Themes
One of the themes dealt with in the
book is the difference between the treatments
given to boys and girls in China. We see this, for example, when Mrs. Liu says
to Ailin’s grandmother: “Once the girl’s feet are bound, Auntie Tao, she will
stop running around. She will have time for ladylike pursuits such as
embroidering.” (p. 12). This shows to us that for some characters there are
certain behaviors that are not considered appropriate for girls. Another
example is when Hanwei tells Ailin that he is going to a public school but that
she cannot go there because she is a girl. We can see through Ailin’s reaction
that there is an opinion against this kind of prohibition for girls: “I don’t
see why a girl can’t go to an outside school!” (p. 15)
Political changes are also dealt with in the book. The author gives us some information
about the transition from empire to republic that China had to go through. Big Uncle
considers that China does not need a republic but a new dynasty. Ailin’s
father, on the other hand, thinks that their country could benefit from that
change.
Another theme present in the book is
xenophobia. Big Uncle is totally
against the presence of foreigners in China: “Japan, Germany, and Russia are
already establishing their spheres in the north” (p. 44). Also, when Ailin goes
to her sister’s house to find her mother, the gatekeeper confuses her with a
foreigner because of her clothes and tells her before banging the gate in her
face: “We don’t have anything to do with foreigners here!” Thanks to the
descriptions given in the book we can see that China used to be isolated from
the rest of the world before the republic.
The themes of tradition and customs are also developed in the book. Ailin asks
herself why women had to bind their feet in order to get married. She questions
if this is necessary because of tradition. A good part of the story revolves
around Ailin having to deal with the consequences of not having bound feet.
Some of the consequences are dishonoring her and her family and her broken
engagement with Hanwei.
Courage is a
theme that has also a lot of presence in the book. Ailin demonstrates that she
is strong enough to defy the tradition of foot binding. She gathered the courage
necessary to stand for what she believed was right even if it meant losing her
family.
Another theme found in the book is friendship. In the MacIntosh School,
Ailin met Xueyan, a girl her age who did not have bound feet either. They
became really closed friends and spent a lot of time together at school,
playing and exchanging their opinions about marriage and foot binding.
Significance
Significance of the book in the literary world
Ties
that bind, ties that break won different awards such as the ALA Best Books for Young Adults, the California Young Reader Medal and the Texas
TAYSHAS High School Reading List in 2000, 2004 and 2001 respectively
speaking. It was also a nominee in 2002 for the Illinois Rebecca Caudill
Young Readers Award.
It is considered to be a well written book that falls under the
category of Teen & Young Adult Historical Fiction. This book offers insights about
the ancient Chinese practice of foot binding. It also deals smoothly with the
transition made by China from being an empire to becoming a republic while at
the same time it tells a story.
Some praises:
- "Atmospheric and closely informed... this colorful novel has the force and intesity of a memoir" -- "Publishers Weekly", Starred
- "Emotionally and historically illuminating" -- "Booklist", Starred
Significance of the title
The painful process of foot binding starts when the girl is between four
and six years old because at that age her feet have not developed the arch. First,
the girls’ feet are softened in warm water or animal blood. Then she gets her
toenails clipped so that they do not cause injuries to the foot when it is
bent. The next step is to break the toes so that they are closer to the heel. The
mother, who is usually in charge of doing the process, would put bandages ten
feet long and two inches wide around the girl’s feet individually. This process
is repeated until the toes are bent to the point they almost touch the heel. The bandages put around the girls’
feet bend them together so that they are smaller, but in order to do this, the
bandages also have to break the bones of the feet, hence the name of the book. This is explicitly said in
the book: “The only way the toes could
have been folded over was for the bones to have been broken”. (p. 28)
Sources:
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