Family And Culture In Chinese Cinderella, By Adeline Yen Mah

The book Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, is an autobiography of being born as the fifth child of a depressing time. Adeline’s mother soon passed away after she was born which labeled her as the “cursed” child, which led to the distance between her and her family. The only people who truly displays affection toward her were her grandfather, Ye Ye, and her Aunt Baba. But soon after her mother died, her father remarried a young French-Asian woman, who she refers to as Niang, who married her father for his money, displays little to no sort of affection to either the father or the five children. She only tends to her son and her daughter. Adeline strives to reach a high standing in her academics to win the favor of her father, knowing that …show more content…
The three factors out of many factors that connect the book and culture are divorce and remarriage, family, and education. Adeline is faced with many problems and these three are the most tormenting of all. Because her mother died, her father remarried a young French-Asian woman, who torments Adeline and her siblings. When the father is out at work, Niang acts as the head of the house, creating a barrier between the father and the five siblings, thus deepening the growing gap. Because of that gap, Adeline has to excel in her studies to be noticed by her father and gain favor. If she falters with her education, she will be forgotten as a …show more content…
However the males in the family were very dominant. In Chinese Cinderella, because Niang was half French, she didn’t fully understand the concept of filial piety within the family, so she was not shy about her actions towards the children. Her cruel actions were equal to the eldests and the youngests. However, if she was fully Chinese, those actions would be very frowned upon. A Chinese mother is to nurture and raise her children with discipline and education. The way children act reflects the actions of the mother. It is her job to make sure that every child, especially the males, are to be favored upon, or else the father does not frown upon the children, but on the