Chinese Cinderella By Adeline Yen Mah

Literature is used in English to portray themes and teach the readers morals. Fahrenheit 451 illustrates how one should appreciate the education and resources available to them as it may not always be around. A Raisin in the Sun shows how dreams may be deferred, but they will never die. Of Mice and Men exhibits idealized friendship and the impossibility of the American dream. The Crucible depicts that madness will emerge in society if no one is held accountable for their actions. Money can’t buy happiness is a

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.

Literature is the reflection of the human experience; an anthology of the way we've felt and thought expressed through many different mediums. Robert Penn Warren discusses this in "Why

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

Throughout Chinese Cinderella, Adeline experiences multiple challenges throughout her difficult childhood. Many in which she faces the problem of being unwanted. To understand her triumph you must first understand the adverse conditions in which she has gone through, in addition to the maltreatment she received as a child. Through her use of rhetorical questions, metaphors, intertextuality/allusion, and repetition, she bombards the reader with emotions. Yen Mah’s use of rhetorical questions causes the reader to have empathy towards her, to evoke emotions. Metaphors are used to create a better level of understanding of her feelings and thoughts. Additionally, the book title, Chinese Cinderella, is an allusion to the commonly known fairy-tale,

Literature is not only important to society, but is very important for each individual to read and understand. Literature can provide a way for people to learn more about what happened in the past and can even be a way for people to reduce stress in their lives. There are many different types of literature and each of them can be used for different reasons. You can use books to study specific topics, to relive the past, and to express yourself through writing. Literature can be written about the past, the future and even about present day society. Even if the book or novel is fiction, it still has some sort of theme that resembles a real world experience or problem. We need literature in our lives to help us develop and improve, not only as individuals, but as a society and to learn about the past.

Growing up in today’s society can be traumatizing for any child. When it comes to growing up as a young girl, however, it can be downright devastating, but not only for the child but the parent as well. There are so many decisions to be made when choosing how to raise your child, assuring that you have instilled proper values to develop a healthy sense of self-worth and confidence.

In Cinderella Ate My Daughter Peggy Orenstein examines the triumphs and pitfalls navigating raising a daughter, in today’s mixed message world. From peer pressure and the need to fit in today’s society, young females have commercialism forced at them at every turn and in very clever ways. Doll creators have been pushing the boundaries of good taste with each new season launch. When the more “mature” actresses at the age of 17 feel the need to do something drastic to remove them from the wholesome image created for by company executives, mothers and consumers feel betrayed, and yet then we need to have a dialog with our kids as to why just last month Miley Cyrus was wonderful but now she is not okay for the viewing household.

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.

Society can learn a lot from Cinderella-like movies such as Maid in Manhattan. However, what society learns from these fairy tales is not always that Cinderella meets a prince and lives happily-ever-after. In the movie Maid in Manhattan, directed by Wayne Wang, a hotel maid meets a wealthy politician and lives a Cinderella-like tale after wearing a wealthy guest’s designer outfit. Most people focus on the obvious love story between the maid and the politician. Many overlook the psychological plight of Cinderella herself. In these tales Cinderella loses her mother and often her father too. This has a tremendous effect on the young girl’s self-worth. However, other complex relationships are also revealed, including the mother/daughter relationship. Similarly, the text “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior,” by Elisabeth Panttaja, discusses the influences of Cinderella’s mother. These sources are worth exploring because they demonstrate how a woman’s self-worth is shaped by her relationship with her mother.

“Every thought is a battle, every breath is a war, when I look back at the flashbacks, I don't want to remember them any more”(anonymous). These words have many attributes of Adeline's bleak life as a child. Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah is a depressing story in many ways. The main character Adeline is discarded by her family, she is physically and mentally bullied by her parents, and her loved ones and friends are taken from her.

Cinderella’s story is undoubtedly the most popular fairy tale all over the world. Her fairy tale is one of the best read and emotion filled story that we all enjoyed as young and adults. In Elizabeth Pantajja’s analysis, Cinderella’s story still continues to evoke emotions but not as a love story but a contradiction of what we some of us believe. Pantajja chose Cinderella’s story to enlighten the readers that being good and piety are not the reason for Cinderella’s envious fairy tale. The author’s criticism and forthright analysis through her use of pathos, ethos, and logos made the readers doubt Cinderella’s character and question the real reason behind her marrying the prince. Pantajja claims that

Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah is a heart-rendering autobiographical novel. Throughout the text, Adeline describes her cruel family and the trauma she was confronted with at school, trying to satisfy her heartless father with educational achievements. Together we relive the childhood life of Adeline through her words and hear, what it feels like to be a rejected and unloved daughter. Furthermore, Adeline owns a special quality that helps her to handle the cruelty of her upbringing and rise above many obstacles. Adeline has been always resilient. She is very strong and tackles everything that comes her way. By being friendless and having a pet duck as a friend, she distracts herself from her coldblooded reality.

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.

The plot and structure in this autobiography makes the story of Adeline’s childhood flow better. The orientation started by Niang marrying Adeline’s father. At Adeline’s birth her mother died so Adeline was treated badly and unfairly. In the complication, Adeline was unwanted from the start. She was sent away to an orphanage because she was wanted by no one. In the resolution Adeline decided after winning the playwriting competition that she wanted to be a writer. She studied medicine at Oxford University with Third Brother. The reflection is that no matter what your conditions are you can achieve anything like Adeline did. In the story Adeline read a newspaper article that said “It was announced