In the poem Be Nobody's Darling by Alice Walker, Walker talks about how being an outcast is something to celebrate and something to be proud of--not something to be embarrassed about. Alice Walker then says in an interview that one can never be free unless they are an outcast. This is an admirable statement, though I'm not sure that Maxine Hong Kingston, in her short story No Name Woman would agree.
In her short story, Kingston expresses the grief and pain that her aunt must have gone through because of her status as outcast. She had committed adultery, and was now pregnant with another man's baby. Because of what the town did to her, and because of how she was treated, she killed herself in order to get away from the looks and the stares that she received. No one would ever take her seriously again, or even give her the time of day because of what she did, which leads me to believe that Kingston would not agree with Walker's connection between being free and an outcast.
In Walker's poem, she seems to imply that as an outcast there are others who will be with you, that there are others out there, and that you are no alone. Unfortunately, in No Name Woman, Kingston's aunt never really gets that chance, and the whole village seems to be against her; raiding her house, smearing blood on the walls, and killing their live stalk. Kingston herself feels a sort of connection to her aunt, which is why I believe she would have the same feelings about being an outcast, and about not fitting in. I believe that Kingston wants to find a place where she fits in, and where she is accepted, not a place where she stands out in a crowd and is an outcast.
Allison Weening , Post 1
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