it cannot be individuals who have learnt to cope with the social norms. it has to be characters who outright defied the social norms. thanks in advance
Social norms manifest through the often intense culture class that some characters feel. To the narrator growing up, non-Chinese people are “ghosts” and Chinese immigrants—including her own family—are “barbarians.” The narrator spends much of her childhood trying to overcome her dual culture shock and reconcile Chinese and American cultures. As she states, “Those of us in the first American generations have had to figure out how the invisible world the emigrants built around our childhoods fits in solid America.” Only at the book’s end does the narrator admit that much of her perception of Chinese tradition was magnified by legend.
Moon Orchid is a compelling example of the negative effects of culture clash. To begin with, she is already a senior citizen when she arrives in the United States. She is also emotionally frail by nature, which her husband points out when he tells her she is not strong enough for America, and culture shock causes her to lose her spirit and her mind. Brave Orchid and, to an extent, Moon Orchid, think that they can reclaim Moon Orchid’s Chinese marriage in America after thirty years.
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-woman-warrior/study-guide/major-themes/
