Genre
Autobiography
Setting and Context
Set in 1997 and written in the context of family issues.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Lacerating, sad, cynical, demoralizing
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Adeline Yen Mah.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is that Adeline's father dies, and she is left under the care of her abusive stepmother, who disinherits her from her father's will.
Climax
The climax comes when at last; Adeline succeeds in her career after finishing her medical school. Similarly, Adeline tries her level best to track her roots in china despite the threat of the communists to its people.
Foreshadowing
The suffering Adeline goes through in her early life is foreshadowed by the abrupt death of her biological mother. The father remarried, and the woman mistreated Adeline throughout her childhood.
Understatement
Niang's jealousy is understated. Despite mistreating her stepdaughter Adeline, she does not spare her biological daughter. When her husband dies, she wants to keep everything for herself.
Allusions
The story alludes to the challenges children go through at the hands of their stepmothers.
Imagery
The imagery of brutality is evident throughout the text. Niang is a brutal stepmother who mistreats Adeline at all times. Ironically, Niang does not spare her biological daughter either.
Paradox
Niang is a paradoxical character because despite abusing Adeline, she also mishandles her biological daughter called Susan.
Parallelism
The stepmother's approach to parenting parallels the actual expectations of her society.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
