“But you can vanquish the demons only when you yourself are convinced of your own worth”(181). Author, Adeline Yen Mah, shares the horrors of her childhood growing up as an unwanted daughter in the autobiography Chinese Cinderella. The first years of a child’s life are the most crucial in shaping the person they will become. For young Adeline Yen Mah, these defining years shaped her into a strong, intelligent women despite her poor upbringing. The novel Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, brings to light the life of hardship growing up as an unwanted daughter and in doing so highlights the major themes of the value of encouragement and self-esteem and internal damage caused by abandonment and loneliness. To begin, a recurring theme in the novel is the value of encouragement. Young
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Adeline had felt alone her entire life except for two parent figures in her life. Her Aunt Baba and Ye Ye were able to provide encouragement through her life, but were unable to help Adeline escape her horrid stepmother. Her stepmother, Niang, had convinced Adeline’s father that Adeline was a trouble child and that she should be sent away to boarding school. When Adeline is abandoned at a boarding school in Tianjin she said, “They has tossed me aside like a piece of garbage”(127). No child deserves to feel like garbage. Weeks after her abandonment, Adeline had still heard nothing from her family and the feeling of loneliness began to set it in. In class a teacher asked Adeline, “And if you could have one wish granted, what would it be?” She replied with, “To receive a letter addressed to me, Just one letter. From anyone”(131). What seems like such a simple request to other children would have meant the world to Adeline. In sharing her experience with loneliness, the author made a point to show that the effects of it on a child can be damaging to their overall
Adeline had felt alone her entire life except for two parent figures in her life. Her Aunt Baba and Ye Ye were able to provide encouragement through her life, but were unable to help Adeline escape her horrid stepmother. Her stepmother, Niang, had convinced Adeline’s father that Adeline was a trouble child and that she should be sent away to boarding school. When Adeline is abandoned at a boarding school in Tianjin she said, “They has tossed me aside like a piece of garbage”(127). No child deserves to feel like garbage. Weeks after her abandonment, Adeline had still heard nothing from her family and the feeling of loneliness began to set it in. In class a teacher asked Adeline, “And if you could have one wish granted, what would it be?” She replied with, “To receive a letter addressed to me, Just one letter. From anyone”(131). What seems like such a simple request to other children would have meant the world to Adeline. In sharing her experience with loneliness, the author made a point to show that the effects of it on a child can be damaging to their overall