Chinese Cinderella

The fates of both PLT and Big Sister serve as alternate futures for Adeline—premonitions of what could happen if she does not escape her family. At times, death and early marriage both seem like likely futures for Adeline (the latter more so than the former, but not always by much). Watching these grim realities play out for her beloved duckling and then her older sister at times reads like a nightmare for Adeline. She begins to ask scary questions: “Is this going to happen to me too? I’ll simply have to run away from home if Niang ever threatens to force me into an arranged marriage. But where can I go?” (86). In the text, Adeline is haunted by the future, rather than the past; the spirit of her mother, as she relates in her story for school, is a comforting presence. This builds narrative tension surrounding the question of Adeline’s fate.

Big Sister’s wedding highlights The Impact of External Culture Wars on Internal Conflict in China, illustrated through the ostracization of Adeline’s brothers by other party guests. As Adeline recalls,

They were wearing identical dark blue traditional long Chinese robes with collars and cloth buttons. As soon as they stepped into the foyer, I saw some boys their age pointing at them and snickering behind their backs (87).

The atmospheric hostility toward all things traditionally Chinese at the party is indicative of the Eurocentrism that Niang upholds and the changing tides of Chinese culture. There is clear subtext that Niang’s decision to clothe the older children in traditional garments is a deliberate act of cruelty, more subtle than her acts of violence and even more humiliating in a public setting. Just as Adeline has different versions of herself at home and at school, Niang’s personality is dichotomous: Whereas her abuse is blatant behind closed doors, it becomes stealthy and insidious in the open.

Politics takes center stage once again in this section. As the end of World War II arrives, so do American soldiers. Adeline perceives this as a positive shift from Japanese occupation; in contrast with the Japanese soldiers who threatened civilians with violence, the American troops are friendly. During her encounter with the soldiers asking for directions, their affable manner of speech—“Gee, thanks!”—stands out as a fleeting moment of kindness on the streets of an otherwise unforgiving city. This friendliness, however, is not cultural neutrality; Adeline remembers the Americanization of popular culture as a “tidal wave,” indicating her sense of powerlessness in the face of danger. The American military presence operates through neocolonialist means, exercising soft power by importing enticing cultures such as old Hollywood glamor.

Nowhere is this changing cultural landscape more evident than at school. Adeline’s new friend, Wu Chun-mei, represents a type of person that she has never encountered before—somebody with a dual Chinese American identity. Wu Chun-mei is herself a deliverer of the American cultural exports overtaking the city. When she lets Adeline borrow her book, The Little Princess (by British American novelist Frances Hodgson Burnett), she opens up Adeline’s eyes to the world of foreign literature. This is the first of several references to Western literature throughout the book since escaping through stories becomes one of Adeline’s favored methods for using Fantasy as a Tool for Survival. Once again, the broad strokes of history have a direct and lasting impact on Adeline, whose love of literature is boosted by the American post-war presence in Shanghai.