Mulan Joins the Army
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Mulan joins the Army is indeed a patriotic play that is based on a filial woman, Mulan who manages to save her country from barbarians’ attack. Mulan seems to believe in her abilities and she is further driven by the need to fight and die for her country. She finds courage to amazingly represent her sick father at the war front after Mu shu refuses to join the military. Mulan hides her gender identity and presents herself as a man just to fight for her country by resisting foreign invasion. Her quality job earns her a place after she is promoted to sergeant (Kwa & Idema, 2010).
Similarly for the sake of the country Liu who is a close friend of Mulan identifies her identity but goes ahead to hide. Mulan is actually transformed from a father’s sympathizer to a savior of her country. This story tends to remind us about soldiers who sacrifice everything just to save their nation. Mulan goes beyond the traditional women culture in China to take up an opportunity in the military. Fighting against a nation’s enemy as was the case in the play is a show of unity and patriotism especially when it is done at the expense of other things such as gender norms and abandonment of family (Kwa & Idema, 2010).
Mula joins the army further shows a sign of cultural transformation by introducing an aspect of female patriotism. New emphasis on patriotism is achieved by depicting Hua Mulan as a true patriot who is ready to risk her life for the sake of her country. Mulan says according to Kwa & Idema (2010), “I risk my life for the sake of the country” (p. 43). Mulan has further proved that women’s role is not only to care for their families back at home as was traditionally thought. Women, just like men can take active role in the military to save their country. It is really impressive and encouraging to see a woman sacrificing herself to go to war and even hides her identity just to accomplish her task.
References
Kwa, S., & Idema, W. L. (2010). Mulan: Five versions of a classic Chinese legend with related texts. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub. Co.