How is the narrator of Chinese Cinderella's school life different from her home life?

At home, Aunt Baba views Adeline as a treasure “impossible to replace” (4). In the final paragraph of Chapter 1, however, this illusion is shattered. Big Sister’s treatment of Adeline is representative of the rest of the family’s opinion; Adeline is the sole cause of her mother’s death and is “bad luck.” By speaking so candidly and straightforwardly, Big Sister shows how little regard the family has towards Adeline’s feelings and delicate kindergartener psyche. When compared to Aunt Baba’s delicate handling of Adeline’s questions, one can see the huge divide between Aunt Baba and the rest of the family.

The revelation that Niang is a mere seventeen years old, only eleven years Big Sister’s senior, explains much of her vindictive, self-centered and often outright vicious behavior. The background into Adeline’s childhood life continues to paint a picture of unwanted-ness within her own family and the general disdain of the native Chinese population in this section of China.

The importance of education and the character development, independent of the expectations of others, is evident throughout Chinese Cinderella. Adeline manages to work her way out of her dire beginnings through her academic performance and the personality that develops from those endeavors, growing into an outstanding writer thanks to her love of Shakespeare and her passion for storytelling. Her freedom via England came through this talent and her victory in an international playwriting competition. Indeed, a recurring theme in the novel is Adeline's adamant belief that she does not want to end up like her sister, in an arranged marriage with a man twice her age. Adeline's drive to be her own person is crucial to her ultimate success, supplemented by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge