Imposed Silences in the Color Purple and the Woman Warrior Author(S): King-Kok Cheung Source: PMLA, Vol

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Title DONT TELL - IMPOSED SILENCES IN THE 'COLOR PURPLE' AND THE 'WOMAN WARRIOR'

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Journal PMLA-PUBLICATIONS OF THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, 103(2)

ISSN 0030-8129

Author CHEUNG, KK

Publication Date 1988-03-01

DOI 10.2307/462432

Peer reviewed

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"Don't Tell": Imposed Silences in The Color Purple and The Woman Warrior Author(s): King-Kok Cheung Source: PMLA, Vol. 103, No. 2 (Mar., 1988), pp. 162-174 Published by: Modern Language Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/462432 . Accessed: 15/08/2013 19:08

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This content downloaded from 128.97.7.131 on Thu, 15 Aug 2013 19:08:16 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions KING-KOK CHEUNG

"Don'tTell": Imposed Silences in TheColor Purple and The WomanWarrior

B OTH ALICE Walker'sColor Purple and majority(see Dasenbrock'sdefense of "unintelligi- Maxine Hong Kingston'sWoman Warrior bility"in multiculturaltexts). The stakesare high, open withparental warnings against speech. however.For bothauthors, reclaiming the mother Celie's stepfatherthreatens, " Youbetter not never tongueis muchmore than reproducing a dialector tellnobody but God. It'd killyour mammy"(11). marshalinga newvocabulary; it is also bringingto Maxine's motheradmonishes her daughter, "You lifea richoral traditionin whichwomen have ac- mustnot tellanyone . . . whatI am about to tell tivelyparticipated. And if we agree withWerner you" (3). Despitethese explicit prohibitions, both Sollorsthat "[e]thnicity as a tenuousancestry and theblack and theChinese American protagonists theinterplay of differentancestries may be themost proceedto tellall-on paper.Their needs for self- crucialaspect of theAmerican national character" expressionare obvious: theyhang onto sanityby ("Literature"648),2 these authors have instated writing;they defend themselves with words; they themselvesin the Americantradition by hitting discovertheir potential-sound themselvesout- upon a syncreticidiom at once inheritedand self- througharticulation. made. In The Color Purpleand The WomanWar- Less obviousare the waysin whichWalker and rioralike, breaking silence, acknowledging female Kingstonconvert their characters' sociocultural dis- influence,and preservingcultural and national abilitiesinto felicities. Celie (an unschooledblack) characteristicsare a coordinatedart. These "speak- and Maxine (a Chinese Americanstruggling to ing texts"expose the layersof silencethat have learnEnglish) must overcome forbidding sexual, ra- threatenedto chokethe coloredprotagonists and cial, and linguisticbarriers. They work their way raisethe voices that have run the gamut (and gaunt- fromspeechlessness to eloquencenot only by cover- let) of interethnicdifferences. ing the historical stages women writershave Sincethe particular agony and exceptionalprog- traveled-fromsuffering patriarchy, to rebelling ressof theprotagonists are inseparablefrom their against its conventions,to creatingtheir own genderand ethnicbackgrounds-for Walker and ethos'-but also bydeveloping a stylethat emerges Kingstonequally-the knottyproblems of distin- fromtheir respective cultures. In thecourse of their guishingbetween authors and protagonistsand of odysseys,the destructiveweapon of traditionis drawingcross-cultural comparisons must be ad- turnedinto a creativeimplement, and speechim- dressedat the outset.For a criticinterested in ex- pedimentbecomes literary invention. aminingthe linguisticstruggles of the black and The heroines'inventiveness reflects the resource- ChineseAmerican heroines, it is particularlydiffi- fulnessof theircreators, who are politically and aes- cultto adhereto thetexts without referring to the theticallyconcerned with conveyingethnic and black and ChineseAmerican authors. The danger femalesensibilities. Like so manyother American lies in foreshorteningthe artistic distances in these writerstoday, Walker and Kingstonmust grapple worksor, worse, in seeingthe narratives as represen- witha languageand a literarytradition that have tativeof the minoritygroups depicted.Because long excludedtheir kind. But the two minority somewhite reviewers treat the two books as though writersmust also choose to writeeither in the theywere definitive descriptions of minorityex- "dominant"mode or in a mode thatreflects their periences,several black and Chinese American own multiculturallegacies. Though both authors criticsnot only lash out at thesereviewers for their havemastered standard English, neither claims it as presumptionbut also blamethe writers for distort- her firstlanguage, and it is farremoved from the ingthe facts about theirrespective ethnic groups.3 speechof thepeople theywrite about. Theircom- Walkerand Kingstondo drawheavily on theircul- mon quest,therefore, is to seek waysto transplant tures,but theyare not culturalhistorians, nor are theirnative dialects to theirtexts, even if they risk theycommitted to a purelyrealistic fictional form. being occasionally unintelligibleto the reading On thecontrary, they are feministwriters who seek

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to "re-vision"history (to borrowAdrienne Rich's and Gubar; Olsen; Rich; and Russ). Silenceruns word).If theyare to be nurturedby theircultural evendeeper in the work of minoritywomen. Paula inheritancerather than smothered by it, they must GunnAllen observes that persons caught between learnto reshaperecalcitrant myths glorifying patri- culturesare mostlikely to be "inarticulate,almost archalvalues. Blinkeringthe authors by historical paralyzedin theirinability to directtheir energies or ethnographiccriteria denies their freedom as art- towardresolving what seems to theminsoluble con- iststo minglehistory and myth,fact and fiction.4 flict"(135). CarolynHeilbrun describes minority To distinguisheach fictive"I" fromthe writer, and women as "outsiderstwice over" (37), excluded to avoid confusingthe re-presentation of a partic- both fromthe mainstreamand fromthe ethnic ularexperience with anthropology, I will focus my centersof power.Some of thesewomen are, more- literaryanalysis primarily on the protagonists- over,thrice muted, on accountof sexism,racism, Celie and Maxine-but referto the authorswhen and a "tonguelessness"that results from prohibi- I wishto call attentionto theirartistry. tionsor languagebarriers. Similarconsiderations underlie my reluctance to The threeconstraints are often interrelated. Both extrapolate general cross-culturalcomparisons The Color Purpleand The WomanWarrior begin based on the textsalone. Althoughinformed by withwomen who are punished by not being allowed historicaland social factors,the narratives do not to speakor to be spokenabout. In both,it is notthe necessarilyilluminate the culturesat large. As maleoffender but the female victim who suffers the women,both Celie and Maxinehave been debased penaltyfor an illicitaffair: he sentencesher to hold in theirfamilies. Celie is abused byher stepfather hertongue. These tales are timelessvariations on and herhusband alike, and Maxinesuffers from the the Philomela myth,in whichthe tongueof the antifemaleprejudice rooted in herparents' Chinese rapedwoman is cutoff: victimization incurs voice- past. But to concludefrom reading the two books lessness.6Celie and laterher sister Nettie are vio- thatblack menand Chinesepeople are misogynis- lentlycoerced by their aggressors. Alphonso, who tic is to stereotypethese groups invidiously.5 I am Celie thinksis her fatherbut who is actuallyher aware, however,that sexismin the two cultures stepfather,forbids her to speak about his repeated drawson differentroots; that black silences,deep- sexual assaults.Albert, Celie's husband,prevents ened bythe history of slavery,are not thesame as thetwo sisters from corresponding after Nettie has ChineseAmerican silences, which were reinforced rejectedhis lustful advances. Nettie writes to Celie, byanti-Asian immigration laws. Celie's repression "He said because of whatI'd done I'd neverhear is muchmore violent and brutalthan Maxine's, and fromyou again, and you would neverhear from her resourcesare at the beginningmuch more me" (119).The threatproves real. By hiding Nettie's limited.Celie expressesherself tentatively at first lettersfrom Celie, Albert metes out the same because she lacks schooling;it is in school that punishmentto Nettiethat Alphonso does to Celie: Maxinebecomes totally incommunicative (because the denial of communication. shehas to learna secondlanguage). But such differ- Silencealso entombsthe no-nameaunt in The ences are not my main concerns. Despite the WomanWarrior, who commitssuicide after giving heroines'disparate cultural experiences, their psy- birthto an illegitimatechild. Maxine speculates on chologicalimperative to expressionis kindred.My whatmight have happened to heraunt: "Some man intentis to tracethe strikingparallels in the pro- had commandedher to lie withhim and be his se- tagonists'struggles and in the authors'narrative cretevil. . .. His demand musthave surprised, strategies.Gender and ethnicity-inhibitiveforces thenterrified her. She obeyedhim; she alwaysdid when these texts open-eventually become the as she was told" (7). Maxine museson heraunt's sourcesof personaland stylisticstrengths. predicament:"The otherman was not, afterall, muchdifferent from her husband. They both gave I orders:she followed.'If you tell yourfamily, I'll beatyou. I'll killyou"' (8). The auntobeys, submit- Womenauthors and feministcritics have been tingwithout protest. She can neithertalk herself out unusuallyvocal on thetheme of silence-as an ar- of rapenor declare her innocence afterward. When tistictool (Gubar,Sontag), as imposedinvisibility she getspregnant, she is harassedby villagers and (Griffin),and as the reticenceenjoined upon repudiatedby her own family, even after her death. womenand feltmost acutely by writers (see Gilbert Maxine also has a livingaunt, Moon Orchid,

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who has traveledfrom China to look forher hus- tweenher teef like a pieceof rubber.She can'ttalk" bandin America, only to discoverthat he has taken (87; myemphasis). The blackwoman who dares to a newwife. The husbandsnaps, "What are you do- returninsult and exchangeblows is imprisoned, inghere?" Moon Orchidcan only"open and shut brutalized,and muted.The impudenttongue is hermouth without any words coming out" (176). bludgeoned-to seal hermouth. The unfaithfulhusband, not the wrongedwife, Discriminationalso thickensthe silence in Max- flashesanger: "He lookeddirectly at Moon Orchid ine'sfamily, whose predisposition to secrecyis rein- theway the savages looked. . . She shrankfrom forcedby anti-Asianimmigration policies (Kim his stare;it silencedher crying" (177). 200). Maxinewrites, "There were secrets never to be Both the "guilty" and the innocentaunt are said . . . immigrationsecrets whose telling could hushed.Maxine's family tries to eraseall knowledge get us sentback to China." Even thoughshe and of thedead woman,to carryon "as ifshe had never hersiblings are hardly privy to thesesecrets, they are beenborn" (3). To expungeher name, to deletethe cautionedagainst confiding in outsiders."Don't memoryof herlife, is perhapsthe cruelest repudi- tell," the parentsrepeatedly admonish (213-14); ation her kin could devise.7No less cruel is the Maxinecomments, "[W]e couldn'ttell if we wanted silencingof the living. Stared and scaredinto silence to becausewe didn't know" (213). The adultsworry byher husband, Moon Orchidsoon goes mad. Her so muchabout deportationthat they bid theiroff- niecelater draws a connectionbetween speechless- springto withholdinformation withheld. nessand insanity:"I thoughttalking and nottalk- Silencedat home,Maxine also failsto raiseher ingmade the difference between sanity and insanity. voiceat work.Her boss at an art-supplystore takes Insane people werethe ones who couldn'texplain pridein havingcoined the phrase "nigger yellow" themselves"(216). to describea paintcolor. When she tries to gainsay Associatingvoicelessness with victimization and him,she cannotmake herself heard: "'I don'tlike madness,young Maxine recognizes the exigency of thatword,' I had to say in mybad, small-person's expression,but the brutal and domineeringaspect voicethat makes no impact.The boss neverdeigned of speechgives her pause. In a hauntingtravesty of to answer"(57). She is also disregardedby an em- her aunts' stories,she triesto scold and pinch a ployer at a land developers' association, who quiet ChineseAmerican girl into speech. "If you choosesto hosta companybanquet in a restaurant don'ttalk, you can't have a personality.. . . Talk, picketedby CORE and theNAACP. Maxineagain please talk," Maxine cries.Yet in the same breath makesa feebleprotest: "'I refuseto typethese in- she enforcessilence: "Don't you dare tell anyone vitations,'I whispered,voice unreliable"(57-58). I've beenbad to you" (210).Her frustrationwith the The minorityprotester is shown the door; her mutegirl reflects her own anxiety: Maxine is afraid "small-person'svoice," already "unreliable," is sent of losing her identity, of being erased or out of earshotand becomeswholly inaudible. unhinged-as hertwo aunts have been respectively NotwithstandingCelie's quiet resignationand erasedand unhinged-throughsilence. At the same Maxine's impotentrage, the mayor's wife, the time,she cannothelp linkingutterance and coer- mayor,the police, and the bigotedbosses are all cion. Her protractedillness after the incident caughtred-handed in the texts.The unspokenor reflectsher guilt and misgivingsabout verbal unheardtestimonies become powerful indictments authority(and herpsychosomatic attempt to evade on thepage, and itis throughthe written word that theconflict). She viewsher aggressive act as "the Celie and Maxinegive voice to theirgrievances and worstthing I had yetdone to anotherperson" (210). eventuallyfind redress. At thebeginning, however, Not only sexistbut racistrepression can gag a compositionis less a retaliatorytactic than an act person.Asked condescendingly by the mayor's wife of survival. to workas hermaid, Sofia, theoutspoken wife of Constantlyflustered, Celie and Maxineresort to Celie'sstepson, answers: "Hell no" (86). The mayor writingas a wayto escape mentalcontortions and thenslaps Sofia, who countershis blow byknock- assuage lonelinessand pain. The morethey are or- inghim down. She is consequentlyjailed and tor- deredto keepquiet, the more irrepressible their urge tured. Celie relates,"They crack her skull, they to cryout, if only on paper.Raped and impregnated crackher ribs. They tear her nose loose on one side. byAlphonso, Celie writesto God, "Maybeyou can Theyblind her in one eye.She swole fromhead to giveme a signletting me knowwhat is happening foot. Her tonguethe size of myarm, it stickout to me" (11). Nettie,much later, recalls, "I remem-

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ber one timeyou said yourlife made you feelso has lefthome, when life has becomeless of a mud- ashamed you couldn'teven talk about it to God, dle forher, she has to keep speakingher mind to you had to writeit, bad as you thoughtyour writ- sootheher "throatpain" (239). ing was" (122). Without the unburdeningthat Celie and Maxine feelthe spell of verbalpower comes withexpression, the traumaticexperience at an earlyage, but it takestime for them to learn Celie has undergonewould drive her mad. She sur- to fightand createwith words. In theprocess, they vivesby unspoken prayer: she writes to God to share use wordsto describewordlessness; writing is not theburden of knowingthat her father got her with thechosen but the desperate alternative to speech. childtwice and sold herbabies, that her husband choseher the way he choseher dowry cow, and that II herstepson split her head openwith a rock.She sur- vivesby thinking, "long as I can spellG-o-d I got The difficultyof speakingis compoundedfor somebodyalong" (26; emphasisadded). The word Celie by prohibitionand forMaxine by a second spellnicely connotes the almost magical healing ef- language. Alphonso has used just about every fectof words.Nettie experiences this effect as well. means to silenceCelie, shortof cuttingout her She tellsCelie, "[W]hen I don'twrite to you I feel tongue:intimidation, deprivation, and falseaccu- as bad as I do whenI don'tpray, locked up in my- sation. At her cryduring his firstrape he snaps, selfand chokingon myown heart.I am so lonely "You bettershut up and gitused to it" (11). He en- . . " (122). suresCelie's submission by depriving her of school- An olderand wiserCelie, who has freedherself ing: "You too dumb to keep goingto school, Pa fromdomestic violence and the shame of incest, say" (19). Thoughthe adjective accurately describes again expressesher unspeakable sorrow in writing. herreticence at thetime, Celie is not "dumb"men- Shug,her friend and lover,has becomeinfatuated tally,as Nettiereassures her. Not contentwith his witha boy of nineteenand, "dyingto tell some- dual attemptto stifleCelie, Alphonso (in his need body,"describes him at lengthto Celie, herusual to keephis sexualassault a secret)makes sure that confidante.Celie remainstight-lipped throughout eventhe little she speaks willbe doubted.He tells thisordeal. "I prayto die," she writes,"just so I Albert,who is about to marryher, "She telllies" don't neverhave to speak." She finallyscribbles (18). Preventedboth from speaking and frombeing Shuga note:"It said,Shut up" (220). Thispoignant believed,Celie acceptsdomestic violence without exchangeharks back to theperiod when Celie was a whimperthroughout the earlypart of her life. too dumbfoundedto talkto anyoneand whenwrit- Told repeatedlythat she is ugly and stupid,she ingwas herlast resort.Her note,to be sure,is also hardlyknows better. With little education or en- a cleverway to go frommute acceptance to verbal couragement,she can expressherself only haltingly. command(as exemplifiedby herstepfather). But Maxine'svoice also faltersinitially. Just as Celie farfrom exerting despotic authority, the message is judged "dumb" by her stepfather,so Maxine conveysthe heartbreakof one too distraughtto (who has to learnEnglish among native speakers) speak. is consideredretarded by her American school LikeCelie, Maxine must write her way out oftan- teachers.Unable to expressherself in class, in gles. As a daughterof Chineseimmigrants, she is speechor on paper,she "flunkedkindergarten and tossedbetween their antifemale prejudice and her in thefirst grade had no IQ-a zeroIQ" (212). She personalambition, between their Chinese past and relatesin hauntingdetail the curse that hangs over her Americanpresent: "Those of us in the first her: Americangenerations have had to figureout how theinvisible world the emigrants built around our My silencewas thickest-total-duringthe threeyears childhoodsfit in solid America." The emigrants thatI coveredmy school paintingswith black paint. I confusetheir offspring, who are "alwaystrying to paintedlayers of blackover houses and flowersand suns, and whenI drewon theblackboard, I puta layerof chalk getthings straight, always trying to namethe un- on top. I was makinga stagecurtain, and it was themo- speakable"(6; myemphasis). The greaterthe con- mentbefore the curtain parted or rose.. . . I spread[the fusion,the stronger the need to name,and thereby pictures]out (so black and full of possibilities)and to understand.Maxine tries to achievesome order pretendedthe curtains were swinging open, flying up, one in herlife by writing down and sortingout herpar- afteranother, sunlight underneath, mighty operas. ents'jumble of totemsand taboos. Even aftershe (192)

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UnlikeCelie, young Maxine is acutelyaware of the dureharsh discipline before wielding a swordin bat- discrepancybetween her external silence and herin- tle.In herreal life Maxine has totake speech therapy nerpossibility. She does notsimply paint layers of and workthrough "layers of black" beforeshe can black; she paintsthem "over houses and flowers controlthe voice and thepen that are her weapons. and suns." To call thelayer of chalk "a stagecur- Her apprenticeshipas a writeris strenuous,her tain"implies that it will one dayrise. But only Max- achievementremarkable. (Her status progresses ine herselfknows what is behindthe curtain. The fromretarded pupil to "straightA" studentand fi- poignancyof the passage lies not so muchin the nallyto writer.) factof silenceas in the tensionbetween layers of Whilethe warrior legend opens Maxine to an un- blackand theconcealed sunlight, between the thick conventionalway of assertingherself-both fight- curtainand the resoundingoperas. The sense of ing and writing being traditionally male imagination being buried alive-shrouded in preoccupations-it still sanctions patriarchal black-is suffocating. values.As withthe female writer who must assume To facilitatethe painfulprocess of breakingsi- a malepseudonym to be takenseriously, the woman lence,Celie and Maxinecommune with imaginary warriorcan exerciseher power only when she is dis- beings-Celie withGod, Maxinewith a legendary guised as a man; regainingher true identityshe warrior.Yet these heuristic figures also manifestthe mustonce morebe subservient,kowtowing to her verymasculine attributes that have restrictedthe parents-in-lawand resumingher son-bearing func- protagonists'self-expression. The problemwith tion."Now mypublic duties are finished,"she says God is thathe neveranswers Celie's letters.Worse to them."I willstay with you, doing farmwork and still,trust in himleads herto acceptthe status quo: housework,and givingyou moresons" (53-54). "This life soon be over," she reassuresherself. Her militarydistinction itself attests to the sover- "Heavenlasts all ways"(47). Worstof all, sheiden- eigntyof patriarchalmores, which prize the ability tifieshim with the oppressive father, as suggested to be ruthlessand violent-to fightlike a man.Try- byher response when her mother demands to know ingto conformto boththe feminineand themas- what happened to Celie's newborn baby (Al- culine ideals of her society,Maxine as warrioris phonso'schild): "I sayGod took it. He took it. He caughtin a double bind. took it whileI was sleeping.Kilt it out therein the It is disturbing,though understandable, that the woods" (12). In context"He" refersto Alphonso, figuresto whom Celie and Maxine firstturn for but grammaticallythe pronoun refersto its help and inspirationhark back to thosewho sub- antecedent-God. Male. In Celie's subconscious jugatethem in reallife. Celie's God, likeAlphonso mind the almightyGod merges with the all- and Albert,demands submissionand threatens powerfulearthly father. Shug laterargues that the punishment.Maxine's heroinedesires only male traditionaldivine image does indeed epitomize progenyand distinguishesherself by excellingin male dominance:"Man corrupteverything. . manly exploits. Internalizing the communal He on yourbox of grits,in yourhead, and all over denigrationof women, the protagonists begin by as- theradio. He tryto makeyou think he everywhere. sumingthat only "manthropomorphic" beings can Soon as you thinkhe everywhere,you thinkhe offerguidance, inspiration, and salvation. God" (179). For Celie,who has beentyrannized by one man afteranother, God is a wrathfulbeing: III "He threatenlightening, floods and earthquakes" (179).Though writing to God is heronly emotional But bothCelie and Maxineovercome their initial outletat the beginning,she writeswith restraint. dependenceon imaginarybeings. They come to When she turns from a divine to a human commandfull articulation and attainpositive iden- audience-fromGod to Nettie-herletters become titiesas womenthrough the influence of actual fe- longer,more exuberant, and moredramatic. male figures:for Maxine these are the no-name Maxine has, rightfrom the start,a muchmore auntand BraveOrchid (Maxine's mother); for Celie congenialtutelary genius-Fa Mu Lan, thelegen- they are Sofia, Shug, and Nettie. Subdued as darywoman warrior. For someonebesieged by si- women,Maxine and Celie gatherstrength through lence,self-expression is a heroicact, an offensive a femalenetwork. withverbal artillery. In herfantasy Maxine merges Maxine speculatesabout theaunt she is forbid- withthe warrior, who musttrain rigorously and en- dento mentionand attemptsto conjurethe circum-

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stancesthat could haveresulted in an affair.In one "But I'll kill him dead beforeI let him beat me" imaginaryversion the aunt is nota rapevictim but (46). Sofiais a blackwoman warrior; her aggression a seducer.As a rebel-a breakerof conventions- is hermeans to preventothers from subjugating her. she is Maxine's "forerunner"(9). Maxine writes, Her defiancein the face of brutaltreatment pro- "UnlessI see herlife branching into mine, she gives videsCelie a modelof resistanceagainst sexual and me no ancestralhelp" (10). The auntis punishedfor racial oppression. producingan illegitimatechild, for having "crossed Celie's transformationis furtheredby Shug Av- boundariesnot delineated by space" (8). In "nam- ery,a sexyand snappyblues singer. Just as Maxine ingthe unspeakable"-presenting the prodigal aunt speaksup forher adulterous aunt, so Celie defends in thefirst chapter-Maxine at once sanctionsthe Shug, anotherallegedly "loose" woman.Maxine no-namewoman's nonconformity and announces rebelsagainst her mother'smoral (that a woman herown ambition.By inventinga seditiousstory, mustsubordinate herself to hersociety, must con- she too engagesin forbiddencreativity. formto itspatriarchal codes); Celie questionsthe Maxine's mother,Brave Orchid, who at first values of her conservativecommunity. The local seemsan accomplicein enforcingfemale silence, is preachercasts aspersionson Shug: "He talk bout yeta "championtalker" (237). (Herbehavior is con- a strumpetin shortskirts . . . slut,hussy, heifer sistentlycontradictory.) She enjoinsMaxine not to and streetcleaner"(48-49). In retellingthe episode, mentionthe no-name aunt: "Your fatherdoes not Celie altersthe moralperspective: "Streetcleaner. wantto hear her name" (18). Yet she herselfdis- Somebodygot to standup forShug, I think"(49). obeysthe husband by telling her daughter the story. She does not relaythe moral-that God scourges She predictsthat Maxine willgrow up to join the thewicked-but presentsthe preacher's sermon as companyof wivesand slaves,yet she teaches her the an unfairaccusation. songof thewoman warrior, Fa Mu Lan, whoexcels Like Maxine, Celie gains strengthfrom the in an arena traditionallyclosed to women.8Brave womanshe tries to vindicate.She learnsa newlan- Orchidherself had defiedtradition by working in- guage fromher female idol. Shug,singer of sweet dependentlyas a doctorin China-an unusualca- songs,also has a "mouthjust pack withclaws" reerfor Chinese women at thetime. (53): hervocal organ has built-inweapons. Celie re- As a child,Maxine resentsher mother's confla- lates how,when Albert tries to make advancesto tionof factand fancy,insufficiently aware how the Shug, she snaps at him: "Turnloose mygoddam eloquentand valiantBrave Orchid is inspiringher; hand . . . I don'tneed no weak littleboy . . . " as a writer,she herselfresorts to thisconflation as (51). Notingand recordingShug's brazentongue, a narrativetechnique. She putsChinese notions in Celie eventuallyappropriates it; she will one daycall Americanidioms, but she derives both the raw ma- herabusive husband "a lowdowndog" to his face terial and the strategyfor her art from the (170). matrilinealtradition of oralstorytelling: "I sawthat But it is Nettiewho, by disclosingthe arbitrari- I too had been in thepresence of greatpower, my ness of social conventionsand the bias of certain mothertalking story" (24). orthodoxreligious teaching, finally confirms what Celie does not encounterany extraordinary Celie has learnedfrom Sofia and Shug.Describing women until well into her adulthood. Her first thelife of theOlinka peoples, Nettie writes to Celie glimpseof a femaleexistence beyond that of bat- thatthese peoples have a differentversion of the teredwife or slaveis throughSofia, the big and out- Adamicmyth, that to themAdam was notthe first spokenwife of herstepson Harpo. Celie puts her man but the "firstman thatwas white"(i.e., "na- hopes in an afterlife,but Sofia sees thingsdiffer- ked"in the Olinka dialect), that Adam and Eve were ently:"You oughtto bash Mr. head open. drivenout notby God butby blacks (239-40). The . . . Think about heaven later" (47). So Olinkamyth inverts the racial hegemony in America thoroughlyhas Celie internalizedthe tenets of fe- in the same way that the Chinese mythof the malesubordination and so enviousis sheof Sofia's womanwarrior partially subverts sexual hierarchy. strengthagainst Harpo, however,that she counsels To be sure,Nettie herself is an "objectof pityand herstepson to beat his wifeinto compliance. Con- contempt" to the Olinka, whose women are frontedby Sofia, Celie confessesher jealousy. Dis- "looked after"by men (149). But Nettie'saccount armedby the confession, Sofia tellsCelie: "All my of anotherworld with a differentset of rules,along lifeI had to fight.""I lovesHarpo," shecontinues, withher singular example, makes Celie all themore

This content downloaded from 128.97.7.131 on Thu, 15 Aug 2013 19:08:16 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 168 Imposed Silences in The Color Purple and The Woman Warrior convincedthat, like Sofia and Shug,she must hold Thejail youplan for me is theone in which you will herown: "our own selfis what us have to hand" rot,I say. (187) (238). Writingabout Sofia, Shug, and Nettieallows Earliershe had turneda preacher'ssermon into an Celie to reliveand rehearsetheir speech or action, accusation.Now herhusband's scathing words lend therebycomposing a newself. They are to herwhat ammunitionto hercurse. Her curse is, moreover, so Fa Mu Lan, BraveOrchid, and the no-nameaunt potentthat Mr. soon wiltsin his own house. areto Maxine: feministmodels daring to assertau- Celie herselfnow has a "mouth just pack with tonomy,challenge patriarchy, and shed feminine claws": speechand act are one.'0 decorum.These women(notably Shug and Brave Celiespeaks with a vengeance.She saysto Albert, Orchid)also teachCelie and Maxinehow to speak "You betterstop talking because all I'm tellingyou and write.By stressingthe formativeinfluence of ain'tcoming just fromme. Look likewhen I open thesefigures, Walker and Kingstoninsist on giving mymouth the air rushin and shape words"(187). womentheir due; theirprotagonists draw literary The tablesare turned: the woman now tells the man strengthsless from the books of menthan from the to pipedown. The senseof releaseis palpablein this tonguesof women.9(Nettie, who does adhereto secularparody of "speakingwith tongues." Openly conventionaldiction, is the exceptionthat proves enjoyingthe freedom of backtalk for the first time, the rule;her prose pales beside Celie's.) Celie expressesherself with so muchgusto that she feelsinspired by forces outside herself. Her words, longdammed up byher domineering husband, now IV flowin torrents. Maxinealso growsup amidstsexist gibes. She is Inspiritedby femalefigures, Celie and Maxine told repeatedlyby her parents and relatives: transformthemselves from victims to victorsby "There's no profitin raisinggirls. Better to raise throwingangry words back at theirvoluble oppres- geesethan girls" (54). Whenher mother yells, "Bad sors. But just as theirearlier dependence on mas- girl!" (54), Maxine screamsback, "I am nota bad culineidols kept them in thrall,their appropriation girl,"adding, "I mightas wellhave said, 'I'm not of patriarchalrhetoric and codes of behaviorcould a girl"' (55). Yether protests fall on deaf ears,for bindrather than liberate them. The twowomen go herparents' culture disapproves of freespeech, es- beyondthe violent behavior and abusivelanguage pecially in women: "The Chinese say 'a ready of thetyrant to becometruly themselves; their mur- tongueis an evil"' (190). Worsestill, the Chinese derousimpulses give way to artisticacts. languageitself propagates sexism: "There is a Chi- Bid to be quiet,Celie yetbears the brunt of brut- neseword for the female I-which is 'slave.'Break ish remarks.Both stepfatherand husbandshower the womenwith their own tongues!"(56)."' indignitieson her.Alphonso tellsher that she is Yet fromthis verylanguage Maxine findsthe "evilan alwaysup to no good" (13). Alberttaunts, meansto articulateand redressher grievances. She "You ugly.You skinny.You shape funny.You too discoversthat the Chinese idiom for revenge liter- scared to open yourmouth to people. ... You ally means to "reporta crime" (63); to report- black,you pore . . . youa woman.Goddam . witnessand record-theinjustices done to heras a you nothingat all" (186-87). Whilein thepast she ChineseAmerican woman eventually becomes her wouldhave absorbed such invectives, a transformed way of fightingback, of being a warrior.In her Celie now retorts,"I'm pore,I'm black, I maybe imaginarybattle with the wicked baron-a warbe- ugly.. . . But I'm here"(187). She affirmsher ex- tweenthe sexes-Maxine parrieswords with words: istenceagainst her husband's alleged "nothing" by deflectingthe man's abuse, turninghis vicious wordsinto a curseagainst him: ". . . Whoare you?" [the baron asked.] "I am a femaleavenger." Then-heavenhelp him-he tried to be charming,to Whoeverheard of sucha thing,say Mr. . I prob- appealto me manto man."Oh, comenow. Everyone ablydidn't whup your ass enough. takesthe girls when he can.The familiesare glad to be Everylick you hit me you will suffer twice. ridof them.'Girls are maggots in the rice.' 'It is more Shit,he say. I shouldhave lock you up. Just let you out profitabletoraise geese than daughters."' He quotedto to work. methe sayings I hated....

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"You'vedone this," I said,and ripped off my shirt to Maxine has grownup with-etchedinto her con- show himmy back. . . . I slashedhim across the face sciousness by her parents. The mementos of andon thesecond stroke cut off his head. (51-52) grievancesare on her back because the Chinese Americanwarrior is fightingagainst hurt she can- The warrior'sback carriesa textof scars,listing not see-prejudices againstgirls that her parents grievancesthat counter the baron's sexist language. broughtfrom old China,prejudices that make her The battleis as mucha verbalmatch as a physical American"straight Xs" life"such a disappoint- one. ment"(54). She writes,"When one of myparents Celie and Maxine speak and act aggressivelyto . . . said, 'feedinggirls is likefeeding cowbirds,' overcomedomination and inhibition,but they also I would thrashon the floorand screamso hardI learnto channelanger into creativity. On discover- couldn'ttalk" (54). By transferringthe insults that ingthat Albert has foryears intercepted Nettie's let- usedto leaveher speechless into the enemy's mouth ters, Celie feels a compulsive urge to slit his and by beheadingthe imaginaryspeaker, Maxine throat-withhis razor.Shug talksher into sewing notonly excises the lump in herthroat but also for- instead,into holdinga "needle and not a razor" givesthe parents who haveafflicted her girlhood. (137). The violentbehavior that Celie had thought She goes beyondforgiveness to acknowledgethe necessaryto get evenwith Albert gives way to ar- sourceof pain as thesource of strength:the parents tisanship.Sublimating righteous rage witha cre- who disparagedher have also encouragedher. Yet ativeact, she developsa talentfor designing unisex ittakes the magnanimous vision of thedaughter- pants.Offering comfort to menand womenalike, heridentification with the warrior-to transform theyemancipate the wearersfrom their gender- theaching words into amulets, scars into escutch- specificroles. By theend theblade has fullyceded eon, and humiliationinto heroism: to theneedle-Celie is teachinga reformedAlbert how to sew. Theswordswoman and I arenot so dissimilar.. What In Maxine's fantasythe blade theparents use to wehave in common are the words at our backs. . . The carvewords on thewarrior's back is bothinjurious reportingis the vengeance-not the beheading, not the and empowering.Here Kingston adroitly melds two gutting,but the words. And I haveso manywords- Chinese legends,grafting the storyof Yue Fei, a "chink"words and "gook" words too-that they do not male generalin theSung Dynasty,onto thatof Fa fiton myskin. (62-63) Mu Lan. In theChinese sources, it is themale war- riorwhose back is tattooed:before he leftfor bat- Maxinehas neverthelessredefined heroism. Unlike tlehis mother carved a mottoon hisback, enjoining themythical Fa Mu Lan, Maxineas warrioravenges himto be loyalto hiscountry-China. If bytrans- herselfless by brandishing a sword than by spinning ferringthis ordeal to thewoman warrior Kingston words.Instead of excellingin martialarts, Maxine is literalizingthe painful truth of womanas text,as has learnedthe art of storytellingfrom the mother Gubarbelieves (251), she is also subversivelyclaim- wno "funneledChina" intoher ears (89). BraveOr- ingher right to recyclemyths and transposegender, chid'sendless tales, which could wellhave clogged herright to authorship.In reshapingher ancestral the memory of young Maxine, have actually pastto fither American present, moreover, Kings- nourished her imagination.From this mother ton is assertingan identitythat is neitherChinese tongue-her Chinese heritage-she now invents nor white American, but distinctivelyChinese talesthat sustain and affirmher Chinese American American.'2Above all, her departuresfrom the identity. Chineselegends shift the focus from physical prow- Breakingthe hold of a dominanttradition is a ess to verbalinjuries and textualpower. In theYue steptoward self-deliverance for artists. Judged by Fei legend,only four ideographs are carved;other strictacademic criteria, Celie's prose is illiterateand than being a patrioticreminder, they have no ef- bothhers and Maxine'ssmack of deviance.Kings- ficacy.In Maxine'sfantasy, the words, arranged "in tonand Walker,however, transform liability into as- redand black files,like an army,"fortify the war- set. Maxine's firsttongue, which has impededher rior(42). communicationin English,now invigoratesher Yetfor all we know,this dorsal script mirrors the adopted language with new idioms, fresh sexistremarks Maxine puts into the wicked baron's metaphors,and novelimages. The Chineseideo- mouth;those remarks echo thedemeaning sayings graphsfor revenge ("report a crime")are writlarge

This content downloaded from 128.97.7.131 on Thu, 15 Aug 2013 19:08:16 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 170 Imposed Silences in The Color Purple and The Woman Warrior in thisself-vindicating autobiography, where Max- v inenot only breaks her own silencebut gives voice to the otherwronged women in her family-the As theygain confidence in their female identities, ravishedaunt, the jilted aunt,and evenBrave Or- Celie and Maxinefind new voices and newmodels, chid (a renownedChinese doctor who mustresign supplantingmartial with poetic ideals and switch- herselfto beinga namelessAmerican laundress). ing allegiance froman imposingauthority to a Maxinewrites in an Englishthat is inalienablyand friendlymuse. No longerblinkered by gender op- powerfullyher own because it springs from a bicul- positions,they perceive differences among both turalstream: " 'chink'words and 'gook'words too." sexes.Conventional dichotomies are dismissedin Even as sheparrots the slurs others have directed at favorof personalvariations. her-revealingthe stingof racismby understate- Celie,gratified by her newfound rhetorical talent ment-she exultsin herintertextual self, in herfe- and her increasingmastery of language,evolves licity(and facility)as a minoritywriter. alongwith her writing-from a littlegirl baffled by Celie, thoughless sophisticatedthan Maxine, whatis happeningto herto a self-awareand under- also makes"defect perfection." Unable to produce standingwoman, froma passiverecorder of un- "proper" English,she writescolloquially, yet her structuredfacts to a conscious artist.When she Black Englishis whatenables her to asserther self- beginswriting she merely jots downher immediate hood forcefully:"it is uneducatedbut personal, dif- experience,noting the events around her with little ficultbut precise" (Fifer 158). Along with her other introspectionor analysis.Even in theface of out- breachesof norms-wearingtrousers, leaving her rage,such as Sofia'sdisfigurement bythe police, she husband,taking a femalelover-it freesher from just swallowsthe unpalatablefact: "Scare me so thedemands and stricturesof dominantmores. The bad I nearbout drop my grip. But I don't . . . and liberatedCelie notonly feels fine about herdialect I startto workon her"(87). Gradually,however, the buteven resists her sewing companion's attempt to factsshe presentsbegin to generatequestions and teach her to "talk proper,"thinking to herself: judgments.When she learnsher shockingfamily "Look liketo meonly a foolwould want you to talk historyfrom Nettie, she beginsto doubt theGod in a waythat feel peculiar to yourmind" (194). Put- who has hithertomade her accept everythingsi- tingwords down the way they sound and feel,Celie lently.In her valedictoryepistle to "Him," she allowsher self to shinethrough the pages and en- writes: dows herprose with a disarminggrace. Dear God, Her seeminglyartless idiom certainly outshines Nettie'sstilted diction. Where Celie learns from Mydaddy lynch. My mama crazy. All my little half- Shug-someone fromher own languagecommu- brothersand sisters no kin to me. My children not my sis- nity-Nettieis taughtby herguardians, mission- terand brother. Pa notpa. aries who havebeen socializedinto the dominant Youmust be sleep. (163) culture.In Nettie'sincreasingly long-winded letters, noticeablymore bland than Celie's, we arehearing Fed up witha god who does nothingto curb in- what issues fromthe tongueof Nettie'smentors. justice,Celie replaces him with a winsome"It": the Walker seems to imply that Celie's vernacular spiritthat always tries to "please [people]back," idiom, because it is hers alone, is all the more smilingon all thatpeople enjoy(178). "'proper." Neithermale nor female,this spirit seems to re- Both Maxine and Celie have made a virtueout lax the tensionbetween the sexesand erase rigid of necessity.Unable to speak at first,they have gendercategories. Celie learns to transcendher dis- turnedto writingfor relief.Because theirprose gustwith men and to loveeven Albert, the man she servesas a "mouthpiece"-takingcues fromtheir wantedso badlyto killand who now sewsbeside mothertongues-it dissolves the boundary separat- her.It is duringher conversation with him that she ingthe spoken from the written word and percolates explicitlychallenges the putative notions of man- witha vigoroften absent in formalwriting. We can liness and womanliness.The discussion begins hear, not just read, Maxine's talkstories,which whenAlbert tells Celie thathe lovesShug because, reverberatewith the lore and rhythmof the Can- likeSofia, she is moremanly than most men: toneseoral tradition.Similarly, Celie's telltaledi- alect talks us into her consciousness,spelling a Mr. thinkall thisis stuffmen do. But Harpo personality.13 notlike this, I tellhim. You not like this. What Shug got

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iswomanly itseem like to me. Specially since she and So- a talkerof stories.Having transformed the military fiathe ones got it. warriorinto a verbalfighter, she recognizes that she Sofiaand Shug not like men, he say, but they not like herselfis a powerfulspinner of yarnsand notjust womeneither. a receptaclefor her mother's tales. Although many Youmean they not like you or me. chaptersof herautobiography are in a sense col- Theyhold theyown, he say.And it's different. laborations betweenmother and daughter,the (236;emphasis added) daughterbecomes increasingly aware of herown contribution,especially in the last sectionof the Celie and Albert,sewing amicably together, are not book: "Hereis a storymy mother told me, not when engaged in a "feminine" (and therefore"un- I wasyoung, but recently, when I toldher I also talk- manly") activity.'4Although they envy Shug and story.The beginningis hers,the ending,mine" Sofia's aggressiveness,they do not considerit un- (240). It is towardthe end of thisstory that the tone womanlyor specificallymasculine-or intrinsically noticeablysoftens. Unlike Brave Orchid, the mother superior.Both sexes are allowed to crafttheir differ- who would"funnel," "pry," ''cram," "jam-pack" ent lives,fashion their own destinies. thedaughter with unabated torrents of words,and The dialoguealso revealsCelie's increasing men- unlikeyoung Maxine, who has "splintersin [her] tal agility,incisiveness, and sophistication.Though voice, bones jagged against one another" (196), quickto retort,Celie is learningthat there is another adult Maxinemodulates her notes to themusic of sideto thecutting edge of language.She has turned hersecond tongue, in themanner of Ts'ai Yen,the fromwriting to the God who is "big and old and heroineof herfinal tale. tall and graybeardedand white"(176) to writing Kingstonreinterprets the legend of Ts'ai Yen-a Nettie, her devoted sister. Unlike her starkly poet amid barbarians-and, as she has done with descriptiveletters to God registeringher oppressors' thestories about the no-name aunt and thewoman voices,her letters to Nettiewax sweetlypoetic. In warrior,subverts its originalmoral. The Chinese one shewrites: "Nettie, I am makingsome pants for versionhighlights the poet's eventual return to her you. . . . I plan to make them by hand. Every own people,a returnthat reinforces certain tradi- stitchI sew willbe a kiss" (192). The intimatefig- tionaland ethnocentricChinese notions: "the su- ureof speechthreading together her three creative periorityof Chinesecivilization over the cultures modes-writing, sewing, and loving-acquires beyond her borders,the irreconcilabilityof the freshnessand distinctivenessby beingso mucha differentways of life. . . and, aboveall, theCon- partof herself. fucianconcept of loyaltyto one's ancestralfamily Celie's changingstyle reflects her growing self- and state"(Rorex and Fong).Kingston's version, by awareness. Her lettersprogress from a simple contrast,dramatizes interethnic harmony through recordingto a sophisticatedre-creation of dialogues the integrationof disparateart forms. and events,charged with suspense,humor, and Ts'aiYen, Maxine's last tutelary genius, resembles irony(Fifer 10). She tellsof hersorrow after Shug buttranscends the various other influential female has desertedher: figuresin herlife. Like Fa Mu Lan, Ts'ai Yen has I talkto myself a lot, standing in front the mirror. Celie, foughtin battle,but as a captivesoldier. She en- I say,happiness was just a trickin your case. Just cause gagesin anotherart hitherto dominated by men- younever had any before Shug, you thought itwas time writing-yetshe does notdisguise her sex, thus im- tohave some, and that it was gon last. Even thought you plicitlydenying that authorship is a male preroga- hadthe trees with you. The whole earth. The stars. But tive.Like the no-nameaunt, Ts'ai Yen is ravished lookat you.When Shug left, happiness desert. (229) and impregnated;both give birth on sand. But instead of beingnameless and ostracized,Ts'ai Yen Althoughthe passage expressesthe pains of a lost achievesimmortal fame by singing about herexile. love,the contemplative tone, the ironical perspec- Like BraveOrchid, she talksin Chineseto herun- tive,and the metaphoricallanguage show us how comprehendingchildren, who speak a barbarian far Celie has traveledas a writerand how much tongue,but she learnsto appreciatethe barbarian morein controlshe has becomethan when she first music.The refrainof thisfinale is reconciliation- wroteto God forhelp. Her dialect, once broken, has betweenparents and children,between men and assumed a lyricalcadence. The woman who was women,and betweendifferent cultures. "too dumb" to learnnow createspoetry. It is byanalogy to Maxine-alienated alikefrom Similarly,Maxine evolves from a quietlistener to theChinese world of herparents and theworld of

This content downloaded from 128.97.7.131 on Thu, 15 Aug 2013 19:08:16 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 172 Imposed Silences in The Color Purple and The Woman Warrior whiteAmericans thatTs'ai Yen'sfull significance vivingto protestingto recognizingthemselves as emerges.The barbariansattach primitive pipes to specialstorytellers. Despite the excruciating process theirarrows, which thereby whistle in flight.Ts'ai of changeboth women have endured, each text con- Yenhas thoughtthat this terrifying noise is herno- veysa senseof triumphthat is due, I believe,less to madic captors'only music, until she hears,issuing the happyending itself than to the waythe final nightafter night from those veryflutes, "music stageis negotiated,to themeans by which a voice trembleand riselike desert wind" (242): trulyone's own is fostered. To monitorthe upliftingeffect in thesetexts- She hidin hertent but could not sleep through the sound. textsthat revolve so mucharound alienation and Then, out of Ts'ai Yen'stent, which was apart fromthe isolation-we mustreturn to the connectionsbe- others,the barbarians heard a woman'svoice singing, as tweencharacters and authors.Walker and Kingston ifto herbabies, a songso highand clear,it matchedthe have allowedtheir protagonists to breakthrough flutes.Ts'ai Yensang about China and herfamily there. constraintsto createopportunities. Although Celie Her wordsseemed to be Chinese,but the barbarians un- and Maxine have sufferedin theircommunities, derstoodtheir sadness and anger.. . . She broughther theyalso tap communalresources: too humanto be songsback fromthe savage lands, and one of thethree in an- thathas beenpassed down to us is "EighteenStanzas for "nothing" a whitesociety, they turn to their a BarbarianReed Pipe," a songthat Chinese sing to their cestralcultures to emulateheroines of their own hue own instruments.It translatedwell. (243) and to reclaimbeliefs that subvert the existinghi- erarchy;hampered by dialects, they transform puta- Recallingyoung Maxine's ambivalence toward lan- tivedefects into stylistic effects. The creditsfor the guage(because it is frequentlyassociated with dom- transformationgo ultimatelyto the authors.An- inance),an ambivalencethat is in a sensereinforced ticipatingMary Dearborn's insight that "American bythe lethal text on thewarrior's back, we can ap- selfhoodis based on a seeminglyparadoxical sense preciateall themore the poet's alternative mode of of shareddifference" (3), Walkerand Kingstontake expression.The Americanlanguage, Maxine dis- inthe differences of beingfemale and coloredto in- covers,can send forthnot just terrifying"death ventself-expressive styles that bestride literary and sounds"-threats,insults, slurs-but stirringtunes. oral traditionsand project ethnicand national Caughtin a cross-culturalweb of Easternand West- heritages.As theywrite about the voicelessness en- ernchauvinism, Maxine too conveyssadness and demicto minoritywomen, they pay tributeto the angerthrough high-sounding words. She does not femalebearers of cultures.As theyventure beyond (and does not want to) returnto China, but she linguisticnorms, they perpetuate and revitalizethe reconnectswith her ancestral culture through writ- polyglotstrains peculiar to America. ing. Instead of strugglingagainst her Asian past To emphasizethese achievements is not to sug- and herAmerican present, she now seeksto emu- gestthat we forgetCelie's and Maxine'snightmares, late thepoet who singsto foreignmusic. Not only accept theirafflictions, or discounttheir losses. haveher Chinese materials and imaginings"trans- Theirultimate success only reminds us of themany lated well,"in the courseof such creativetransla- who,despite struggle, cannot achieve personal vic- tion she has achievedan innerresolution. As the tories.I have called attentionto the triumphant lyricalending intimates, Maxine has workedthe dis- overtonesto underscorethe protagonists' resilience cordsof herlife into a song. and theauthors' determination. These writers dare to be themselves-tolisten to theirown pains, to re- Thatthe injunction to silenceshould provoke ex- portthe ravages, and, finally,to persistin finding pressionis notso paradoxicalas itmight seem, for strengthsfrom sources that have caused inestima- the reliefsought by those frustratedby silence- ble anguish.Their way out of enforcedsilence is not forbiddenor unable to speak-can only come bydissolving into the mainstream but by rendering througharticulation. Urgent and passionate,the theirdistinctive voices.'5 testimoniesof Celie and Maxineare in one sensea catharticrelease. Their voices, moreover, have car- Universityof California riedthem further than they had expected:from sur- Los Angeles

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' Showalterrefers to thesestages as Feminine,Feminist, and ple. Celie advisesSqueak to insiston beingcalled MaryAgnes, Female(13). The finalstage perceived by Walker and Kingston, herreal name, and Celie herself,though she appears completely however,seems closer to thatadvocated by Cixous (Conley 129) submissive,subversively leaves out Albert'sname in herletters, and Kristeva(33-34), whichgoes beyondthe dichotomy of mas- therebysuggesting that her husband has no personality;that he culineand feminine. is personifiedmachismo: "Mr. __." 2 Sollors takes his cue fromHandlin, who writes,"Once I 8 Juhaszobserves, "In tellingher daughter stories of female thoughtto writethe history of Americanimmigrants. Then I dis- heroismthat directlycontradict many of her othermessages coveredthat the immigrantswere American history" (3). Sol- about the positionof women,the mothershows her daughter lors'stheory, which he expoundsfurther in BeyondEthnicity, anotherpossibility for women that is notrevealed in herequally is endorsedby Dearborn(4). strongdesire for her daughter's conformity and thussafety in 3 Kramer,Johnson, Lewis, and Steinem are among the a patriarchalsystem" (180). reviewersand journalistsattacked; the attackers include Chan, 9 It is popularamong French theorists (e.g., Derrida, Cixous, Chin, Harris,and Reed (Chapple 17). and Kristeva)to associatespeech (or theauthoritative voice) with 4 Walkeradmittedly "liberated" Celie (based on theauthor's themasculine, and writing(or theplay on textualdifference) with greatgrandmother) from the character's own history (Anello and the feminine.But whereliteracy has been traditionallya male Abramson).Kingston disclaims that her writing is representa- or whiteprivilege, it is womenwho havebeen the bearers of in- tiveof China or of Chinese America(Islas 12). When asked fluentialoral traditions. In ChinaMen Kingstonnotes that even whethershe considered The WomanWarrior to be fictionor non- the storiesabout hermale ancestorsare told to herby female fiction,she answeredthat "it's closerto fiction"(Brownmiller membersof the family:"Many of the men'sstories were ones 210). She mayhave contributedto thegeneric confusion in al- I originallyheard from women" (208). See also Rabine487-92. lowingKnopf to classifyher book as autobiography,though au- 10Brienza explicitlycompares Celie's curse to "speech tobiographyitself is oftenan "art of self-invention"(Eakin). acts" -words thatdo whatthey say. 5 Sollorspoints out rightlythat minority literature "is often II The wordis kY,used bywomen in ancient times as a self- readand evaluatedagainst an elusiveconcept of authenticity" reference,thereby "breaking themselves with their own tongues." (Beyond11). While this concept has itsvalue, it does notdo jus- That wordis nowobsolete. For the Chinese usage of thisword, ticeto artistsuninterested in objectiverepresentation. Kingston's see Cihai 2: 2510. book, in particular,reveals highly subjective truth, filtered at 12 Chin et al. arguethat "Asian Americansensibilities and timesthrough the lens of a girlboth endowed and plaguedwith cultures. . . mightbe relatedto butare distinct from Asia and an unbridledimagination. The elusivenessof objectivereality whiteAmerica" (viii). is an insistentmotif. For instance, Maxine suspects that her fre- 13 Walkersaid that"[w]riting The Color Purple was writing numhad beencut to stunther speech, but her mother insists that in [her]first language" (Steinem90). But actuallyboth Walker she performedthe operationso that Maxine "would not be and Kingstoninterweave native idiom and standardEnglish: tongue-tied,"so thather tongue "would be able to movein any Walkeruses thetwo alternately through the letters of Celie and language" (190). I do not know of any Chinese or Chinese Nettie;Kingston combines the two by translating and transliter- Americanwhose frenum has been cut. Maxineeither grows up atingCantonese idioms into English. in an untypicalChinese American family-if there is evera typi- 14 Hence I disagreewith Stade, who accusesWalker of emas- cal one-or she has made up theincident. (She explicitlywrites culatingAlbert and Harpo (who likesto cook) "bygiving them at one pointthat her stories are hardlyfactual but are "twisted the courageto be women,by releasingthe womanalready in intodesigns" [Woman 189].) In anycase, the episode is remark- them"(266). Quitethe contrary, Albert and Harpo are nowfree ablyeffective in attributingverbal difficulty and facilityto the to be theirown men. same origins. 15 Researchfor this essay was facilitatedby an AcademicSen- 6 Afterbeing raped and silencedby Tereus, Philomela weaves ate grantand a grantfrom the Instituteof AmericanCultures herstory "with purple / On a whitebackground" (Ovid 148;em- and theAsian AmericanStudies Center, University of Califor- phasis added). Walkermight have had this mythin mind in nia, Los Angeles.I wantto thankKenneth Lincoln for his inci- choosingher title and in tellingthe storyof Louvinie(a slave sivereading of an earlierversion of thearticle; Martha Banta, womanin Meridianwhose tongue was cutout). See also Rowe RosalindMelis, and JeffSpielberg for their thoughtful sugges- (53-58) forthe connectionbetween enforced silences and tale tions;and GerardMare forhis bountifulencouragement and spinningin the Philomelastory. criticism. 7Name is also crucialto personalidentity in The Color Pur-

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