Cinder

by

Marissa Meyer

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Cinder makes teaching easy.
Adri is Cinder’s stepmother, Garan’s widow, and Pearl and Peony’s mother. Adri is exceptionally cruel and abusive toward Cinder, particularly because Cinder is a cyborg (human/robot hybrid) and Adri therefore views her as subhuman. Because Adri is Cinder’s legal guardian, she forces Cinder to work and then takes all the money Cinder earns. She makes it clear that she never wanted Cinder, and she blames Cinder for causing Garan’s death because she believes that Garan caught letumosis when he traveled to Europe to adopt her. Adri also blames Cinder when Peony catches letumosis, and as a result, she volunteers Cinder for cyborg letumosis research. She does this—even though she knows that no one survives the letumosis testing—because she receives a stipend for Cinder’s sacrifice. At the end of the book, Adri takes away Cinder’s new prosthetic foot after discovering that Cinder spent a lot of money on it; she also sells many of Cinder’s possessions, including Iko, to pay for Peony’s funeral. In this way, the book shows that Adri’s cruelty stems from her power as the head of the family. Rather than caring for Cinder, her greed causes her to care only for herself, destroying any chance of a happy family unit and almost killing Cinder in the process.

Adri Quotes in Cinder

The Cinder quotes below are all either spoken by Adri or refer to Adri. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Bravery and Sacrifice Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

Irritation hardened in Cinder’s gut. She might have pointed out that Pearl and Peony could have been given ready-made rather than custom dresses in order to budget for Cinder’s as well. She might have pointed out that they would only wear their dresses one time too. She might have pointed out that, as she was the one doing the work, the money should have been hers to spend as she saw fit. But all arguments would come to nothing. Legally, Cinder belonged to Adri as much as the household android and so too did her money, her few possessions, even the new foot she’d just attached. Adri loved to remind her of that.

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene, Adri, Peony, Iko, Pearl
Related Symbols: Cinder’s Mechanical Foot
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

“I’m not sure I would label it a ‘survivor,’” said Iko, her sensor darkening with disgust. “It looks more like a rotting pumpkin.”

Cinder shut the hood with a bang, sending an impressive dust cloud over the android. “What was that about having a fantastic imagination? With some attention and a good cleaning, it could be restored to its former glory.”

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene (speaker), Iko (speaker), Adri, Peony
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

And maybe she’d been right to do it. Maybe it was Cinder’s duty as a cyborg to sacrifice herself so all the normal humans could be cured. Maybe it did make sense to use the ones who had already been tampered with. But Cinder knew she would never forgive Adri for it. The woman was supposed to be the one to protect her, to help her. If Adri and Pearl were her only family left, she would be better off alone.

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene (speaker), Adri, Peony
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32 Quotes

Levana knew he had been searching for Princess Selene. She would kill him. She would take over the Commonwealth. She would wage war on…on the whole planet.

She grasped her head as the world spun around her.

She had to warn him. She couldn’t let him make the announcement.

She could send him a comm, but what were the chances he was checking them during the ball?

The ball.

Cinder peered down at her drab clothes. Her empty ankle. Peony’s dress. The old foot that Iko had saved. The silk gloves. Her head bobbed before she knew what she was agreeing to, and she used the shelves to pull herself to standing. “I’ll go,” she muttered, “I’ll find him.”

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene (speaker), Prince Kai, Queen Levana, Adri, Peony, Iko
Related Symbols: Cinder’s Mechanical Foot
Page Number: 323
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 36 Quotes

On the fifth step, she heard the bolts snap. The wires tore loose, like tendons stretched to the max. She felt the loss of power at the base of her calf, sending a blinding warning signal up to her brain.

She fell, screaming, and tried to block her fall with her left hand. A shock of pain jolted up her shoulder and into her spine. Metal clattered against stone as she crashed down to the gravel pathway. […]

His eyes drunk her in—a gleam of metal fingers, the wires sparking at the end of her battered metal leg. His jaw fell, and he looked momentarily as if he might be sick.

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene, Prince Kai, Queen Levana, Adri
Related Symbols: Cinder’s Mechanical Foot
Page Number: 365-366
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Cinder LitChart as a printable PDF.
Cinder PDF

Adri Quotes in Cinder

The Cinder quotes below are all either spoken by Adri or refer to Adri. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Bravery and Sacrifice Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

Irritation hardened in Cinder’s gut. She might have pointed out that Pearl and Peony could have been given ready-made rather than custom dresses in order to budget for Cinder’s as well. She might have pointed out that they would only wear their dresses one time too. She might have pointed out that, as she was the one doing the work, the money should have been hers to spend as she saw fit. But all arguments would come to nothing. Legally, Cinder belonged to Adri as much as the household android and so too did her money, her few possessions, even the new foot she’d just attached. Adri loved to remind her of that.

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene, Adri, Peony, Iko, Pearl
Related Symbols: Cinder’s Mechanical Foot
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

“I’m not sure I would label it a ‘survivor,’” said Iko, her sensor darkening with disgust. “It looks more like a rotting pumpkin.”

Cinder shut the hood with a bang, sending an impressive dust cloud over the android. “What was that about having a fantastic imagination? With some attention and a good cleaning, it could be restored to its former glory.”

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene (speaker), Iko (speaker), Adri, Peony
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

And maybe she’d been right to do it. Maybe it was Cinder’s duty as a cyborg to sacrifice herself so all the normal humans could be cured. Maybe it did make sense to use the ones who had already been tampered with. But Cinder knew she would never forgive Adri for it. The woman was supposed to be the one to protect her, to help her. If Adri and Pearl were her only family left, she would be better off alone.

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene (speaker), Adri, Peony
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32 Quotes

Levana knew he had been searching for Princess Selene. She would kill him. She would take over the Commonwealth. She would wage war on…on the whole planet.

She grasped her head as the world spun around her.

She had to warn him. She couldn’t let him make the announcement.

She could send him a comm, but what were the chances he was checking them during the ball?

The ball.

Cinder peered down at her drab clothes. Her empty ankle. Peony’s dress. The old foot that Iko had saved. The silk gloves. Her head bobbed before she knew what she was agreeing to, and she used the shelves to pull herself to standing. “I’ll go,” she muttered, “I’ll find him.”

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene (speaker), Prince Kai, Queen Levana, Adri, Peony, Iko
Related Symbols: Cinder’s Mechanical Foot
Page Number: 323
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 36 Quotes

On the fifth step, she heard the bolts snap. The wires tore loose, like tendons stretched to the max. She felt the loss of power at the base of her calf, sending a blinding warning signal up to her brain.

She fell, screaming, and tried to block her fall with her left hand. A shock of pain jolted up her shoulder and into her spine. Metal clattered against stone as she crashed down to the gravel pathway. […]

His eyes drunk her in—a gleam of metal fingers, the wires sparking at the end of her battered metal leg. His jaw fell, and he looked momentarily as if he might be sick.

Related Characters: Cinder/Princess Selene, Prince Kai, Queen Levana, Adri
Related Symbols: Cinder’s Mechanical Foot
Page Number: 365-366
Explanation and Analysis: