Adeline Yen Mah's Chinese Cinderella

Adeline Yen Mah is a Chinese girl growing in knowledge with a wealthy family. Then, a new threat arrises... Niang! She is the evil stepmother that tries to burden Adeline with as much issues as she can. Adeline tries to conquer these problems with the help of her other loving family members. In the novel, Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, the author shows that being unwanted can be overcome by consulting family. She proves this by showing the help that Adeline received from her Ye Ye (grandfather) and her Aunt Baba.

In the story chinese cinderella the main character Adeline faces a lot of adversity throughout the book. She faces the most her adversity at home with her parents and siblings being unfairly cruel toward her. She has a lot of courage for going through with all this pain and still staying optimistic about everything.

In the 1999 novel “Chinese Cinderella”, author Adeline Yen Mah explores the theme of acceptance and belonging throughout the novel, as a result of her tragic childhood. The autobiography reveals the experiences of a young Chinese girl called Adeline, and her sense of isolation. The young girl is neglected by her family because she is being held liable for the death of her mother, who died during childbirth and leaving the family in poverty. As a result of this his heart-wrenching story, the author challenges the idea of belonging in an unkind family, to ultimately depict a sense of loneliness

In her article, “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior,” Elisabeth Panttaja illustrates the important role of parents in a childhood. She talks about the importance the mother plays in all versions of Cinderella as well as evidence showing what lack of parenthood does to children. Panttaja claims by way of the Grimms Brothers version of Cinderella and how each mother wants to guarantee a bright and happy future for their daughters by marrying them off to the prince. The similarities between the wanting of Cinderella and the stepsisters married- and doing anything to get it- contradicts the idea that Cinderella and her mother were morally superior, or different at all, from the stepmother and sisters.

Wu-Mei struggles about family and relationships. She suffered bullying from her own family. Bullying is the use of force to abuse someone and it has been the problem for Wu-mei from the start which makes her feel unwanted. Her siblings were being aggressive to her because they believe that she was the cause of their mother’s death. There is a quote from the Bible “Do unto others what you want others do unto you” this means that do to others what you want them do to you. In the novel “Chinese Cinderella” Wu Mei is being bullied by her Big Sister by telling her that she is the cause why their mother had died. For e.g. on page 3 chapter 1, Big Sister once said to Wu mei “Mama died giving birth to you. If you had not been born, Mama would still

Adeline comes home from her first week of kindergarten, all smiles because she had been chosen to lead the class and has received a medal and a certificate for her achievement. Her aunt Baba is full of pride and files the certificate and medal in her safe deposit box. She described the certificate as “some precious jewel impossible to replace” (page 2). Adelines academic achievements are how she eventually gains acceptance within an uncaring family. She had a lot of pride over the metal it shows the sadness she is facing everyday, with her siblings hating her achievements and her dad only caring when she receives them. “I was winning the medal every week and wearing it constantly. I knew this displeased my siblings, especially Big Sister and Second Brother, but it was the only way to make Father take notice and be proud of me” (page 15). Adeline starts to mature when she starts to realize that her achievements should only matter if it makes her happy, not just her father. Adeline's parents threaten to move her to a far away school. Adeline is elected class president. Everyone is excited, her classmates and more importantly her. Her classmates decide to celebrate at her house and this is when her parents lash out and get

Jane Yolen discusses the variations in Cinderella throughout history in America’s “Cinderella” Yolen began a career in publications as an editor and later became a professional writer, winning numerous awards and publishing over seventy novels. Yolen observes that the European Cinderella and the Asian Cinderella possess more strength than the helpless modern Cinderella. She attributes this evolution to cultural incorporations and mass market’s reproductions of the tale. American interpretations of Cinderella result in a lasting change to a dependent heroine. Yolen reveals many people are familiar with the changed Cinderella and not the former Cinderella. In Jane Yolen’s essay, America’s “Cinderella”, she denounces the debasement of women in today’s society by comparing the past Cinderella to modern Cinderella, characterizing Cinderella as reliant, and criticizing the example of Walt Disney’s Cinderella.

The autobiographical novel Chinese Cinderella, is about protagonist Adeline Yen Mah’s 1940 childhood in China. Our main antagonist in the story is Adeline’s stepmother, Niang, who is portrayed throughout the story as the ‘evil-stepmother’ figure. But is there the possibility that Adeline has unfairly depicted Niang? The time period in Naing’s life which this book takes place in, would have been an extremely difficult and stressful for her. She was forced into a marriage with man twice her age and expected to become maternal towards his five children from his previous marriage. Under Niang’s circumstances she also had to take measures to protect, manage and discipline 7 children, which we only see as cruel and violent because of the modern viewpoints.

As the novel progresses, Tan shows through the various stories that this separation of mother and daughter is damaging. Because of this splitting and lack of communication between the mother and daughter, the daughters perpetuate some of the harmful gender and cultural constructions from which their mothers had hoped to protect them. An-mei Hsu

A reoccurring theme in Chinese Cinderella is confidence and resilient. Adeline’s family is always making her feel lost, unwanted and unloved. Because of her mother’s sudden death shortly after Adeline was born, even her siblings didn’t give Adeline the kindness that should be given to a sister. An example in the book ’’But then Mama died giving birth to you. If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck.“ This is said of her older sister, Lydia, to her. This indicates her siblings blamed Adeline for the cause of their mother’s death and considered her ’bad luck’. ”They blamed me for causing Mama’s death and never forgave me.“ This is said by Adeline herself. This suggests that they were always singling her out

“Chinese Cinderella is the true story of my childhood up to the age of fourteen. It was difficult and painful to write, but I felt compelled to do so,” (Yen Mah, xii). In this autobiography a young girl named Adeline gets abused and shoved down to become a stronger, more mature lady. She is considered to be bad luck by her whole family for causing her mother’s death. From being whipped by a dog leash, and forgotten at a boarding school during war, Adeline went through a harsh life.

Smack! Smack! The feeling of being unwanted and unloved by your parents sinks in again. Such was the life of Adeline Yen Mah, an unwanted and mistreated daughter who suffers all her life. Chinese Cinderella, a book by Adeline Yen Mah, is an inspiring story in which Adeline overcomes her abusive childhood with the love and care of Aunt Baba and Ye Ye.

In the autobiography Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, the narrator was influenced in many ways by the people around her. One character which influences the narrator’s life to a vast amount was her step-mother Niang. Her Aunt Baba also played a very big part on how Yen Mah turned out in her later and earlier years as well as everywhere in between. Her grandfather Ye-Ye was a constant support to Adeline Yen Mah.

Providing the two heroines with strong and engaging personalities, the novel portrays the life of two young Chinese girls, who because of historical events and family secrets, have to grow up faster than what they had planned. The book delivers emotional themes that are powerful yet familiar, and is written in a compelling manner.

Cinderella is a fairytale for children that displayed love, loss and miracles; however, when it is further analyzed, it has a deeper meaning. Cinderella is a story about a young girl who became a servant in her own home after her father remarried a malicious woman with two spoiled daughters. She was humiliated and abused yet she remained gentle and kind. She received help from her fairy godmother to go to the prince’s ball after her stepmother rejected her proposal. Cinderella and the Prince fell madly in love but she had to leave at twelve o’clock and forgot to tell him her name but she left her glass slipper behind. He sent his servants to find her and Cinderella was the only maiden in the kingdom to fit into the shoes. She