Sunday, March 25, 2012
Village Villains
I understand that there is a huge cultural difference between China and the United States, but one thing about "No Name Woman" really bothered me. Why was the entire family punished for one woman's actions? The entire village ended up attacking this family of women whose men were away seeking their fortunes. The women were defenseless against this terrible shaming ritual. I know that I should accept that these women are now bound together in a family, but the one that couldn't wait for her husband to return was the one causing any problems. I'm not saying that the villagers should have taken her to the public square and beaten her, but if they were going to punish or shame her anyway, why did it have to be in the home of the entire family where all of their belongings were kept? Now these other women --who didn't do anything wrong and barely even noticed she might be pregnant-- have to endure this embarrassing and shameful punishment. If this woman were really committing a spite suicide by killing herself in a well, she would have jumped into the town water supply instead of the family well. I'm not condoning or disapproving of her pregnancy --we don't even know if that was her fault-- but in my opinion, the villagers are the bad guys in this case.
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I agree. I think the villagers can be seen as the villian in this story. If it was going to be a "spite" suicide, then the woman would not have drowned herself and her child in the family well. The villagers should not have attacked the remainder of the family, or anyone for that matter.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of No Name Woman the villagers are antagonists, but perhaps not the real one. I think they are a placeholder for "society" or something along those lines. While the whole thing is a true moral tale, it just doesn't seem very real.
ReplyDeleteI also agree. The villagers were a bit extreme in their actions and I don't think they should have gone that far especially because we don't know it was her fault and neither did the villagers. They took their traditions and used that as an excuse and caused the woman to kill both herself and the child which is really sad.
ReplyDeleteWell, in part, Kingston wants us to see how in that culture your acts stain your family, too. You just can't escape it. And as for her anger at her family, well, don't you imagine that if some other family had a similar situation, the family would take part in that raid? And Kingston explains how the family participates in her punishment.
ReplyDeleteTo clarify in response to Brittany: we don't know that it wasn't her "fault" (whatever that means). Moreover, I believe Kingston does a pretty good job explaining why the village responds the way they do. In a starving time, any action that threatens the whole community's survival is a major threat to everyone.