Blog #5

 

For children, books and movies can play a very important role in that they help children understand complex subjects and solutions to problems.  Just by watching a film or reading a book that breaks down complex problems helps children to arrive at accurate solutions that they on their own might not have naturally thought of.  Adeline is a good example of this in that books not only help her escape from reality, but also help her to cope and even understand her difficult situation better.  For example when Adeline’s friend loans her the book A Little Princess, Adaline reads how the character Sarah is treated unfairly and is able to make a parallel between herself and Sarah.  Adaline realizes after reading the book that perhaps she is not always to blame for her misfortune, but instead Adaline says, “for the first time, I realized that adults could be wrong in their judgment of a child. If I tried hard enough to become a princess inside, like Sara Crewe, perhaps I too might one day reverse everyone’s poor opinion of me.”  In this case, a simple book helped Adaline to comprehend the complex topic of abuse towards children, and helped her realize that it is not the fault of the child, but that adults can be wrong in their judgments.  Books also helped Adaline to unlock the quality of resilience within herself.  Adaline reasoned that if she continued to try hard to be a good person she might be able to reverse others’ poor opinions of her.  This in fact was a losing battle with her family, but the lesson stood strong when applied to others.  Again, books provided Adaline with life lessons, understandings of complex topics, and an escape from reality when life became too terrible. 

In a lot of ways Niang fits the profile for narcissistic personality disorder.  In Chapter five of Help Your Child to Thrive narcissistic personality disorder is described as wanting positive reinforcement and attention from others, but lacking empathy.  Throughout the book of Chinese Cinderella, Niang is always dressed in superlative clothes, always seeking the approval of those around her, and wanting to be in control of everyone, but at the same time lacking empathy for anyone besides herself.  Niang’s personal childhood is not discussed in the book, but one of the reasons for developing a narcissistic personality, according to Help Your Child Thrive, could be lack of attention or neglect during childhood.  Children who are neglected tend to use the feelings of grandiose and inflated views of themselves as a way to cope with the pain of feeling worthless.  This line of evidence in no way excuses Niang’s narcissistic personality towards others, but could provide some insight into why she behaves in such a way.