Chinese Cinderella

Adeline feels the most alone in her not so warm and loving family. In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline says that "nobody was there to… congratulate her." Her family has nobody that cares about her except Aunt Baba. Adeline's siblings blame her for the death of their mother. They do not like her because of this.

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.

Jeannette is the narrator of her memoir, telling her story from age three into adulthood. As a child she is adventurous, wild-hearted, and Dad 's favorite. Jeannette, a middle sibling, is closer to younger brother Brian than her older sister Lori: Brian shares Jeannette 's love of the outdoors, while Lori is more a bookworm. As Jeannette matures, her feelings toward Dad and Mom change. She resents Dad 's drinking and how he constantly lets her and the rest of the family down yet never openly admits it or allows his flaws to be discussed. Jeannette also resents Mom 's refusal to hold down a job long enough to provide her kids with a stable food supply. These resentments make her more and more willful and independent. Eventually she scrapes

Jeannette Walls tells a very interesting story in The Glass Castle; few people get the chance to experience such a unique childhood. Jeannette’s father and mother are unlike traditional parents. Her father puts his children in harm’s way and justifies it by claiming that it’s a learning experience and her mother fails to provide comfort because she is preoccupied over her own goals. As an innocent child, Jeannette initially does not mind living such a childhood. In fact she admires her parents, especially her father, despite his frequent drunken outbursts. However, as Jeannette ages, she finds herself disapproving of her father’s way of

Jeannette can see and understand what is going on to her and her family. Jeannette shares: ‘mom you can’t quit your job’ I said. “ we need the money.” mom asked. “you have a job. You can earn money. Lori can earn money too.”(218). jeannette gets into a conflict with her mother. Jeannette don’t want her mother quit the job; because Jeannette understands this time her family need the money than ever. Opposite to Jeannette, her mother do not care much for the family and her children. Jeannette also conflict with her father after she tells him about her mother problem. Jeannette shares: “who do you think you are” he asked. “Shes your mother.” “ then why she doesn’t act like one?” i looked at dad for what felt like a very long moment. Then I burted out, “and why don’t you act like a dad” (220). Instead go to the bar and drink; jeannette wants her father to get a job to help the family. Jeannette wants her parents have responsibility for their kids and their family. Jeannette matures in her mind and also her actions such as talks to her parents to get a job, and take care her siblings. She is a young lady, but she has a mature thinking. Jeannette says:” i was afraid that Mr.Brecker wouldn’t give me the job if he knew I was only thirteen, so I told him I was seventeen.”(215). Jeannette has to work to get the money to help her family when she only thirteen years old. At this age, most children are only focus on school, but

Adelina grew strong. She wouldn’t remarry to anyone. She promised to herself she would raise her children to be brave just like their father. She gave birth to a second boy months after Peter had died. She named him Peter II, but the young child died at age two because a disease struck the town. Adeline was heart broken. She now only had Stephan and she treated him with love and care every second of every day. She told him stories of the brave knight Peter Roland and taught him how to be courteous to

Throughout the book, Adeline is constantly forced into circumstances that have scarred her for life. She would not have built her mental stamina if she had not encountered these situations. A time where Adeline was compelled into involuntary adversity was when she was whipped after her birthday party (ch.13). The comments made shortly after the whipping described the mental trauma she felt, “The fabric of my life was about to be pulled apart” (pg.114). This proves that she was enduring some sort of distress and depression; because of the difficulty she faced. Another time that she faced adversity that required a high level of fortitude was when her pet duckling ‘PLT’ (Precious Little Treasure) died. This was severe anguish for Adeline because PLT was a metaphoric representation of hope, love and security, that she did not receive from her family. Much like the

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

This proves that she she is forgotten by her family and that nobody cares about her. This also proves that Father favors Adeline’s step siblings not her because Jung-Quing is her stepsister’s Chinese name. Another example is when Niang tells Adeline, “Family ugliness should never be revealed in public. Since you are not happy here, you must go somewhere else.” This shows that she is unwanted because her family is sending her away and doesn't care where she ends up, only how she makes them look.

Adeline had a harsh upbringing, but she accomplishes many minor and major things to earn her respect with her family and the people around her. In Adeline’s kindergarten class, she received an award for leading the class that week in academics, citizenship skills, and much more. She would receive the weekly award almost every week. When Adeline returned home, she explained the meaning of the award winning medal to her aunt, Aunt Baba, which is explained in this quote: “It's for leading my class this week. When Mother Agnes pinned it in my dress, she said I could wear it for seven days.” Even though this was a minor accomplishment, Adeline consistently receiving the award developed her work habits and academic skills which lead her to more major of accomplishments. When Adeline became a fourteen year old, she entered an international playwriting competition

Have you ever had that one day where you just feel unwanted by everyone and you just don't feel good about yourself? Well that is what Adeline Yen Mah from Chinese Cinderella's everyday life is like. I find the book Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah a depressing story because Adeline is unwanted by her family, she is constantly being blamed for the death of her mother, and she is unwillingly sent to boarding school. I see Chinese Cinderella as a depressing story because Adeline is unwanted by her family. This is very easy to tell just by glancing on the cover of the book where it says "The true story of an unwanted daughter.

Women did not have any power in Chinese culture. Kingston describes how a man intimidates her aunt by telling her that he will beat and kill her if she tells anyone. It shows men dominance over women because the man is making Kingston’s aunt do anything he wants. In paragraph fifteen, “women in the old China did not choose. Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil” (623). It adds to how women in China did not have any voice and were supposed to comply with any thing men said. Women had to be protective mothers. Kingston states, “as a last act of responsibility: She would protect this child as she had protect its father… mothers who love their children take them along” (629). This quote means that women would protect their children and always look out for the best interest for them. Women had to provide food for their family and their gods. In paragraph thirteen, “she plants vegetables gardens rather than lawns; she carries the odd-shaped tomatoes home from the fields and eats food left for the gods” (622). It shows one duty of women in Chinese culture and the role they had to follow.

Then she is not fed by her parents. Lastly, she gets whipped by her father. How sad. This story is very depressing because it has a lot of violence, including, the hitting of little kids. One of Adeline Yen Mah’s Quotes were, “Never get involved. That’s my motto. I hurt no one. And no one can hurt me.” Depression is like a mudslide, you never know when it will go away.

Imagine living your life as being unwanted, who was thought as loathsome by your parents. This is how Adeline has felt her whole life as she comes from an unwanted family, and her mother died giving birth to her. Her father desided to remarry to the repulsive Niang, who doesn't seem to care about Adeline and her siblings. The story of Adeline in Chinese Cinderella is a depressing story because Niang, Adeline's stepmother, is always trying to make herself feel better by puting others down, treats her own children better than her stepchildren, and abuses Adeline, even though Adeline always turns the other cheek. Niang, is always trying to put other people down to make herself feel higher.

On Google.com the word “significant” refers to something that is “sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy.” For something to have a significant impact on someone, it must be meaningful, relevant, and important. As stated by Thomas Hardy, “A story must be exceptional enough to justify its telling; it must have something more unusual to relate than the ordinary experience of every average man and woman.” It must have something meaningful, something that pulls a reader in- so that the audience can laugh when the character laughs or cry when the character cries. It must be significant. A story that fits the definition of “significant” is one by Adeline Yen Mah. In the novel “Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter,” Adeline Yen Mah pulls the reader in by using the themes of loneliness and acceptance- something that is faced by nearly all at some point in their life.