Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Chinese Cinderella, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Physical and Emotional Abuse
Coming of Age and Self-Worth
The Power of Stories
Toxic Family
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Niang, Father, and the other children eventually return. Shortly after, some family friends come with a gift of pet ducklings for all seven children. (It is unusual that these friends knew of all seven children, since Niang often hides the fact of her husband’s first marriage and five original children.) Adeline, picking last, gets the smallest, weakest bird, but she cherishes her new pet and names it PLT, short for Precious Little Treasure.
PLT is a brief symbolic parallel to Adeline, specifically mirroring her emotional wellbeing and the manner in which she is treated by her Father. Though brief, this parallel between the two heightens the emotional intensity of the story and even causes horror at Father’s abject cruelty, as will be seen.
Themes
Adeline speaks to PLT as if she were a baby sister and loves having another creature be dependent on her. She spends a lot of time digging up worms to feed PLT. On one occasion, when Adeline tries to feed PLT a worm while she is in their rooftop pen with the other ducklings, she feels privately guilty about favoring her own duckling and not having enough worms to feed to all seven of them. While she is doing this, Second Brother sneaks up and strikes Adeline hard in the back of the head, steals the worm, and feeds it to his own duckling instead. Adeline takes PLT with her to her room, determined that she will have to find another worm.
Adeline’s behavior toward PLT demonstrates the way in which Father and Niang should behave towards Adeline herself. Adeline enjoys PLT’s dependence on her and loves to care for the duckling and give it gifts. In an obvious contrast to Niang, Adeline feels guilt over her favoritism of her own duckling, even though she does not have enough worms to go around. This directly contradicts Niang’s favoring of her own children and discrimination against the stepchildren, even though she has more than enough money. This passage is an indirect but obvious condemnation of Niang’s behavior
Themes
Adeline returns to the garden to find another worm, but Father’s dog, Jackie, is now acting very aggressive. As Adeline nervously digs, Jackie lunges at her, biting her hard in the forearm. She runs back to her room, blood running down her arm and tears down her face, and finds Aunt Baba who has just returned home from work. Aunt Baba bandages Adeline and cradles her, but also warns her not to mention that Jackie attacked her, since he is Father and Niang’s pet.
More than just loving PLT, Adeline demonstrates great courage in her commitment to caring for the duckling. This once again paints the ideal image of a parent, depicting the way in which Adeline’s parents should love her. Instead, Adeline’s courage is a sharp contrast to Father’s distance and neglect, requiring no courage or commitment on his part.
Themes
To cheer up, Aunt Baba gets Adeline’s early report cards out of her safe and they look through them together. Aunt Baba tells Adeline that, with her intelligence, she can be anything she wants to be and Adeline is comforted to know that at least one person loves her and believes in her.
Aunt Baba’s answer to pain and fear foreshadows Adeline’s eventual escape from her abusive childhood through her skill as a writer and her excellent scholarship.
Themes
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During dinner that night, the family is having stewed duck, which Adeline and Third Brother now find revolting since they have pet ducklings. Both children smuggle their food off the table to avoid eating it. Niang makes a remark about Jackie’s obedience lessons, which are taught by a high-end German trainer. Father declares that he wants to “have some fun” with Jackie in the garden this evening, and orders Big Brother to go select one of the pet ducklings. The stepchildren are horrified, but Big Brother obeys and returns carrying PLT. Father brings the duckling to the garden and releases it, ordering Jackie to hold still and await his command. However, Jackie lunges and bites PLT in its jaws. Father beats Jackie for attacking too early, and Adeline takes the critically-wounded animal up to her room.
This is arguably the strongest demonstration of Father’s abject and wanton cruelty towards his own children, specifically towards Adeline. Considering PLT as a symbol of Adeline’s own emotional wellbeing, Father’s thoughtless killing of it for his own amusement is chilling. By letting Jackie kill PLT for sport, Father mercilessly crushes his own daughter’s heart underfoot in a horrific instance of emotional abuse. It is telling that when Jackie attacks too early, killing PLT, Father is simply infuriated that his dog has disobeyed him. This suggests that his desire to be respected, even by his pet, completely supersedes any sympathy he might possibly have felt for Adeline’s obvious pain, further characterizing him as a ruthless and heartless individual, on par with Niang.
Themes
Adeline wraps PLT in scarf and lays next to her for the entire night, hoping and wishing that, come morning, everything will be fine. When she wakes up, however, PLT is dead. Aunt Baba tells Adeline to bury PLT in the garden while Father is walking Jackie for the morning. On her way out, Adeline stumbles into Big Brother who gives a vague half-apology, saying that he picked PLT because Adeline wouldn’t enact retribution. Third Brother joins Adeline in the garden and together they bury PLT, leaving rice and worms as offerings and bowing to pay respect. As they stand there, mourning, Adeline remarks that she feels as if it is the two of them against the world, and that they must never give in.
Despite Third Brother’s capitulation to the cruelty of his brothers, this scene confirms that he is truly compassionate and loves Adeline despite his weakness. Big Brother’s admission that he chose PLT to die because Adeline would not take revenge displays a weakness similar to that of Third Brother. Big Brother, too, is simply trying to minimize his own suffering within the family, further reiterating the way in which a toxic family makes victims of everyone involved, even those who may seem most heartless and cruel.
Themes
