Chinese Cinderella Essay

Last term our class studied Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah. It is Adelines story, about her tough and horrible childhood as a neglected and unloved daughter of a rich and arrogant man, and a cruel, and abusive Stepmother. Right from the moment her mother died, Adeline was labelled as painful luck. Her family was very superstitious and believed she caused her mothers death so was therefore despised, no one wanted her somewhat at all.Unfortunately for Adeline she didnt sincerely have any parents, her father loathed her as she had supposedly killed his costly wife, and now she no longer had a mother so she was taken care of by her auntie Baba who lived with the family at the time. Aunt Baba was the only real family Adeline had when she was young, but was grateful that she had an Aunt has wonderful as hers.A great moment I found in this book that showed the connection between Aunt Baba and Adeline and the closed experience relation broadcast that they have, was the time when Adeline came home from kindergarten one afternoon with a medal and a certificate, her Aunt was so proud of her and Adeline just seemed so excited and happy because for once she felt same(p) someone cared for her. Her aunt opened her safe keep box that she kept secretly onward and put the certificate a look with the rest of her treasures.I think its wonderful how her Aunt cares for her niece interchangeable that when she doesnt even have to, and it proves how ofttimes of a kind-hearted person Aunt Baba really is. Through out glance overing this book, Ive noniced how Adeline changes, in the beginning she is a curious, smart and loving small-minded girl, but towards the end of the story she gets a little more than depressed and lonely. She is annoyed at the way her parents treat her but she puts up with it because she fucks the consequences if she was to speak out. Adeline enjoyed existence at civilize more than she enjoyed being at home, she felt like she belonged there a nd she loved it more than anything else.She was treated fairly and equally, everyone accepted her the way they accepted everyone else, she didnt feel like an outcast or alone anymore. She was a very lively yet shy little girl and was loved by everyone she met except for her family of course. But accordingly Adeline was then moved to live in Shanghai after her Nai-Nai passed away. When they arrived in Shanghai, Adeline was beginning to feel displaced again because she was forced to live on a different floor of the digest than everyone else because Niang was now in charge again. This was when her life sentence history started to get worse and worse.Niang was handling Adelines life cold more dreadful than anyone elses. She do sure that Adeline and her siblings were punished terribly if they dare did something wrong. Adeline was getting quite repeal about the way her parents were behaving towards her, but she handled it in her own way, just staying calm and quiet but savage insi de, accepting that this was the way it was going to be. Adeline became happier when she joined sacred heart (sheng Xin) school in first grade. She made friends with a sporty and ath allowic girl named Wu chun mei and also became elected class president.Unlucky for Adeline, Niang didnt like this at all because Adeline had actually achieved something on her own and Niang was realising how loved and appreciated she really was. Adeline was not permitted to have friends over or go to friends houses under her stepmothers instructions. She was only allowed to eat whatever was put in front of her at dinner times and was not allowed snacks in-between meals. She could not enter certain separate of the house without permission and she was forbidden to talk to fourth brother and little sister.An easier way of putting that, is that Niang did not approve of Adeline having fun of any kind. But this made Adeline stronger and more independent, as she learnt to do things on her own that other childre n normally would do with their parents. I dont think she liked being go away out and treated differently when shes at home but she learned to cope with it and in a way she sort of had her own little world around her where she would dream of things that she would never be able to do in real life that way she could still keep herself hopeful and entertained. She has a very vivid imagination and is smart and brave.She was always top of the class and received a short ton of awards for best(p) academic student. Her classmates looked up to her but she never seemed to understand why. She imagination of herself as a poor, stinky unloved child because that was the influence she was getting from her family, but her friends and her Aunt and granddad believed that she would go places one day. When she was younger, her name and address was to get her Parents and her family to love her and appreciate her but after she had won so many awards and certificates then she accomplished what potent ial she had and started to focus on her studies a bit more.Her grandfather enlightened her on the all of the terrible possibilities and opportunities in the world and how she could also have them someday if she worked hard enough. She changed a lot when Ye-Ye passed away, she grew more and more intelligent and hardworking as she was determined to ground her grandfather proud. She had a lot of encouragement and a lot of discouragement through the years but she chose to listen to the people that were cheering her on, like her grandfather and her Aunt Baba and Wu chun-mei, because she, just like anyone else, would obviously decide to follow the rewarding and successful path in life.Adeline decides that since her childhood has been a mess and a disaster she doesnt want it to carry on this way so she is doing good things in her life and makes a change. She wins the play writing competition and dedicates her play to Ye-Ye and gets the chance of a lifetime to attend school in England wi th her brother. I could only Imagine how excited and overwhelmed she must(prenominal)ve been when she heard that her father was so proud of her. She reached both of her goals in life which made her very mirthful with herself and her outstanding achievements.One thing I learnt from Adeline Yen Mah is that no out go up how hard it is, and no matter how tough life might seem, as long as you try your best it all pays stumble in the end. Chapter 15 Boarding School in Tianjin Without explaining where she was going, Niang and her father drove her to St. Josephs School, where she previously go to kindergarten. She was there again, but this time as a boarder. Sadly, when her father had to fill out papers for the career to Tianjin, he couldnt remember her name or her birth date.Neither her father or Niang say good-bye. The next morning she woke up in the bright room and met Nancy Chen, who was in the bed next to her. Nancys mother asked what was wrong with Adelines parents leaving a ch ild alone in a monstrous situationthe Communists would soon be invading. That explained to Adeline why the large school only had a couple of ascorbic acid students. After a few months, Adeline remained the only student at St Josephs. All the students had fled with their families to escape the communists.Adeline hoped that she would wake up one morning and her parents were there to collect her to take her home, but then she didnt know if that would be worse. The way her family just left her there all by herself is appaulling and its a very unforgettable moment in the book for me because I think that if I was in Adelines situation, I would be extremely terrified. No one there to play with or talk to, that would drive me crazy. The anxiety of anguish when the communists were going to come along and take you away. Sitting there alone everyday curious to know if anyone actually cared about you anymore, if you were even remembered?When her father forgot her name, that was probably the worst thing a parent couldve done, whilst on his way to dropping her off at boarding school forever. I felt terrible for Adeline, she has never had her parents there to support her and her father doesnt even know her name or birthday. A life without loving Parents is possibly the worse life you could have. You need your mum to read you bed time stories and gather you into bed at night and you need your dad to teach you how to ride a bike and be proud of you.She still has parents but if they are willing to leave you at a boarding school all by yourself when there are soldiers coming, then I dont think they make good parents at all. The worst part about this chapter is when she is playing with a basketball in the playground by herself, and a teacher runs into the playground and calls to Adeline Adeline your Aunt is here to take you back to Hong Kong with her on her ship. She was standing there with her heart racing 1000 beats per second thinking is it true? Could she really be her e? The one person Adeline cares about, has come to rescue her, this is like a dream come true for her.She sprints across the playground as fast her tiny feet could carry her, and stops to find a stranger. She wouldve been so confused, isnt this meant to be my Aunt? She is thinking. The disappointment wouldve been unbearable. Gone from being so excited to the biggest let down ever in a second. Even I was getting excited for her, I thought wow this could be her chance to escape and start fresh, with her lovely Aunt the one that has always been her best friend. I instantly imagined her and her Aunt Baba on a beautiful ship sailing across the sea far away from everyone else.But then everything changed, when I read on to see that it was Niangs Sister and then I got a whole different picture in my head, of poor Adeline living the rest of her life away in a dark and dingy dungeon taking orders from the dreadful Niang again. It started to feel like she actually was Cinderella. I thought th at was one of the most dreadful parts of this whole story. It felt like it was the part where Adeline was forgotten and abandoned. If that was to ever happen to me one day, I would be grateful that I read Chinese Cinderella because I would do exactly what Adeline did, hope, pray and try my hardest to reach success.