Imagination In Adeline Yen Mah's Film, Chinese Cinderella

The statement that courage and imagination can be a driving force in helping someone in overcoming hardships, is prevalent in both Adeline Yen Mah’s, ‘Chinese Cinderella’ and Alfonso Cuaron’s film ‘A Little Princess’. Both these texts contain main characters who express their imagination to help them overcome the oppressive situations in which they are placed. In ‘Chinese Cinderella’, Adeline relies on writing to transport her to a place that is unaffected by the hardships she faces in reality. Furthermore, in the film, Sarah depends on imaginative story telling as a driving force to temporarily conquer the hardships she experiences. In addition, the characters in both texts develop attachments to various treasures that give them comfort and to take their minds off of their oppressive lives. For Adeline, she develops a friendship with a duck, whom she named Precious Little Treasure, whilst Sarah has an attachment with the doll her father gave her. Both of these are incapable of returning their affection, however Adeline and Sarah find comfort in imagining that their possessions understand them. Ultimately, the courage shown by both Adeline and Sarah allows them to overcome

their subjugation and adversities infinitely.

Primarily, both Adeline and Sarah use their imaginations to escape from their harsh reality. Both protagonists suffer from oppression and as a result they have discovered a way to use their imagination and escape from their lives temporarily. For Adeline, she writes fictional stories about mystical lands with dragons and knights. Adeline immerses herself into the storyline and gets lost in the fictional world, forgetting about her family and the suffering they put her through for a little while. In addition, Adeline said that when she wrote she “Forgot that she was the unwanted daughter” (p.61) nor was she the “Lonely little girl bullied by her siblings” (p.61). She said that she “Could be anyone she wished” (p.61). To her “Writing was a pleasure” (p.61). Therefore, Adeline’s writing is extremely emotive because she poured all of her feelings of loneliness, sadness, and frustration into her writing.

Furthermore, Sarah’s imagination helps her in getting away from reality in the form of storytelling. Unlike Adeline, Sarah makes up stories and tells them to the other girls in the boarding school. When a little girl was throwing a tantrum Sarah told her a story about how her mother and the little girl’s mother were angels because they were dead. She said to the little girl that “They watch over us from above and talk to us, but, you can’t hear them if you’re screaming like that”. Sarah also demonstrated her use of imagination when she was in the attic with Becky and she told her a story about India, as a result, she helped the both of them get distracted from their misery. Thus, Adeline and Sarah are similar because they both use their imagination extensively to forget about the hardships in their life.
Moreover, Sarah and Adeline develop immense attachments to possessions. The two characters both have possessions that they are deeply attached to, Adeline has a pet duck whom she named PLT (Precious Little Treasure), and Sarah has a relationship with a doll that her father gave her named Emily. For Adeline, she grows a strong friendship with PLT, she said that when she first saw him she felt “Very protective” (p. 84) of the weak little duckling as it reminded her of herself; the runt of the litter. PLT had “Comforted Adeline and let her know she was needed” (p. 84) when nobody else had ever paid any attention to her before. PLT was also Adeline’s “Best friend in the whole wide world” (p. 84) and she loved him more than life itself. When PLT was mauled by the dog, Jackie, she felt as though her “Whole world had turned desolate” (p. 96) and she “Experienced grief she never forgot” (p.96). She had lost her only friend and was useless and lonely once again.
Similarly, Sarah has an attachment to the doll her father gave her called Emily. Her father told her that whenever she wants to talk to him she should just “Tell Emily and she will pass on the message” also when she hugs Emily it will be like “Getting a hug” from her father. Sarah and Emily’s bond is especially seen when Sarah hears of her father’s death she clutches onto Emily desperately as she is the only thing Sarah has left from her father. Eventually, Sarah develops a bond with Becky, the other slave girl, in this way she is different from Adeline because Adeline had no other human friends. At the end of the movie when Sarah reunites with her father she gives Emily to the other girls at the boarding school and tells them the same thing her father told her. This is another way in which Adeline and Sarah are different, Adeline had no reason, or friends, to give PLT away. Therefore, Adeline and Sarah are similar because they both had precious friendships with their possessions but they are different because of what happened to the possessions.

Finally, Adeline and Sarah both show bravery when attempting to escape their oppression and experience freedom. Both of them have been severely tied down by their superiors and so they are always constricted in what they can do, for Adeline she is oppressed by her family whilst for Sarah she is oppressed by Miss Minchin, the headmaster of the boarding school. To begin with, Adeline’s mother died giving birth to her so from then on she was considered a curse and therefore treated like an animal. She was always bullied by her siblings and by her step mother, Niang, who hated Adeline so she sent her to a boarding school and completely cut her off from the family. Adeline expressed her courage when she entered in the play writing competition when everyone else told her she would most likely fail. When her father asked her how she did it she said “Perhaps I was the only one determined enough to enter” (p. 220) which shows just how little faith and confidence she has in herself, the only thing she’s been told is how worthless and useless she is. Adeline also demonstrated courage when she asked her father if she could go to study in England with her older brothers, it was a big risk since she was never granted any type of gift before, also when she said to her Aunt Baba that she will one day leave her oppression behind and take her Aunt with her to a better place where they can be free from Niang.
Likewise, Sarah also possesses great courage and this is seen when she talks back to Miss Minchin. Miss Minchin tried to break Sarah’s spirit by saying that she can’t be a princess in a dirty place like the attic, however, Sarah talks back to her and say “All girls are princesses, even if they don’t have any money, or pretty clothes, it doesn’t matter how old they are. Every girl is a princess”. She also expresses courage when she crosses the wooden beam to escape from Miss Minchin and the police and when she promises Becky that she will come back for her. When she is in the other building and she sees her father it is evident that if Sarah had not gathered her courage and crossed the beam she would have been caught by the police and gone to prison without seeing her father again. Consequently, Adeline and Sarah both express courage when it comes to gaining freedom and leaving their oppression behind.

In Conclusion, it is apparent that in both Adeline Yen Mah’s ‘Chinese Cinderella’ and Alfonso Cuaron’s film ‘A Little Princess’ the main protagonists rely on imagination and courage as a means of escaping their hardships and oppression.

Adeline escapes her by writing expressive and emotive stories while Sarah deals with her subjugation by telling stories to Becky and to the other girls in the school. Adeline expresses courage by entering a writing competition when she has been told that she is worthless and her self-esteem is low. Adeline also shows courage when she asks her father if she can go and study in England with her older brothers. Sarah shows courage when she talks back to Miss Minchin and when she crosses the beam to escape the other building and hide from Miss Minchin and the

Police.