Outside Reading Literary Analysis Essay

Maria Blanek (-- =indentation)
4th hour
Everyone Can Succeed

-- Chinese Cinderella was written by Adeline Yen Mah to show her readers that they can be successful in life under any conditions growing up. Chinese Cinderella tells that through the hard times, an unloving family, and loneliness, everyone can be successful in life.
-- Adeline Yen Mah went through her whole childhood with series of hard times, yet she kept trying to be successful and she was. Adeline was always the smart one in school and was even elected the class president numerous times, yet while she was seen as really cool at school, it couldn't have been more opposite at home. She was always neglected at home by her father because her mother died shortly after giving birth to her so she was seen as bad luck, and no matter how hard she tried and tried to be noticed, she just wasn't accepted by her father. 'At the time of birth, big sister was six and a half years old. my three brothers were five, four and three. They blamed me for Mama's death and never forgave me' (page 4). This shows that they really do believe that she was the source of their mothers death, and it is really hard for her to have to live with that thought. Adeline was successful in life, even though she was going through hard times constantly for an issue that she didn't even have any control over.
-- Following the hard times was the fact that she had a very unloving family that she couldn't get the acceptance from. Her mother died when she was two weeks old, and a year her father remarried to a beautiful French-Chinese woman who had two kids with her father. These two step-siblings received all the attention and love from their mother and father, while he just ignored Adeline and her blood siblings. '"What gets me," Big sister said, "is the blatant inequality between her children and us. I wouldn't mind if all seven of us were treated the same way. If they really believed in traditional clothes, then all seven of us should be wearing them, not just the five of us"' (page 43). This is a quote said by Adeline's older sister when they were talking about their clothing that they received for the Chinese New Year celebration and how it was so monotonous in comparison to their step-siblings outfits. 'Since no one had ever come to visit me (let alone brought me an egg), it was humiliating to sit there morning after morning looking on, knowing my number would never come up. During one of these sessions, I usually pretend to be deaf and preoccupied' (page 163). This is explaining Adeline's experience at her boarding school every morning when there are eggs given to children whose parents bring to them as a special treat, and Adeline never has gotten one. On this same day, she received her first egg, and later on overheard her friend saying that she changed the number on her egg so that Adeline would get hers instead. Adeline grew up in a household where she received no credit for her hard work and got no acceptance or love from anyone yet still managed to give and show her absolute best through school, where she was successful.
-- Since Adeline was neglected by her family and was not allowed to be involved with any friends, she was always lonely. Adeline spent most all of her time away from school alone in her room and because her siblings always picked on her, she even tried to steer clear of them also. One time, a family friend came over and presented each of the seven kids with baby ducklings which they kept as pets. Adeline named hers PLT which stood for Precious Little Creature, and PLT was her best friend for a long while up until it was killed by the guard dog in a game that her father wanted to play and carelessly let PLT be killed. 'The tension seemed palpable while I hoped against hope that fate could be sidestepped in some way. Then PLT cocked her head in that familiar way of hers and spotted me. Chirping happily, she waddled unsteadily toward me. Tempted beyond endurance, Jackie sprang forward. In one powerful leap, he broke away from Father's restraint and pounced on PLT, who looked up at me pleadingly, as if I should have an answer to all her terror' (page 82). This occurred after dinner one night, Jackie being the guard dog, and Adeline was traumatized for the rest of her life over this reality of losing what was a best friend to her, yes, the next morning PLT was dead. Adeline was a very lonely girl because she was always ignored or picked on and she was not even allowed to have friends, and still, she was successful in the end.
-- Chinese Cinderella is a memoir that shows a true story of survival through hard times, hatred in family and loneliness can still lead someone to success when they get through it all. Adeline went on to college in college with her brother after she was in boarding school and got through to her father by winning an international children's play wright contest, being the first chinese child to win. Anyone who grows up a terrible regretted childhood can be just as successful in the future as anyone who grows up a perfectly shaped life.