Girlhood among Ghosts

Girlhood among ghosts

Maxine Hong Kingston's essay "Girlhood Among Ghosts" talks about girls not
being allowed to talk in Chinese society. As a result, even as she grew up,
Kingston found it difficult to talk about common situations. She couldn't speak
English when she initially started attending an American school. Her artworks
were similarly illogical. They were completely black. She didn't know how to
perform a lot of things in an American manner. Japanese and other youngsters
were hostile, whereas African-American children were. She didn't grasp the words
"I" and "here" in American. Boys were disrespectful in Chinese school, and
females were not silent either. They were not closely supervised. They were free
near the conclusion of a session. She found difficult to communicate as she was
tongue tied.
Her childhood quiet appears to be the result of a clash between her Chinese
background and the norms of American schools. However, Kingston depicts it in
the novel as a trauma inflicted by her mother (China), who appears to have sliced
her tongue, slashing the frenum when she was a youngster. As a result, she is
unable to express herself in her American school. Kingston, who was born in
America to a Chinese family, is as much a product of two cultures as of two
dissimilar educational systems. At this moment, Kingston has successfully blended
her cultural inheritances and the two distinct worlds within her.
Do you agree or disagree with the author? Why?
I concur with the author. The author is attempting to represent the
challenges that people experience as a result of their cultural background
and distinctions. We can easily see that transitioning to a new region or
area with individuals of diverse nationalities or cultural backgrounds is
tough. Even I had difficulties when visiting India. Due to linguistic
limitations, I was unable to communicate effectively. It was challenging
for me because I knew little and unclear Hindi at the time. Furthermore,
the author depicted the persecution of Chinese and American women in
the early 1900s. Men were superior at the time, and women had such a
little voice in society that they were unable to properly express
themselves. In China, women and girls were tongue-tied, limiting their
capacity to communicate. As a result, I agree with the author.
What can this essay teach us?
I believe the author intends to demonstrate the problems of various
mother languages in different locations. Similarly, all nations' traditions
have diverse cultural perspectives and morality. Furthermore, the quick
tongue is not always a bad behavior in all communities. Thus, I got to
know more about Chinese culture of the past as well as American
practices. Moreover, after reading this essay made me understand that
learning to communicate successfully through silence is a bad concept.
Similarly, if we want to be successful in the future, we must learn to
adapt to the destination culture and customs. Furthermore, I grew to
regard the culture of the quick tongue as evil.
How could you have ended the literature differently?
The text does not talk about the positive side the culture during the
1900’s had. So, I would add the possible positive aspect of it to show a
bit soft side of the Chinese culture.