Writers, throughout the years, have encountered innumerable conflicts that have kept their compositions from being truly respected and honored at the time of their creations. Women writers from all different nationalities, classes, origins, and backgrounds have fought endlessly for equal rights in written expression. In the late 19th century, two very different female authors living in different hemispheres each created a novel depicting the lives of leading female characters. Duong Thu Huong, an inhabitant of Vietnam wrote Paradise of the Blind, a story of three women whom fight against the perils of a communist society. Isabel Allende, an author raised in Chile, wrote The House of the Spirits, a book that describes the personal conflicts of a Chilean family. Duong Thu Huong and Isabel Allende have both faced political and personal situations that shaped the two novels into female based superiority. There are a number of parallels among the female characters in the two novels. Isabel Allende’s and Duong Thu Huong’s protagonists consist of bold female characters. The women in both novels have strong opinions and ideals that sometimes conflict with the existing society that they are surrounded by.
In Paradise of the Blind, one of the three leading ladies is the narrator’s mother Que. Que is a simple Vietnamese woman who follows traditional culture and values. Que steps out of her normal role as a calm woman and raises her voice to her brother and says, “Why did you never even bother to organize the memorial ceremonies in honor of our parents? After all these years” (Duong Thu Huong 49). She believes in honoring the ancestors and keeping up the traditional role of a working mother. Even though Que is a traditionalist in these ways, she has different ideology about her single status and job. Que is a working street vendor, which was not an uncommon job among the people of the city, but her brother disapproved of her profession. Her brother refers to her as a...