What do We Know About Maxine?

This assignment is about explaining how Maxine’s description and imagination about her aunt say about her. In The Woman Warrior, Maxine was told that she had an aunt that killed herself because she had a baby with a person other than her husband. Maxine thinks of reasons why her aunt cheated on her husband and why she decided to kill herself and the baby.

From her description of her aunt, we can say that Maxine has a wild imagination and will elaborate every reason, no matter how weird, that comes to her mind that answers her questions. Maxine wants to know why her aunt would cheat and why she killed herself and her baby. She thinks of the weirdest reasons, such as, “Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil. I wonder whether he masked himself when he joined the raid on her family (Kingston, 6).” She thinks that a man made her have a baby with him. As Maxine thought of more reasons for why her aunt had a baby, they got even more unusual than the one before. In the end, she came up with a logical reason why her aunt killed herself along with the baby. We learn that Maxine is a child that needs answers for her questions. She is a very curious girl and will not rest until she has a good explanation for her questions.

We can also say that Maxine values family pride. She says of her aunt, “She kept the man’s name to herself throughout her labor and dying; she did not accuse him that he be punished with her. (Kingston, 11).” Pride is very important in the Chinese culture. So important, Maxine’s aunt killed herself because she brought disgrace upon her family. We know that Maxine lives by the Chinese lifestyle because she is always talking about the different Chinese characteristics and values. She said that she wants to only attract the Chinese boys. That is why Maxine doesn’t want to date. If she turns herself American-Feminine, it will attract the Chinese boys, and all the other boys as well. This means that she lives by the Chinese values and lifestyles, including family pride.