38 Aunt Baba is determined that Adeline should eventually gain a college
degree so that she can have her independence and achievement. Because of that Adeline studies hard to please Aunt Baba.
Aunt Baba also always gives support to Adeline. She always makes Adeline believe that Adeline is smart. She is inordinately proud of Adeline‟s
success at school. Aunt Baba files Adeline‟s report and makes it as priceless jewels. When Adeline feels bad or things bad happen to her, Aunt Baba always
consoles her by seeing her reports and says that she is so brilliant by having great As in almost everything. She also gives her support that she will succeed and can
go to university: She made me believe I was brilliant. Her pride in my small achievements
was truly inspirational. She filed each report diligently in a safe deposit box and wore the key around her neck, as if my grades were so many
priceless jewels impossible to replace. When things were bad, she consoled us by taking them out and l
ooking at them. „See this one? First grade and all of six years old and getting As in everything already. My
My‟ Then „I‟m certain nobody going to university could have a more perfect record.‟ Or „We‟ll be the most successful banker yet, just you‟re
your Grand Aunt, and we‟ll work together in our own bank.‟p. 62.
T hose Aunt Baba‟s supports give Adeline strong motivation to study hard
and get her best efforts. Aunt Baba also always gives her some advice when Adeline feels down or bad. She often imagines that her mother will take her to a
new place. She always warns Adeline to focus on her education. “Concentrate on the things you‟re really good at. Get yourself the best education you can“ p. 74.
4.2.2.4 Ye Ye
Ye Ye also always supports Adeline. When she was a child, she often became her Niang and Father‟s authority. Father wants to send her to a boarding
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39 school. On the other hand, Ye Ye disagrees with it so that he tries to argue with
Father. “…Ye Ye was startled. „What has she done to deserve this?‟ he asked. „She is only a little girl in primary school. What are you punishing her for?‟…”
p. 85. Father thinks that both of Ye Ye and Aunt Baba are too protective so that Adeline needs to know that she is nothing without her Father and Niang.
Ye Ye also cares about Adeline. When Adeline got pneumonia and was admitted to hospital, Ye Ye who was sick at that time, asked James to pick him up
to see and visit Adeline at the hospital. He insisted when Niang did not allow him to visit me:
James, who had recently come out of Shanghai, recalled how Ye Ye became extremely concerned when he heard the news and decided to visit
me. Niang was using the car for her weekly bridge game. She told him not to go because it was inconvenient and futile since I was already being
treated by the „best doctors that money could buy‟. But this time Ye Ye insisted. He asked James to accompany him because he was unfamiliar
with the roads, the buses and the ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong pp. 108-109.
When visiting Adeline, Ye Ye advices her to concentrate on her education. He asks Adeline to study hard and reach her future. Ye Ye also asks Adeline not
to end her life up married off like her oldest sister, Lydia. Ye Ye also advices her to have her own life outside the home no matter what others have taken from
Adeline: He could sense my sorrow and rage. „You have your whole life ahead of you.
Be smart. Study hard and be independent. I‟m afraid the chances of your getting a do
wry are slim.‟ I nodded. „Don‟t end up married off like Lydia. You must rely on yourself. No matter what else people may steal from you,
they will never be able to take away your knowledge. The world is changing. You must make your own life outside this ho
me.‟ p. 110.
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40
4.3 Family’s Acceptance and Love
Those are Adeline‟s extrinsic motivations that influence her to be accepted
and loved by her family. Having these motivation makes Adeline realize that some of her family support what everything she does. They always support and
advices her that Father and Niang will accept and love her if she is solemn and follow their rules and wants.
Adeline‟s motivation has changed her family‟s attitude to her, finally. Adeline‟s ambition in having best effort in education has made her Father please
to her. Inside him, he is proud of Adeline‟s achievement. It is said when Bob, Adeline‟s husband, ask her Father what she was like:
„She was a bookworm who excelled in her studies,‟ Father answered with a smile. „I got so used to her being top of the class that when she came in
second, I would reproach her.‟ His chest swelled with pride as my eyes filled with tears. „I remember once she even won a writing competition
open to all the English-speaking sc hools in the world ….‟ p. 215.
It shows that Father cares about Adeline. Father has been proud of Adeline‟s achievement in her education.
Niang‟s attitudes to Adeline also change. When Father is sick and needs to have a medical check in America, Adeline helps them. Niang asks Adeline to help
them to buy a house near Adeline‟s home so that they can come and spend their summers:
My personal relationship with Niang improved dramatically after this visit. She even asked me to help them buy a house close to our home where they
could come and spend their summers instead of Monte Carlo. The fact that we had shouldered all Father‟s medical bills, amounting to around 50,000
US dollars, may have touched her p. 217.
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