tragedy is unavoidable. 2. The Balanced Identity of Fa Mu Lan

Kingston alters the story of Fa Mu Lan in order to change the no name-woman’s disastrous situation because Fa Mu Lan has gained the language power and owns a balanced identity.

Fa Mu Lan, a woman warrior, is a historic heroine who owns manlike power and is admired by Chinese people. She joins the army in place of her father. And she defeats the enemies and takes back victory from battles. However, in reality, Kingston is burdened by the inferiority as a woman. Therefore, she interprets Fa Mu Lan in her expected version to compensate her unbalanced feeling.

In the army, Fa Mu Lan’s roles begin to change. She dresses man’s fashion and

takes weapons as a warrior. Moreover, the highlight is that she gives birth to baby in the army tent, which reveals that her role is balanced for being both a mother and a manlike warrior characterized by Ying and Yang at the same time. She reaches to the prefect requirement as a woman with a balance identity, and fulfills the harmonization of the unbalanced position between the two sexes. Thus, her growing process is her way of self-perfection. What is really precious is that she returns back home to be a normal wife after finishing her mission and she says to her husband that she would like to stay with him , doing housework and farm work and giving him more sons. Thus, she accomplishes the balance of her self-identity and has gained the final love and happiness, and her growth is a harmonious movement and elimination of the opposition.

Her final return from the battle to her husband is her way to keep a balanced identity and a symbol of harmony. The villagers finally acknowledge that this warrior is a woman dressed in man’s fashion while they continues referring her by using the female pronoun ―she‖, and they say that she looks very beautiful. Thus, the transition of her roles from a warrior to wife is realized. What Fa Mu Lan has done is the ideal situation and a proper identity as woman which is accepted and honored both by men and women. Although Fa Mu Lan is successful at the end, she does not aim to hold a dominant power to reverse the relationship between men and women, which demonstrates Kinston’s concept of harmony to keep balance between the two sexes.

Accordingly, the creating of Fa Mu Lan’s new image is to keep balance with Kingston’s situation in reality. What she really looks forward is to have a harmonious identity which will generate the ultimate happiness between the two sexes as well as women’s survival strategy.

In conclusion, in No Name Woman, the situation of the two sexes is opposite while in White Tiger, it is completely changed to be harmonious. Therefore, by this developing process, Kingston explains her concept of harmony.

B. Brave Orchid Characterized by Two Sexes’ Values

Brave Orchid, Kingston’s mother, is a woman who is brave, wise, resourceful