Chinese Cinderella (Page 1 to 41)

Title: Chinese Cinderella
Author: Adeline Yen Mah
Pages 1 to 41

Summary
The protagonist is called as Wu Mei (fifth daughter). The memoir starts in the fall of 1941 at Tianjin, China. At that time, Tianjin was occupied by foreign soldiers due to the loss of China in the Opium War with England and France. Mei is a four year old child neglected by her own family. For the reason, the birth of Mei caused the death of her mother. Her big sister and three big brothers always look down on her and tease her. Also, her father marries a beautiful half Chinese and half French haughty woman. The stepmother is merely seventeen years old, which later in the story gives birth of two children. In the house, the family consists of a father, stepmother, seven children, Aunt Baba, and two grandparents. The story began with Mei accomplishment of being the Top of the class in her kindergarten class. She is praised by her Aunt and her father yet; her siblings bother her even more. Still, Mei was motivated to devote herself studying because of her father’s compliment. During that time society, foreign men “bullied” the Chinese people for money. Mei’s father was one of them. Each month, Japanese soldier came and ask for the money. Once it for all Mei’s father runs away for a year. That year, Grandma Nai Nai dies by a heart stroke. She was the head of the family. Then, father comes back to tell his family to move to Shanghai. The whole family moves into this exceptional huge house with three floors. Niang, stepmother, became the head of the family instead of Nai Nai. She deserts the rest of the family in the third floor. She minds her own business and do not take care of the children. The new school was far way, Mei and her siblings need money for the tram. At the end, the only one who does not receive tram fare’s money is Mei due to her pride of not forgiving Niang’s statement she did wrong for asking money from her grandpa.

Quote
“All night, while listening to the monks praying and watching their shining bald heads in the flickering candlelight, I half yearned and half feared that Nai Nai would crawl out and resume her place among us" (Mah 20).

Reaction
Adeline Yen Mah’s style of writing is amusing. Every word written in the book is enjoyable. Her great use of imagery does not bore the reader at all. The story is narrated in first person and goes chronologically. The narrator is Wu Mei. The quote above describes Mei’s thoughts of spending the night with her death grandmother (grandmother is in a coffin) in a room. She is scared because her third big brother told her that her grandmother will awake and walk around. This is one of many examples of how Mei is mistreated by her siblings. After all, the book is called Chinese Cinderella.