falling leaves
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An examination of the way Adeline Yen Mah's step mother, Jeanne abused her position of trust and made the authors childhood an unhappy experience, along with an analysis of the literary techniques used to highlight the theme.
In her moving autobiography, 'Falling Leaves', Adeline Yen Mah describes how her overbearing stepmother, Jeanne, bullies her and abuses her power over the author and her siblings. It details a painful childhood in China, utilising ancient Chinese proverbs and sayings. One critic has hailed it as:
" An illuminating account of the destructive nature of family relationships set against the backdrop of China in change."
The turbulent relationship between Adeline and her stepmother Jeanne is clearly displayed by the author's intriguing use of language. The contrast between Adeline and Jeanne is clearly evident in Jeanne 's tone and the way she speaks to her step-daughter. The language used by Jeanne to speak to the children was very different to the language she used to speak to her husband and Aunt Baba:
"Besides Mandarin, she spoke fluent French and English. Father was enchanted
by her beauty and style".
Ironically, inside she is superficial and nasty, not beautiful.
Furthermore, the author's use of ancient Chinese proverbs and sayings emphasises that the way China is at the time has such an impact on how Jeanne treats Adeline...