Personal Reflection
The book "Chinese Cinderella" or "Falling Leaves" is about a Chinese girl who is unwanted by her family. This book is a very traumatic, but inspirational. " Falling Leaves" makes you realize all the things we take for granted, things like, feeling loved, having a place to call come, and having parents that make you feel wanted. What makes this book traumatic is the death of both Franklin and her beloved PLT. Franklin who died from Bulbar Polio and Precious Little Treasure (PLT) who was eaten by the family dog, Jackie.
The novel has changed my perspective in the way I see people, you shouldn't judge people. You may only see one side of someone, you don't know their story or what they've been, though. Just like Adeline, people judged her too quickly, all they saw was a Chinese girl who is trying become a doctor. People ridiculed her and laughed because she couldn't speak English. When you judge someone, you miss out on their real personality and a chance to know a good person. If you judge them too quickly then you will never know what they've been through or what their past was like.
The Character is this novel is Adeline Yen Mah, I can relate to Adeline because we both aspire to be the best we can. Adeline has worked all her life to get to where she is and get into a good college. Adeline also went to medical school to become a doctor, I also want to go to medical school to become a nurse. Adeline and I both have a dream to be successful.
Some of the things I learned about myself are that I take things in my life for granted, for instance having a loving environment, not everyone has a place to come home to. I also take for granted having loving parents, who care for me and make sure I'm okay. Another thing I take for granted the objects I receive like, Christmas presents, new clothes, and spending money.
Reading this book, I learned many new things about the Chinese culture. Some of the things I learned were: gender roles, they are completely different from ones in the United States. For instance, men were mainly the only ones to work, you rarely ever heard of women working. Another thing I learned about their culture is it was common to marry young, Adelines stepmother married her father at the age of 17, and Lydia was almost 16 when she was wed off.
In conclusion, the novel "Falling Leaves" was an emotional roller coaster, we saw Adeline lose the things she loved most, saw her parents constantly ridicule her, and go through tough relationships. Reading this book has made me realize things about myself I never knew. I also learned a lot about Chinese culture and their way of life. Although this book was very inspirational, I did not like it because it was so sad.