Kingston clearly establishes her beliefs and values of Chinese culture in each "talk-story" and then points out the contrasts with American culture. Her mother wants to instill traditional Chinese values in her daughter, with the desire that her daughter become a strong, unique individual - a "woman warrior." The first "talk-story" creates a sense of the Chinese traditional values Kingston encounters at home. This story describes the shunning of the aunt who has an affair with, and becomes pregnant by, an unnamed man in her village. The seriousness of her betrayal was conveyed through the repeated words

The combination of both American and Chinese values in Kingston's voice demonstrates the desire for balance between the different cultural practices. The Woman Warrior shows two distinct societies, with many opposing values. The combinations of cultural practices influence Kingston's sense of identity and individualism. At the end of the book, Kingston's ability to find her voice and speak out to the girl in the basement emphasizes her new-found individuality. She was once that girl and experienced that misery of learning English, but ultimately Kingston finds her place in the American society. "Those of us in the first American generations have had to figure out how the invisible world the emigrants built around our childhoods fits in solid America," (p.5).

America is portrayed as a place of corruption and evil. The description of non-Chinese people as "ghosts" implies that they are barbarians or demons. By calling all non-Chinese people "ghosts," the mother categorizes these individuals just as the village did the "No Name Woman," as unacceptable and undesirable by the Chinese culture. " . . . America has always been full of machines and ghosts... Once upon a time the world was so thick with ghosts, I could hardly breathe; I could hardly walk, limping my way around the White Ghosts and their cars," (p.96-97). Kingston uses the word machines to signify the bombing planes of World War II, which haunted her in her childhood dreams. However, America is Kingston's home. She is confused about how she can live in a culture she cannot accept nor be accepted by. In order to appear "American-normal," Kingston tells how "we American-Chinese girls had to whisper to make ourselves American-feminine" (p.172). This attitude illustrates the need and desire to fit into the American culture, no matter how America is presented by her Chinese family relatives. It seems as though Kingston feels she must learn to adapt to living with the demons of which she is a part because Chinese-American girls, " . . . were "born among ghosts, were taught by ghosts, and were ourselves half ghosts" (p.183).

Once she was able to reflect on her childhood by herself, she was able to truly comprehend both cultures and to find that she was part of both. Her ability to blend these two cultures into a single identity leads t

Some common words found in the essay are:
Woman Warrior, Chinese-Americans Language, That's Chinese, Kingston American, Women China, Brave Orchid, Mu Lan, America Chinese, Name Woman, American-normal Kingston, chinese culture, traditional chinese, american culture, woman warrior, non-chinese people ghosts, mu lan, fa mu, creates sense, chinese girls, non-chinese people, wife slave, fa mu lan,
Approximate Word count = 1554
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)