Two Novels of Female Identity

Kingston remembers her mother's midwifing experiences with respect to the body as individual destiny. She refers to a child born without an anus: "I pictured a naked child sitting on a modern toilet desperately trying to perform until it died of congestion" (Kingston 86). She remembers also that the role of a midwife at times included killing female babies by "turn[ing] her face into the ashes" (Kingston 86). In other words, in both cases, the individual is limited, defined, left to die, or even killed outright simply because he is born with a defect or she is born a she. In large part only because of her body, Kingston in her life experiences the special and intense prejudice reserved for ethnic females---both from her own

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. Later, she is enlisted by her uncle to help write a book about Korean politics. Faye also learns about more intimate matters through reading: "I read in an hour everything I could about male sperms, female eggs, gestation, and copulation. I learned that 'sex' was a legitimate word" (Ronyoung 246). Faye will not be imprisoned by sexual and other forms of ignorance which have imprisoned other girls and women she knows. Haesu experiences the shame and agony of not being able to read, especially for an immigrant in a strange land. Haesu tries to read the strange English language in school: "Haesu felt the heat rise to her face. Paralysis seemed to creep over her tongue. 'Many . . . trees . . . gu-ro . . . d . . . th . . . there. My pavorite.' There are no 'f' sounds in the Korean language" (Ronyoung 31). The inability to read is shown to be a form of oppression, just as learning to read is liberation. It is possible to learn from others information we need, but to read for oneself is an empowerment based on independence. Nettie, like the women in Ronyoung, tastes and savors this power and freedom: "I . . . started reading all the books. . . . Did you know there were great cities in Africa, greater than . . . even Atlanta, thou
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2015
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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