Text Response: Chinese Cinderella

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Chinese Cinderella - Text Response Eleni Petrakis How does conflict cause characters to change in the story? In Chinese Cinderella, the autobiography of Adeline Yen Mah, the author experiences lots of conflict in her life. She encounters many hardships as a child as she is shunned by her family, who think her to be bad luck. Adeline's parents treat her unjustly and do not allow her to have the slightest luxury, accusing her of lying to get her way. Adeline's grandfather (Ye Ye) is as also a great influence, and after she gains so much confidence from him, he is gone from her life. Her pet duckling, PLT, is a massive source of Adeline's happiness, and she is unfairly killed to show the family dogs obedience. Through these adversities, Adeline's …show more content…

He inspires her to continue learning and believes in her. Turing her time at Sacred Heart boarding school, she enters a playwriting competition and dedicates her play to her grandfather, he encourages her, saying "You have your whole life ahead of you. Every thing is possible!...you are precious and special. Being top of your class merely confirms this." Through this he expresses his support for his granddaughter and and shows Adeline that she is special. When she sends in her entry for the playwriting competition, she asks the sisters at the convent to help her inform her Ye Ye of the contest, only to find out later that he has died and will never find out how much he helps her. At Ye Ye's funeral, Adeline cries the whole way through. Afterwards, Niang makes a remark about how ugly she thinks Adeline is getting. Upon her arrival back at school, these two events, mainly the loss of her grandfather, sends her into a "horrible depression". The combination of the treatment she receives from her family and losing one of the only adults that support her through struggle decreases her confidence and makes her feel vulnerable and insecure. While she is in Tianjin, there is no one close to Adeline that can support and inspire her her the way her Ye Ye did. She had lost one of the biggest inspirations and sources of her confidence in her …show more content…

PLT is her only solace in that period of her childhood, and they are brutally separated by what is, for a little girl like Adeline, the most horrible thing that could happen. The children's father sends for one of the ducks, which ends up being PLT, to be bought to the dining area to test the dog Jackie's obedience. Jackie refuses to sit still and pounces on PLT, leaving her leg "dangling lifelessly, and her tiny webbed foot twisted at a grotesque angle", and Adeline with a broken heart. The way the event is described shows the terrible anguish Adeline feels on this occasion, and almost serves as a metaphor for the destruction of her happiness. To her friend Wu Chun-mei, Adeline says, before PLT's death; "As soon as she sees me, she hurries over. I speak to her all the time and I think she is beginning to understand." Adenine expresses the excitement of having a pet that she loves, and having someone, however small and seemingly insignificant, that loves her unconditionally. As she recounts her experiences with PLT to Wu Chun-mei, we see Adeline as the young girl she truly is, happy and excited, without the burden of prejudice on her small shoulders. When PLT dies, all of this carefree cheerfulness disappears quickly. PLT is Adeline's one true friend, apart from her Aunt Baba, in whom she can confide everything without fear of being mocked or punished. For once in her life, Adeline

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