Adeline Yen Mah

Born in the small town of Tianjin, Republic of China and being the youngest in her family things would not always be easy. Adeline's mother had died two weeks after giving birth to her, since the passing of her mother she was always considered “bad luck”. Being “bad luck” had caused her to be treated brutally, emotional scarred, and constantly being left out of the family by her new Eurasian stepmother. Adeline was loved and cared by her 3 relatives, these 3 relatives meant the world to her and they were her Grandfather Ye Ye, her Nai Nai which means Grandmother in Chinese, and Aunt Baba.

I feel like Adeline is a dynamic person because on the outside she plays tough like nothing ever affects her, especially when her stepmother and father slap and ridicule her, she knows if that she cry in front of them it will bring more punishment onto her. She’s very much a protagonist in this book because as you read you feel for her for you know she has done nothing wrong.

Adelines problem throughout the book is she's constantly undergoing emotional and physical abuse by her cruel and manipulative parents. Her stepmother is the chief of the house, running everything making sure Adeline felt unloved. When Niang had her own two children they loved them the most, making sure they had everything they ever wanted, and leaving all the other children out. Adeline was cared most by Ye Ye and Aunt Baba, they did everything for her and made her feel like she mattered, as she gets deeper into her childhood and teen year she is sent away and not allowed to see Ye Ye or Aunt Baba.

Some of the characteristics Adeline and I share are we are both hard working and never cease to amaze you, just when we think we're about to fall, and can't take the weight of the world we show you that nothing can bring us down. Adeline has the special quality that when someone beats her down and makes her feel useless, she shows them they don't matter that she can do anything if she puts her mind to it. The person in today’s society that I feel fits Adeline’s characteristic is Emma Watson. Although Emma was not abused as a child she still aspired to be the best in whatever she did even if it was acting as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter or being the smartest like Adeline was, they both put their mind to it. Just like Adeline, Emma showed that no matter what people said about her she wouldn't let it affect her and the way she lived. They both worked extremely hard to get to where they are and people the people they are now.