The book I am reading is Chinese Cinderella, written by Adeline Yen Mah (馬嚴君玲). This book has 205 pages and I read 55/205 pages (all together) this week.
There are both internal and external conflicts in this book (man vs. man, man vs. itself). There will be a lot more conflicts in the future because I did not reach the climax yet.
So far, one of the main conflicts is Adeline and her siblings. First of all, her siblings don't respect her that much and believes that she is bad luck (since their mother died after giving birth to her). The only person who cares a lot about her is Aunt Baba.
"My aunt and I share a room. She is my best friend and cares about me in every way." (Mah 52)
Second of all, her stepmother Niang is also a huge problem to her. In the family, Niang and her kids are allowed to get whatever they want and eat whatever they want but not Adeline and her siblings. In the ninth chapter, Adeline and her siblings gathered and talked about how unfair it is that Niang's kids are treated differently (better) than them.
"'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, all seven children should be wearing them, not just five of us.'" (Mah 43)
I believe that all siblings should be treated the same (unless they are disabled or have problems) and I would have said the same thing as Adeline's older sister if I was in the book.
Finally, it is Adeline is going against herself because she has to stand up for herself and be strong even if she is an unwanted child. This conflict is introduced since the beginning of the book. She doesn't really know if she belongs to the family and in the fourth chapter, Adeline states:
"My classmates made me feel as if I "belonged."" (Mah 13)
Adeline feels better in school where her classmates look up to her.
I think that this is the most important conflict because it must be really tough for Adeline. I would feel really sad and useless but I am very happy that Adeline at least has her Aunt and her classmates left to cheer her up even though her class mates don't know about her family yet.
So far, one of the main conflicts is Adeline and her siblings. First of all, her siblings don't respect her that much and believes that she is bad luck (since their mother died after giving birth to her). The only person who cares a lot about her is Aunt Baba.
"My aunt and I share a room. She is my best friend and cares about me in every way." (Mah 52)
Second of all, her stepmother Niang is also a huge problem to her. In the family, Niang and her kids are allowed to get whatever they want and eat whatever they want but not Adeline and her siblings. In the ninth chapter, Adeline and her siblings gathered and talked about how unfair it is that Niang's kids are treated differently (better) than them.
"'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, all seven children should be wearing them, not just five of us.'" (Mah 43)
I believe that all siblings should be treated the same (unless they are disabled or have problems) and I would have said the same thing as Adeline's older sister if I was in the book.
Finally, it is Adeline is going against herself because she has to stand up for herself and be strong even if she is an unwanted child. This conflict is introduced since the beginning of the book. She doesn't really know if she belongs to the family and in the fourth chapter, Adeline states:
"My classmates made me feel as if I "belonged."" (Mah 13)
Adeline feels better in school where her classmates look up to her.
I think that this is the most important conflict because it must be really tough for Adeline. I would feel really sad and useless but I am very happy that Adeline at least has her Aunt and her classmates left to cheer her up even though her class mates don't know about her family yet.
Chinese Cinderella sounds like a great book. I would love to read this book, because it sounds very interesting and something I would read. Great!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis appears to be a very interesting book, though I have a few extremely small comments about the blog. Firstly, you claim that there is both internal and external conflicts while when these texts are more clearly analyzed there are no examples of internal conflict. For example, in the final quote when you say that is Adeline going against herself, it is in reality Adeline going against the opinions of the other children. You say that, "It is Adeline is going against herself because she has to stand up for herself and be strong even if she is an unwanted child". The fact that she is an unwanted child is the opinion of others, so it is actually man vs man. Finally, a small matter of detail, at the end you say, "Adeline feels better in school where her classmates look up to her". But you do not describe how they look up t her. It is a matter of one word such as academically, or emotionally.
ReplyDeleteI like how you put quotes after you explained a conflict and the situation. Good blog post.
ReplyDeletenurin I also like how you put in quotes after you explained it, I will use that i next time
ReplyDeleteI read this book! Warning: It will make you want to murder her family (not kidding).
ReplyDelete