Adeline Yen Mah's Chinese Cinderella

Imagine a young child, having to take care of themselves and depending on no one else. Waking up everyday unsure of their fate of and how they could make it through the day without falling apart. In the story, Chinese Cinderella is an autobiography written by Adeline Yen Mah, that is exactly how Adeline was forced to live. When Adeline’s mother dies of giving birth to Adeline, she was instantly thought of as bad luck. Soon, when her father remarries, Adeline and her other siblings were put on the back burner. When Niang, Adeline’s stepmother, makes good with all of Adeline’s brothers and sister, she continues to single out Adeline. Adeline’s father also begins to forget about her. Through years of sending Adeline to boarding schools and treating her like she is worthless, Adeline finally gets a break when she wins a play writing contest and her Father agrees to let her go to college in England. In comparison, in the short story “Ye Xian,” written by Ai-Ling Louie, that is the way Ye Xian’s life was too. When Ye Xian’s father and mother died, she was left with her father’s second wife and her daughter. Ye Xian’s stepmother treated

From the start, Adeline and Ye Xian were disliked by their stepmothers, which lead them to living a miserable life. As said by in Chinese Cinderella, “You’d better watch out from now on! You will pay for your arrogance” (Mah 35). Niang said this to Adeline after she stuck up for her youngest sister. Niang did not like to be told she was wrong, so she took it out on Adeline. In the short story, “Ye Xiang” the author wrote, “Apart from giving her the worst jobs…she and her daughter would often mock at her, while Ye Xian always silently did her work…” (Louie 1). Ye Xian was mistreated by her stepmother and she had done nothing wrong. Although both girls suffered through awful times, some good was bound to come out of all the