Her visions of her mother as some kind of monster-deliverer appear in Kingston's nightmares. She states on page 86, "My mother has given me pictures to dream -- nightmare babies that recur." The grotesque imagery of her mother delivering monsters corresponds also with her dreamlike memories of foods they ate when she was a child in China. The images converge in Kingston's head to provide the foundation for her self-image and her identity as a Chinese woman living as an immigrant in the United States. At the close of the "Shaman" chapter she comments about her mom's psychic legacy: "She sends me on my way, working always now and old, dreaming the dreams about shrinking babies," (109).

Kingston's memories and thoughts of her mother are partly created by her nightmares. The distinction between waking and dream life are not important for Kingston's psychological development or the creation of her self-image....
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