Adeline faces many tough challenges and is forced to inwardly prepare herself for the obstacles that are continually thrown at her. Adeline lives in a negative household where it is considered conventional for her to be despised, and so she has a constant feeling of being rejected. She shoulders that burden through her school and even keeps up the pretence that she comes from a secure household. Even though she doesn’t confide her true feelings, she eventually opens up. This is shown when Adeline exclaims to Aunt Baba, “I want to forget about everything that goes on here!” (page 122) Only then it is realized the full extent of how much she had bottled up the hurt she gained from her family, and how strong she was to withstand this feeling of worthlessness.
By doing so, Yen Mah is able to depict how Niang cared more about what her peers thought of her rather than what her step-daughter thought of her. Though Adeline had an awful start in her life in boarding school, Niang continued to diminish her happiness. In the boarding school, Adeline saw other students’ eggs as “symbols of rare privilege,” and they distinguished the students into groups of “loved ones and the unloved ones” (Yen Mah 101,102). Because Adeline did not receive eggs in addition to her daily breakfast, she saw that none of her family members loved her enough to show that they have not forgotten about her. With this envy toward the fortunate students, she also builds animosity toward her family because the family continues to deny her importance in the family by leaving her eggless.
This novel talks about Adeline being abused by her own stepmom. Adenine describes how she was never loved by her stepmom, since she used to hit her and not feed her for no reason whatsoever. She also talks about the way that her stepmom had taken over the family when her grandmother died. The story escalates into her stepmom sacrificing Adenine’s pet duck to teach her dog how to be patient. Adenine, the
Adeline goes through a lot in her lifetime and not many people could have gone through what she did. Aunt Baba and Adeline love each other and do have an unbreakable bond. In Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, I think Adeline needs Aunt Baba because Aunt Baba is not going through neglect, abuse (physically, emotionally, and verbally), and depressing times, Adeline is. Aunt Baba is going through sad times but not as bad as Adeline. Also without Aunt Baba, Adeline probably would not have been encouraged enough to go to school and do great things.
As the book travels on Edna defines this role less and less, as well providing several thoughts formally against it. Other characters in the Awakening such as Mademoiselle Reiz, also do not stand well as perfect examples of how 1800th century women were supposed to behave. Adele was written by Chopin as a friend, alone, in concept that she would provide readers with the standard for American women during this era. Adele loves her life and “She is what all women in her society should be like; she puts her husband and children first, centering her life around her family and her domestic duties(Miller).” Adele is also perceived as woman of self-sacrifice showing almost no interest in her own ambitions, or her own cares. This sets the stage for Adele as “the 'ideal mother'[which] was a woman who basically forsook all notions of self and desire…[and] would've had almost no life outside of her children (Breazeale, Liz).” This an important concept for the reader to know for them to gain an understanding of how women were meant to act in the setting of the Awakening and that they were expected “to be women that idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels (Chopin 4).” By providing a character like Adele who is such
Abigail Adams, the First Lady of the United States of America during the presidency of John Adams, often wrote letters to her beloved son, John Quincy Adams. At the time, John Quincy Adams was planning to travel around the world so his mother decided to write him a letter filled with sympathy, telling her son how much she appreciates his qualities and prestige. This particular letter contained pathos, an anecdote, and also tone to proficiently aid Abigail Adams get her rhetorically appealing message across to the mind of her son. Adams began with telling John Q Adams her opinion about him embarking on this journey and then proceeded to emphasize her worries as he is traveling. Adams used pathos to make John know how much she cares and worries about him.
Ethan would quietly lament this loss for as long as he lives. Not fully being able to express his true nature, a man with a refined mind who can’t show the world how he feels, and what he’s is passionate about. This can also be shown when the narrator states “His unfinished studies had given form to this sensibility and even in his unhappiest moments field and sky spoke to him with a deep and powerful persuasion”(Wharton 11). Second is Ethan hastily marring Zeena when she came to take care of his mother when she became sick, throughout the book you can easily pick up on the disconnect between the two. Although it is reasonable why he did so.
Adeline Yen Mah grew up in a wealthy family in the 1950’s. She lived in a family where she was neglected by her sisters, brothers and parents. In this autobiographical text, Yen Mah expresses the negative tension between her father and her. In this essay, I will be discussing how Yen Mah insinuates through the use of language about her relationship with her father. “During the short drive home, my heart was full of dread and I wondered what I have done wrong.” This quote shows how Yen Mah starts being very apprehensive and anxious.
“The family is one of nature's masterpieces.” This quote is by George Santayana. In the book Chinese Cinderella Adeline was never loved by her family. Everyone felt like she wasn't their. Adeline always tried to be nice to her family, but they never really noticed she was trying to do that. This is why I think Chinese Cinderella is a depressing story.
Her habits from when she was younger, such as reading and thinking backwards, can directly relate to her disability and is seen as her way of handling how it feels to be so different from those around her. Not only does Adah have her own unique ways of thinking, but also she is very connected to poetry. She uses it often to connect her problems to other people, since she cannot always relate to those in her family. “Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me,” (Kingsolver 365). This