So to begin. My essential question is how does the cultures and traditions of China help shape itself to what it is today, in other words, how has the past affected the identity China possesses today? Right in the first chapter, these cultural beliefs are brought into the picture. Adeline (main character), or also referred to her family as Wu Mei (meaning 5th sister), is hated and mistreated by her family due to a superstition, that she was "bad luck", because her "Mama died giving birth" to her. According to what I know of my culture, indeed children who were born at the sacrifice of their mothers are supposedly cursed. Many of these innocent babies would be abandoned like as something despicable and left to die, especially in the case if the child was a girl, since the Chinese favored sons over daughters. When I shared my rage of this situation with with grandmother, she laughed and said that "this little girl was considered lucky in her case", that despite what her birth has brought upon, she was still kept in the family instead of being murdered by suffocation from her own family members. Of course when i heard this, I was even more horrified, because i remember being told during my birth, i almost encountered death, since an umbilical cord was giving my mom and I complications. Although I'm quite sure that by 1989, superstitions like that would have disappeared from the city (at least I hope), or maybe I'm just lucky. =) But yes, poor Adeline.