Hungering for Love and Attention: Chinese Cinderella

Title: Chinese Cinderella                    Date of Publication/ publisher: March 13, 2001, Laurel Leaf

Summary:

Adeline Yen Mah is an unwanted daughter in her family who is blamed for the death of her late mother. She comes from a well off family in Shanghai and Tianjin, China and suffers from the mistreatment of her father, stepmother, and siblings. The only ones she can rely upon are her Grandfather Ye Ye and her Aunt Ba Ba. Throughout the story, Adeline tries to find a way to escape her miserable life such as reading stories and discovers her love for literature.

Adeline is separated from her aunt because her stepmother thought her aunt was a bad influence on Adeline. Adeline eventually gets sent to a school in Tianjin where she lives in the dorm, giving as little trouble to her family as possible. Adeline Yen Mah continues to study literature and is constantly at the top of her classes. Mah dedicates a play to her grandfather that wins a writing contest. She aspires to become a writer and is given permission by her father after much begging to study abroad in England with her brothers.

Quote:

“I tried to make it up to my aunt by studying hard and getting perfect report cards. Besides, that seemed to be the only way to please my father or get any attention from him whatsoever.” (Mah 51)

Reaction:

            Adeline Mah’s father has always ignored her existence since her mother died. Everyone in her family blames Adeline for the death of her mother. This causes Adeline to strive for attention by being the best she can be at school and excelling in learning. Despite her efforts for attention, it does little to gain her father’s praise. Eventually her hard work pays off as her father only let her study abroad because she was intelligent. She was only allowed to study abroad if she promised to study in the medical field and not literature; we know how that ends though seeing as Adeline couldn’t have written this book unless she studied literature instead.