Chinese Cinderella Quotes

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.

"She killed her sisters, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, and poisoned her mother," is a quote written about Empress Wu in the chronicles. Empress Wu Zetian was a very interesting historical figure with amazing character traits and many fascinating achievements. She had made an impact on many lives. Empress Wu Zetian had also been the first female to be crowned emperor.

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,

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

Liang the family’s only daughter says, “Because of her age, the wiry ancient lady was the one person Father could never permit for any of us to defy” (Choy 147). Even though the Grandma in the novel was following her ancient rules and regulations the Father of the Family and the son of the grandma never, let his kids with any opportunity to disobey the olden ways. He did not stop them from trying to be modern but also wanted them to be aware of their background and their cultural values. In an article written by Citizen's Compendium it was said that the elder people in the family played an important role because they were considered as people who would guide the family, during their dark times. This article supports how the elderly people were given all the authority to order the family, the way they wanted to. Because the children knew the elderly had gained a lot of wisdom and experience in the past that they could drive the family in the right direction, during hard times, they were assumed to give full respect to them. The Chinese culture is very strict about the relationship expectation of the family. The first wife of a husband was irreplaceable. Even if the husband remarried, the second wife would not be treated with the same respect and honour as the first wife. In the novel, the elderly people were teaching the kids how Stepmother was an appropriate way to describe the second wife. “’ Stepmother’ was a ranking

“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.

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

The monk in this story reminds me of the fairy godmother in Cinderella. The monk comes to help Baoyu several times throughout the story. “The first time was when they came to extol the virtues of the jade; the second was when Baoyu was seriously ill and the monk came and said a prayer over the jade, which seemed to cure Baoyu at once; the third time was when he restored the jade to us after it had been lost.”(Ch. 120) Like the monk, the fairy godmother in Cinderella watches over Cinderella. The fairy godmother transforms a pumpkin into a carriage so Cinderella could go to the ball.

Being royal shouldn't mean that you have a inability to go out and do things on your own. Recently in our Ela class we read the originally story of cinderella that was documented by the brothers grimm where the story is very different from the tale you may have heard in your childhood and it is much less than “happily ever after” than you have ever heard. In this story

“Never lose yourself while trying to hold on to someone who doesn't care about losing you.” said by Bishop Jake. This quote shows us that people,like Adeline, should never try to hold on to someone who doesn't love you.Adeline held on to someone in her family and that person rejected her. But never give up.

In the book Chinese Cinderella it is apparent that Niang has had a positive and also a negative impact on Yen Mah. In the book Chinese Cinderella Niang makes the narrator feel a mixture of negative emotions such as neglect, foreignness, and also a feeling no one should feel, insignificance and humiliation. This is shown when the narrator writes “Niang predicted a hopeless future for me.” (Page 124). This had a very pronounced effect on Yen Mah. Therefore as a result of Niang suppressing her, the narrator was able to aim for something greater and also bring recognition to herself. Niang also affected the narrator’s mental stand point because Yen Mah was treated as a servant when compared to Niang’s own children. In which the way Adeline Yen Mah was treated was very immoral because it gave Yen Mah the feeling of being not as wanted as Niang’s own children. If Niang did not treat the narrator the way she did Adeline Yen Mah may not be the person she is – one that aspires to succeed and also one that sees something beyond her circumstances. In Chinese Cinderella,

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.

The book Chinese Cinderella, written by Adeline Yen Mah has four main themes. They are: family & relationships, abandonment & loneliness, self-esteem and history. The author Adeline Yen Mah, also wrote the book Falling Leaves but Chinese Cinderella was written for younger audiences. Chinese Cinderella is actually an autobiography, not a fairy tale. Adeline (the protagonist) has to work for her dreams, not by wishing from a fairy godmother. This book was set in the 1900’s (1941-1952). At that time WW2 was happening making Adeline’s life harder. The moral of this book would be that no matter your circumstances, you can work hard and achieve your dreams. This book is really captivating and it tells the reader not to underestimate anyone. That’s why I think this is an amazing book for everyone to read.