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POV and Reader's Interpretation Perspective

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POV and Reader's Interpretation Perspective

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The novel is told by Adeline through a primarily first person point of view. Characters are described from Adeline's eyes allowing the reader to get an understanding of how Adeline was treated growing up in her household. The reader understands interpretations of events how Adeline did when she was younger. The reader gets to feel the pain and hurt that Adeline went through. This emphasizes to the reader the impact that the many unfortunate events Adeline went through had on her, especially being a very young child when she faced the worst of it.

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A picture of Niang provided in the book.

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Jeanne Prosperi, known by Adeline and her siblings as "Niang", was their dictatorial step-mother. Niang was a French-Chinese woman and she is portrayed in the book as being very elegant and a beauty. Niang was socially engaged in her upper-class community and had an expensive taste with her indulging in luxurious pleasures often, while she treated all of her step-children in a very terrible manner. She was described and shown to be emotionally manipulative, even pitting the siblings against each other in their adult lives and maintaining discreet control over their father. She was often physically abusive towards the children in their youth as well, once even slapping Adeline so hard that she started bleeding from her mouth.

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A picture of Aunt Baba provided in the book.

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Aunt Baba was Adeline's aunt and her father's sister, both being children to Ye Ye (Adeline's grandfather). Aunt Baba was a Chinese woman who remained a spinster throughout her life. She was Adeline's main caregiver and source of support, providing her emotional and financial support throughout her childhood, sheltering her from Niang's harsh treatment. In the book on many instances, Aunt Baba was the only one who comforted Adeline along with Ye Ye, even sometimes at the cost of consequences for all of them. Aunt Baba is the one who sparked encouragement in Adeline to study hard, which is eventually Adeline's ticket out of her authoritarian household. She helps Adeline come to a sense of peace with her own identity and Baba's death at the end of the book is what sparks the title "Falling Leaves" from a Chinese proverb that Adeline remembered in Baba's last moments stating, "falling leaves return to their roots".

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Lydia, Adeline's eldest sister, had a crippled left arm and was never bright in her studies. Due to her disabilities when she was of age, Niang and their father decided to arrange an early marriage for her to Samuel Sung, a University of Tianjin and Purdue University graduate. Though Adeline described Lydia before her marriage as excited and happy, a recollection from Lydia in the future that is provided paints a different image. Lydia describes her admiration for those who got to study abroad and states how she was forced by their parents into this marriage which she was completely unhappy with. This event is significant because in the future, this marriage further fuels Lydia's resentment towards Adeline and comes into play towards the end of the book relating to Lydia's kids and the handling of Niang and their father's wills.

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A realistic image of a girl in traditional chinese wedding clothing with her face in her hands as if she was crying  while sitting

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Adeline, at the time having the job her father provided her with in Hong Kong, was unpleased with her circumstances. After discussion with her Chinese-American friend Martin, she is able to land a job in obstetrics at a Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia. Though she cannot afford a plane ticket and her request is shot down by her parents because to them she was being "ungrateful", she was able to get her travel expenses paid by the hospital through a special policy they had in place for overseas doctors who passed requirements. This was a pivotal moment in the story because it leads into many new story arcs for Adeline, including her marriages, new jobs, her kids, and more which were essential to her growth not just as a character, but as an individual as well, by the end of the book.

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A female doctor of chinese descent in a doctor's office in doctor's clothing

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After their father's passing, a meeting was held where all of his kids were gathered, along with Niang, where his will was read by a solicitor. Adeline flew from America to Hong Kong for this and even Lydia came, after being disconnected from the family for a long time. As the first page of the will was read, it was revealed that there was nothing left in the will for the kids. This reveal was significant in the book because it also revealed Niang's intentions once again. Niang had taken all of the assets from their father's bank account and manipulated the entire family once again.

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Perhaps the most obvious device used in the book, "Falling leaves return to their roots" is a Chinese proverb that is used at the end of the book once Aunt Baba had passed away. This was an impactful proverb since it is from what the title of the book is derived from. It was also significant due to it's placement in the book, it emphasizes how life always comes full circle, as it did for Adeline's aunt and her. Aunt Baba, who once used to take care of Adeline, was now being take care of by Adeline in her last moments, like she was a falling leaf who had finally returned to where it started.

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a leaf falling from a tree in an open grassland white clouds in the sky

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Key Events: Adeline Finds Lydia's Letters to Niang

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Key Events: Adeline Finds Lydia's Letters to Niang

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After Niang's passing due to her colon cancer, Adeline finds out that she had been cut from Niang's will while most of her other children, excluding Susan, had gotten a share. Adeline and Bob, following this, visited the residence where Niang stayed to gather up any final belongings. However, while rummaging through Niang's desk, Adeline stumbles upon a few letters from Lydia to Niang. As she reads these letters, she finds out Lydia had been writing letters badmouthing Adeline, spreading lies, and planting ideas in Niang's head that with her declining health Adeline threatened her power. This reveal really ties together the shared family trauma they had gone through and how Niang had a significant influence over who they were. Lydia to please Niang and remain powerful in that sense had once again torn up her relationship with her siblings, just like Niang had wanted since they were all young.

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a woman of chinese descent in a white tshirt and pants crying as she is reading a letter

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From page 212-213, Adeline talks about how her father's life had been. Her tone here implies a monotony in his life, using words like "vacant" and "feeble" to describe him. This use of tone helps the reader see how his condition was and it also is a good way to lead into his future diagnosis of Alzheimer's, tying his loss of liveliness and his struggles together, making the reader feel the pain Adeline did for her father.

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 chinese man looking sad with a vacant look in his eyes at airport

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Throughout the book there are many instances the author uses imagery to describe food. At the start of Chapter 7 especially, Adeline describes the food eaten by Aunt Baba and Ye Ye. She states, "...tender bamboo shoots and anise-flavored pork... glutinous rice balls with sesame paste, 'eight precious' pudding and crabapple mousse." (Yen Mah 75). This use of imagery here contrasts the normal food Ye Ye, Aunt Baba, and the kids usually got to eat. Food as described here is mostly ever described as being Niang or Adeline's father's, making the imagery used here a way to emphasize the significance that this kind of food had in their lives. It shows moments of enjoyment in between and contrast from the tumultuous background Niang had created for them at home.

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a platter of glutonous rice balls with sesame paste, tender bamboo shoots, anise-flavored pork, steamed crabs, yellow fish noodles, dumplings, and crabapple mousse

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Part of speech: Noun

Definition: to have strong hostility (towards someone or something)

Sample Sentence: There was animosity between the friends after the argument.

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two people turned towards each other with anger while yelling at each other as if they were arguing. fire coming out of their heads.

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Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: (generally of a muscle) involuntarily and awkward in movement

Example sentence: His spastic dance threw the judges off.

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a man spastically and awkwardly dancing on stage while judges look confused

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Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: arrogant

Sample Sentence: She was so conceited that she never listened to anyone else's ideas.

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a girl looking up with her eyes closed with her hands on her hips as if she was proud while gold flakes fall in the background.

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Adeline Yeh Mah was born November 30, 1937 in Tiajin, China. She was born into a wealthy, powerful family. Adeline faces constant emotional abuse and neglect in her childhood. She wrote the books Falling Leaves and Chinese Cinderella. Her main theme in both the books are about finding yourself and having resilience. She speaks fluent English and Chinese. By working her way up to be successful despite her family life dragging her down, she becomes an inspirational figure for young readers.

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The nonfiction book is about the author, Adeline Yen Mah. Due to the author being the main subject, the book becomes more relatable. The events are told from her own experiences, therefore allowing readers to see truth and deeper meaning.

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The main theme of this book is resilience and perseverance. Adeline deals with family rejection. She escapes from this by hard work and education. This creates a life of freedom and being strong. No matter how much mental abuse Adeline dealt with, she fought through this. Adeline kept moving forward and brick by brick created a life of success.

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The fall of the Qing Dynasty was in the timeframe of the book from 1911-1927. In the book, Adeline's grandfather became wealthy due to business. This was a time of political instability and her grandfather made his money through banking. Another timeframe relevant to the book is the Chinese Civil War from 1945-1949. Adeline’s family was rich although most families struggled. Her family relocated to Hong Kong which was a safer place to be because it was a British colony.

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The fall of the Qing Dynasty happened throughout China. Beijing was the capital of the Qing Dynasty where the ruler gave up the throne. Wuchang was the ignition of the revolution. Nanjing was significant as Sun Yat-sen became the temporary president of the new Republic of China. The Chinese Civil War took place in China as a whole. Northern China was controlled by the Communists. Important battles took place in Central China (Henan, Hubei, and Anhui). Nationalists had provinces in Southern China.

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The fall of the Qing dynasty lead to weak and corrupt government. There was national resentment at this time because of getting defeated in several wars. Then, China's economy began to fail. The collapse of imperial rule lead to the Chinese Civil War. Nationalists wanted to unify China while Communists wanted to focus in land reform. This caused economic chaos and social unrest.

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In traditional Chinese culture, it is a norm to favor male children and have daughters seen as less valuable. This is relevant as Adeline is the unwanted daughter. She is constantly reminded that she is "less than" her brothers. The cruel stepmother is a common trope in Chinese folklore. Adeline’s stepmother neglects her and emotionally drags her down.

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chinese women yelling as chinese little girl

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Life in the part of Hong Kong that British controls introduces western values. This includes gender equality and independance. Adeline begins to question if her family's treatment is right. This also plays a role in her persuing her own path. She has a identity crises due the clash of eastern and western cultural divide.

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chinese girl with question marks around her 

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During Adeline's time at Sacred Heart as a boarder, she noticed that having breakfast eggs was a special privilege and that the egg "divided [them] into two distinct and transparent groups: the loved ones and the unloved ones. Needless to say, [she] remained eggless..." (Yen Mah 102). The egg acts as a metaphor for love from one's family at Sacred Heart because of it being needed to be be specially brought by a family member. Adeline not having an egg also represents the feeble bond between her and her family, how they did not even show up for a small task such as this which would've made her happy at a young age.

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Chinese girl looking happy while holding an egg

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Main Pivotal Moment: Adeline is Allowed to Study in England

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Main Pivotal Moment: Adeline is Allowed to Study in England

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Adeline had previously entered a play writing competition which involved people from all over the English-speaking world. One day, Adeline's father saw Adeline's name at the front of a newspaper heading naming her winner. Overjoyed by this, he sent for Adeline to be brough home to his room so the two could discuss her future further. Adeline, also in awe, begged her father to allow her to travel to England to study Literature. He accepted, but insisted that she studied medicine, which she still accepted. This moment in the book changed Adeline's life course, allowing so many path to be opened for her than she would've had under Niang and her father's direct control. This moment is so significant especially because it allows so many other pivotal moments, such as Adeline's immigration to America, to happen.

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Chinese father and daughter looking happy holding the newspaper