DOMINATION OF TRADITION OVER HUMAN RIGHTS IN MAXINE HONG KINGSTON'S THE WOMEN WARRIOR:MEMOIRS OF A GIRLHOOD AMONG GHOST

S Parameshwari, Asst Of English, Ruby Davaseeli, Associate Proffessor
2016 An International Refereed e-Journal of Literary Explorations May   unpublished
Human rights are the basic rights and liberty should be given to all humans equally but the rights have been seized partially from particular sections of society. Human rights have been, unfortunately, stamped down under various trivial manmade issues such as racism, casteism, oppression, exploitation, poverty, subjugation of woman, tradition and so on. When literature ties its knot with human rights it paves not only a way for interdisciplinary reading but also makes the complexities of some
more » ... sues easier. Literary works with human issues are picturised as mighty medium to empower human rights by complementing each other. The motive of the study is to depict and prove how the rights of human are beaten down by the rights of tradition. The literary work taken for this study is the memoir of Chinese-American woman writer Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts. The Woman Warrior explores the role of females in the Chinese society which is bounded by culture issues and gender discrimination. The aim of the paper is to probe how the tradition plays a vital role in retrenching humans' basic rights and liberty. Kingston refuses to understand and accept the culture that she is a part of. Kingston has picturised No name woman and Moon Orchid as the two unfortunate Chinese women who become victims to Chinese tradition. Despite the fact, that in Confucian society women are set / placed below men, Kingston regards Fa Mu Lan (a woman warrior) as her inspiration. Kingston portrays characters who have lost their rights to complain and enjoy freedom of choice. Kingston has proved literature has been and will continue to be the great promoter of human rights. She has raised her voice louder and louder against tradition which curtails human rights.
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