Bizarre Take #3: Do I Have to Stop Dreaming?

Bizarre Take #3: Do I Have to Stop Dreaming?





    I’m here again! Sick of me yet? Today, we are going to be deep diving into the story of the Woman Warrior, a tale that tells the compelling story of a Chinese American immigrant who just moved to the US, and her desire to show her courage and strength in a restrained society. The chapter starts off with the main character introducing us to her imagination, which takes place in medieval china. Here, women are portrayed in a much different light than modern life. Women were encouraged to become swordsmen and warriors, and were perceived as courageous and resilient. It talks about how she was taken in by an old couple, who trained her to become a fierce warrior and help avenge her village. She went on dangerous treks, and learned to fend for herself in the wild, slowly building up her endurance and determination. All throughout, lots of imagery was depicted, and red was emphasized as a motif that kept reappearing throughout the story.



    The use of red symbolizes prosperity and good luck, and usually signaled something good that might happen. As time went on, a conflict came around, and men from each family were forcefully drafted into war. She chose to take her fathers spot, demonstrating her brilliance, and referring to readers the popular Chinese tale, Fa Mulan. 



    However, the story takes a brisk turn, and readers are quickly introduced to the other side of the story: her modern life. Here, women are portrayed much more negatively (“…better to raise geese than girls…”, and are held to much higher standards. They don’t have much freedom, and are perceived as inferior to men, which is much different to earlier in the story. This immense contrast shows  a dichotomy between her myth and reality, and really depicts the struggle she has to overcome, and how she just “wants to keep dreaming”.


    In a way, I strongly related to her character, just in a different way. Being an Indian in America myself, when I was younger, I felt hesitant to fit in with the other girls and felt out of place a lot of the time. I would usually sit alone, and had very few friends, which always frustrated me.  Although my story is much different to hers, I could really empathize with what she felt.  I constantly found myself wondering, “do I have to stop dreaming?” just like her <3


- girl power enthusiast,

Prisha 

Comments

  1. Avee LambaSeptember 24, 2023 at 10:59 AM

    I like how you connected the Warrior Woman story to your own experiences.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TashiSeptember 24, 2023 at 4:31 PM

    I love the title of your blogs. I also really like how you explored your own opinions on what we read during class as well as connecting it to your own experience!

    ReplyDelete

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