Chinese Cinderella (55-116)

Summary: Currently in the book, Wu Mei see’s many changes that are taking place in her life at the moment. She had made a new friend named Wu Chun-mei and has since became good friends with her. Since Wu Mei is not allowed to get rides to school or get money to take the public transportation, she has to walk to and from school every day. When Wu Chun-mei sees this she offers to give her a ride but Wu Mei quickly denies because she knows the punishment that she would face in the future if she were to do that. Since Wu Chun-mei’s parents are educated, she is fluent in English and reads a lot of books that her parents buy her. One of the books allowed Wu Mei to borrow was called A Little Princess. This book became a large impact of Wu Mei because it essentially described her story and the things she faced. The book gave her hope for a better future because it talks about how the young girl in the story changed her life around through her own will power. Wu Mei took this to heart and wished that one day that would be her.

While Wu Mei’s father, Niang and some of her brothers and sisters left for Tianjin, the house seemed to have changed into a whole other environment. Everyone was happy and had a lot of fun. No one had to worry about being their best or having to fear something wrong was going to happen.

When everyone returned the whole house went back to normal. One of Niangs friends came to visit and brought along some gifts. When the children opened the boxes they realized that they were ducks. Each of the children were allowed to pick a duck and of course Wu Mei had to get the smallest one. She named it PLT which stands for Precious Little Treasure. PLT became Wu Mei’s best friend. She confided in it and told it everything since she felt that it was the only thing that she had that would actually listen to her. One of the most tragic things that happens in the story is when Wu Mei’s father is testing his dog Jackie’s obedience and uses PLT as the victim. Wu Mei had to watch as her precious little duckling was grabbed by Jackie who tore one of the duck’s legs out. It showed how no one in her family had respect for her, not even her own father. The only real person that cared for her was her Aunt Baba.

Quote : “Unwanted and unloved by my own parents! How long did it take for a person to die of shame?”(Mah 116).

Reflection: When Wu Mei won the elections for class president, all of the children in her class were proud and happy for her. Since she wasn’t allowed to go to people’s her friends thought that it might have been a good idea to just show up and Wu Mei’s house which was exactly what they did. When they showed up and Niang found out she called Wu Mei into her room and started to slap her numerously until she had blood coming down from her nose. Wu Mei was humiliated in front of her friends, especially because they all thought that she came from a loving family which is obviously the opposite from the truth. This quote shows the feelings that Wu Mei felt while this was happening to her and demonstrates the problems that she has to face on a daily basis.