From unloved and unwanted, to boarding school, to self made millionaire Adeline Yen Mah transformed her life. Motifs are sub-themes that support main theme. Authors like motifs to open the readers mind slowly to the idea of the main theme. A few motifs from “Falling Leaves” are that hardships lead to success, family heritage is important, and family makes people who they are. Though all these things seem as though they stack the odds against a person, that person can overcome anything they put their mind to.
Hardships are hard; that is why they are called hardships, but no matter how many a person goes through they can be great. This motif was prevalent throughout the book; it is interwoven into the very fabric of the pages. It is even in the title “Falling Leaves: The story of an Unwanted
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Chinese Daughter.” The first hardship occurred when the authors mother died two weeks after she was born; this automatically makes the author the unwanted child (Yen Mah 24). Right at this moment the author’s hardships began, and from here on out everything went downhill. A few years later the author’s father remarries and the young girl he married treats her own children like royalty and the step-children are treated like dirt. This is shown throughout the entire book. First, in the fact that they are not allowed to have friends over or even go over to their friends houses (Yen Mah 64). Then, in the fact that the stepchildren are required to share one room between the five of them while Niang’s children get their own rooms and balconies (Yen Mah 44). There are many other examples of this prejudice; however, these are just the major ones. After the marriage and other preferential treatment the author was sent to a boarding school. She was not allowed to receive mail or have visitors and was pretty much forgotten by her family (Yen Mah 86-99). Finally after winning a writing competition the author got her lucky break. She was sent to college in London, to become a anesthesiologist (Yen Mah123). Unfortunately she hit a curve she got married but then her marriage feel apart they ended up getting a divorce (Yen Mah163-168). Finally the author becomes a successful anesthesiologist and her career flourishes (Yen Mah 205). She got remarried and they had two children (Yen Mah 229). Even after becoming the successful anesthesiologist that she was, she never forgot where she came from and who she was. The second motif that was shown throughout the story was that family and heritage is important. Through out the entire book the author talks about her whole family and describes them in great detail. In the first chapter she speaks mainly of her grandparents, aunts, and uncles. She said they were defiant; the author’s great aunt refused to have her feet bound, and her uncle cut of his ponytail in direct defiance of the king (Yen Mah 5-12). They were also great business people. Her father, great aunt, and grandfather all owned their own businesses and made substantial amounts of money (Yen Mah 4-13). The authors aunt Baba is the care taker for the children, after their mother died, she cleaned and cooked and did anything needed (Yen Mah 38). All throughout the story the author is continually thinking about her past and her families past. She talks about their success and hard times. She speaks about how her great aunt’s bank eventually was taken from her and she is kicked on to the street. It’s almost as though thinking of her family’s success gives her strength to keep moving on. The third, and final, motif in the story is that family makes a person who they are.
This story was written for the author to reflect upon her childhood, and to share how her family tormented her; also, how that helped her become who she is today. She talks about her aunt Baba who always encouraged her to do her best in school. The author speaks about how they would sit on her bed and look at her report cards when she was upset. Her aunt Baba would always say something like, “look at this one all A’s and top of your class again.” (Yen Mah 61-62). She spoke about how her aunt and grandfather would sneak her money to ride the bus to school, or little pieces of candy when she would get good grades in school (Yen Mah 47-50). They encouraged her and helped her become the wonderful accomplished person she is today. Even the bad things that happened to her when she was a child helped her. If she had not been sent to that boarding school by Naing she would not have entered the writing competition that lead her father to realize how talented she was, and send her to college. If she hadn’t been sent to college in London by her parents she would have never become a
anesthesiologist. The author chose to express these three motifs because they are what make her who she is. All of the motifs seen in this story are able to be applied to everyone which may be the reason the author chose to write this book. The motifs of the story show a much larger theme: they show that people have to fight for what they want, or even deserve. The author fought through some of the worst hardships for a young child and adult to endure; she never forgot where she came from, and she learned to appreciate and accept what little help she got from her parents. Most importantly, she learned how to forgive, and look at where she is today. To do all of that she must have unimaginable courage. This helps the main idea because it shows an awesome example of how to get what you need to succeed. The moral of the story is that know one knows what life is going to throw their way, but people have to fight to get anywhere in life. The most prevalent motif of the story was that hardships make success. This is because the authors hardships really are what made her who she is today a anesthesiologist, wife and mother. She chose the three motifs because she is the living example of all three of them. They support the larger theme that a person need to fight for what they want or deserve because hardships, heritage, and family are the base of fighting for themselves. Hardships that lead to her success, her heritage, and her family was all the author, Adeline Yen Mah, needed to survive and achieve greatness. No matter how hard life got, Adeline never gave up and neither should anyone else.
One example of the theme occurs when the author first introduces the story. “But the summer I was 9 years old, the town I had always loved morphed into a beautifully heartbreaking and complicated place.” (pg. 1). The author is saying that the year she turned nine, she found out something about her town that broke her heart and changed the way she saw it. This quote is important because it supports the theme. It shows that now she is older she has learned something about her town that made her wiser than when she was younger. She is now more informed because the new information changed her and caused her to begin to mature.
There were several reoccurring themes that showed up in this novel. First was the idea of a group centered leadership. With this idea Ella baker was trying to bring democracy to organizations. The second theme that was prevalent in the lack of power men were willing to give women during the early civil right battle. Last theme that appeared was the idea of human transformation. Laws and institution might change but the goal should be to change the heart of people.
themes. One that stuck out to me is Fitzgerald expressing how the idea of true love is just a
In her short story "Two Kinds," Amy Tan utilizes the daughter's point of view to share a mother's attempts to control her daughter's hopes and dreams, providing a further understanding of how their relationship sours. The daughter has grown into a young woman and is telling the story of her coming of age in a family that had emigrated from China. In particular, she tells that her mother's attempted parental guidance was dominated by foolish hopes and dreams. This double perspective allows both the naivety of a young girl trying to identify herself and the hindsight and judgment of a mature woman.
A motif is an element in a film that is repeated in a significant way. As discussed in Film Art, a viewer cannot follow a story, recognize emotional tenor of the scene, respond with their own emotions, or reflect on possible meanings until they notice certain things in the frame (p. 140). Since motifs
A literary motif “is a conspicuous element, such as a type of incident, device, reference, or formula, which occurs frequently in works of literature” (Abrams 169). Incredibly, this one tale, “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, contains an array of familiar literary motifs (Axelrod 337).
As I continued to read the story, I saw bitterness and worry from the mother grow towards her daughter as she became a teenager. Throughout the story, the mother would tell her daughter, “this is how you do this. and you must act like this,” forcing the young woman to act and be someone she did not want to be. It was like she was protective of her daughter and did not want her to ruin her life.
basis of the plot and themes of this novel. The fond memories she possessed of her mother and the harsh ones of her father are reflected in the thoughts and
She honored her parents as she should, but longed for them to pass. In the beginning of the story she said "I had never expected my parents to take so long to die.” She had taken care of them all of her life she was in her fifty’s and her parents in their ninety’s. She was ready to live and break free of all the rules and duties put upon her, they were like chains binding her and holding her down. She was ready to explore to go on journeys and adventures she was already aging all she wanted was to be free. Her parents’ death let her run free, she left Hong Kong to start over and maybe find love, in any way possible, maybe even through food or luxuries. She wanted to be rebellious of her parents I’m sure she knew they wouldn’t approve but she didn’t care she wanted change. All her life she had followed so many rules, she had to fight to teach, to learn, to be with friends, her fight was finally over. She now had no one to rebel against, she now had the freedom to
Theme plays a very important part in this short story. Theme is the idea of a literary work abstracted from its details of language, character and action. The great example of theme that is evident throughout the entire short story is the duty to perform certain acts. We can see here that the Irishman Donovan is very big on obeying his duty to carry out orders that have been authorized to him.
A motif is a reoccurring symbol or element that generally helps to develop or contribute to the theme or the mood of the text. In Speak it was usually used to alter both the mood and
There are many themes that occur and can be interpreted differently throughout the novel. The three main themes that stand out most are healing, communication, and relationships.
At an early age, Cholly learns that his life would be extremely difficult. When he was four years old his parents abandoned him. The two people that were supposed to love him unconditionally and teach him life lessons had turned their back on him and created emotional damage. This marks the beginning of Cholly’s problematic life. Aunt Jimmy created a glimmer of hope for the future when she took on the role of his guardian. Unfortunately for Cholly, she passed away before he even hit his teenage years. Losing one parent could damage someone enough, but he lost three people that were intended to care for him. The feeling of neglect and loneliness has become all too familiar. The emotional affects are shaping Cholly into an introverted person with many internal conflicts. The...
How the theme of the novel is developed and enhanced by plot, character and setting.
For an abundance of authors, the driving force that aids them in creation of a novel is the theme or number of themes implemented throughout the novel. Often times the author doesn’t consciously identify the theme they’re trying to present. Usually a theme is a concept, principle or belief that is significant to an author. Not only does the theme create the backbone of the story, but it also guides the author by controlling the events that happen in a story, what emotions are dispersed, what are the actions of characters, and what emotions are presented within each environment to engage the readers in many