Ties that bind, ties that break
Themes
- Traditions: there are a lot of traditions mentioned along the story, as arranged marriages or "being all fixed up" (pg.9), "embroidering" that means women just sitting for hours while poking a needle through a piece of cloth (pg.12), education allowed only for men, family school for women, impediment to women for dinner with men in the same table, traditional thinking imposition when Ailin's father said that he considered not all new ideas were strange (pg.23) and the most important: bound feet only imposed for women.
- Gender role: Chinese history has had a big difference related to the gender role. Women have always been considered lower than men. Men have always had education, family and economic privileges. Also, women are the only ones who have to change their behavior and even support some painful physical changes in order to find a wealthy family or more specifically a wealthy husband.
- Determination: Ailin's determination for become an educated woman and not a follower of her country traditions is the real meaning of the story. Since she was a child she was thinking about the injustices for women and the real reasons for it and thanks to her determination she could become a talented and recognized Chinese woman.
- Family and Social class: being a wealthy or model family in the Chinese society is the most significant there because each family history has been kept through the years. For this reason, they continue their traditions to preserve a status or a "perfect" family.
It has had some awards as:
ALA Best Books for Young AdultsWINNER 2000
California Young Reader MedalWINNER 2004
Texas TAYSHAS High School Reading ListWINNER 2001
Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers AwardNOMINEE 2002
The significance of the title
The title refers to the process that women have to do for being considered a respectful woman, which is bind their feet. However, the word "break" means that this ties can be overcame.
Source
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