Cultural Conflicts In Homeless Bird And Chinese Cinderella

Many people react against the values of their culture. This can many cause conflicts in someone’s culture. The realistic fiction novel, Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, and the autobiography, Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, display many cultural conflicts. Homeless Bird was about an Indian girl named Koly. Koly had many conflicts due to her Indian culture such as having an arranged marriage, and being left in the city. Chinese Cinderella was about a Chinese girl named Adeline. Adeline suffers from many conflicts because of her Chinese culture including, being neglected by her parents, and being left in a boarding school. A person’s cultural background can cause many conflicts within a person.
A person’s cultural background can cause many conflicts within a person. This is shown in the book, Homeless Bird. First, Koly’s parents arranged who she would be married to. Koly was conflicted by the idea of marrying someone she did not know. She did

not like the idea that she did not get to choose or know who she was to be married to. The text states, “‘What if I don’t like him?’ ‘Of course you will like him.’ ‘But what if I don’t?’ Maa impatiently slapped at a fly. ‘Then you must learn to like him’” (Whelan 13). This shows that Koly wasn’t sure she would like her husband because she had never met him before. Koly’s Sass left her alone and homeless. In Koly’s Indian culture, widows were unlucky, so it was common that a widow was left in the city of Vrindavan. Koly’s sassur (father-in-law) died, so her Sass became a widow. Koly and her Sass traveled into the city one day so that they could live with Sass’s brother. Sass tricked Koly and left her in the city all by herself. She told Koly to go buy food from a vendor, and she quickly traveled back to the train station without Koly. Koly was left homeless in Vrindavan with only forty-seven rupees. The author states, “Holding two samosas in one hand and the rupees I had received in change in the other, I hurried back to the corner of the temple where I had left Sass. She wasn’t there” (Whelan 101). This shows that Koly was left alone in the city homeless. In conclusion, Koly has many conflicts due to her culture. At times her cultural conflicts get in the way of Koly’s identity, however, she was able to overcome these conflicts and live her life to the fullest.
A person’s cultural background can cause many conflicts within a person. This is shown in the book, Chinese Cinderella. First, Adeline is abused and neglected by her parents. When her friends follow her home from school, Adeline’s parents beat her in front of them. “She slapped me with the back of her hand against my other cheek… I realized that Niang’s blow must have caused a nosebleed and that my face was probably smeared with a mixture of blood, mucus, and tears” (Mah 115). This illustrates that Adeline was hit by her stepmother Niang. Second, Adeline was left in a boarding school in Tianjin. Her parents left her in a different city than them. The communists were going to take over Tianjin. As stated in the text, “‘And they are leaving you here by yourself? All alone in a foreign convent school? Don’t they read the newspapers in Shanghai? Haven’t they heard the Communists are winning the war? Soon PLA soldiers will be marching in from Manchuria. When they arrive they’ll probably arrest us capitalists along with the foreign sisters and put everybody in prison”’ (Mah 129). This shows that Adeline was left all alone in Tianjin. When a person faces cultural conflicts they are able to learn lessons.
As both characters fought through difficult moments, they also took away life lessons.

In Homeless Bird, Koly learned to be independent and self-sufficient. When Koly was left in the city she was left in a widow’s home. She then found a job as a sari maker and was able to move out of the widow’s house with her friend. She was able to support herself and her friend. “Because I made more money than Tanu, I paid a greater share,” (Whelan 180). This shows that Koly was able to become independent by supporting herself and her friend Tanu. In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline learned to persevere through her conflicts. Even when Adeline was left in Tianjin she still persevered to be the best in her class and never give up. She persevered to always do her best even when she was left alone in a city. “I spent a lot of my time in the library reading fairy tales” (Mah 135). This shows that Adeline spent a lot of her time in Tianjin reading. Both characters were able to learn lessons from the challenges that they faced in their

lives.
Conflicts can occur within a person due to their cultural background. This is shown throughout the books Homeless Bird and Chinese Cinderella. Also, the characters in both books learned lessons due to their conflicts. Everyone will experience conflicts due to their culture. People will learn from their experiences and be able to overcome their cultural problems.