Woman Warrior and Corona Book Review

The book Woman Warrior falls in the categories of memoirs, autobiography, or Chinese folk tale and specifically tackles stories of a girlhood among ghosts. It was authored by Maxine Hong Kingston, a Chinese American, and published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1976. The mixture of genres serves the purpose of providing the readers with cultural, familial, and individual context much needed to understand the author's peculiar position as a first-generation Chinese-American woman. According to Friedman, through the use of her mother's traditional Chinese perspective and her personal view as a Chinese American, the author suggests that women and minority cultures do not have the disposition to view themselves as different from their gender or racial groupings. Bushra Rehman also wrote the book Corona and published it through Sibling Rivalry Press in August 2013. It is a novel that utilizes a Pakistani lady called Razia Mirza to give the story of the author. The author outlines her adventures from Puritan colony in Massachusetts to New York City due to excommunication from a rebellious streak. The two stories somewhat appear to convey the same message which in the end comes with a prize. Therefore, the paper is premised on a discussion that argues what Maxine and Razia gain or loses in acquiring self/life independent of their homes. It further seeks to explain the extent to which the author of the two books agrees about the cost of independence is worth the price.

In the case of Maxine, what she gains is demonstrated in the final chapter of the story. Even though the section lays focus on her childhood and her teenage life which is coupled with different challenges, she is noted to acquire harmony at the end. The acquisition of harmony come through the combination of different cultures and worlds, something which makes her have a different and more understanding view of life. Harmony makes her exist in a world of her own. The losses are not much except for a few regrets. For example, regretting not providing a listening ear to her mother's talk-stories when she was still a teenager, something she appreciates in adulthood. She equally losses the war of winning other women into her path. For example, in page 216, it is quoted that, "unlike the other lunatic women who had plunged on Maxine, finally, she fails to succumb to the various silence that defined the imperils during both her childhood and adolescent stages (Kingston, 193)." She, therefore, believes that the acquisition of harmony is self but not communal. Her contribution is thus meager and to her advantage alone.

Razia from Corona is also opined to gain a strong personality throughout the text, a situation which keeps the reader wondering about certain details about her. Her thoughts are freshly coupled with idiosyncratic and irrepressible vibrancy. She looks at everything with an alert wit that defines a person who has acquired self-possession. She can continue with her quest within the community even as many people are not reading the same page with her but leave them with little options to exploit. It is also notable that Razia also losses just like in the case of Maxine, her loss is based on the characterization given to her by the author, and inclined to her young life. A time when the children in the neighborhood are fleshed out with cruelty even as families continue to negotiate the balance that defines their tradition (Rehman 7). She, therefore, losses her place in the community as the story continues to deepens and subsequently get expelled from her community and family as well. A quote to justify the case is when she is given a choice by the mother, "Come home for marriage or never come at all."

Based on how we see the ending of protagonist characters in both the stories the Woman Warrior and Corona, it comes out explicitly that independence has a price tagged on it and which is equated to the cost. The two authors, Kingston and Rehman, agree that the cost of independence is worth the price paid based on how we see both the characters battling different challenging situations in their quest for freedom. Maxine becomes rebellious and works hard to acquire her space while also battling the issues of gender stereotypes. Even though she acquires her harmony, in the end, the struggle she goes through is unimaginable. She even faces possible deportation as noted on page 193 (Kingston, 193). A quote to support the noted is based on where it is mentioned, "The Chinese conceal their names and also withhold speech following the threat on deportation." The same is noted in the case Razia who even gets expelled from the community.

Summary

In summary, the two stories have successfully shown the struggle the two characters (Maxine and Razia) went through within their ethnic families in the quest of asserting and developing into individuals in the American world. It is also explicit, that even though each of them made certain gains, they also lost in equal measures as noted herein. For example, Maxine being able to acquire harmony but failing to rally other women to join in the liberation. On the part of Razia, the gain is primarily associated with her personality while the loss is based on being sent away from the community to mention but a few.

Works Cited

Rehman, Bushra. Corona. Amazon Original Stories 2013. Print.

Kingston, Maxine Hong. The woman warrior. Picador, 2015.