Themes and significance

THEMES AND SIGIFICANCE IN "TIES THAT BIND, TIES THAT BREAK"

THEMES.

1.       Social roles/traditions: We can perceive the different roles that men and women play in the society within the novel. Women are in charge of all the chores related to the house, they are born to get marry and take care of their husbands and children. They can’t do the same things men do, for instance eating with men (who are not relatives) at the table. On the opposite, men are in charge of studying and going to work. For example, there is a passage in the earlier chapters where Mrs. Liu’s son tells Ailin that women are not allowed to go to schools, but men are.   

2.       Political issues: This theme is seen when Big Uncle and Ailin’s father discuss whether it is better an Empire or a Republic. They treat some subjects like economic benefits or loss regarding to both possible politic systems the country could adapt.  

3.       Marriage: The book shows us how important marriage was at that time. Getting married meant prosperity for the family, and honor for the families where wife and husband come from. It is also related to the social role women played within the society because they needed to spend their lives at the service of their husbands. This theme is also very attached to the main issue women needed to face; they must have bound feet in order to set up a marriage since very early.

4.       Xenophobia: This theme is seen through Big Uncle’s thoughts regarding foreigners. His hatred comes from The Opium War that made China surrender Hong Kong to British. He accuses them of the economic issues The Empire may have, and reject foreign cultures. 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BOOK IN THE LITERARY WORLD.

Ties that bind, ties that break has received some awards that make this novel one of the most famous among the literary works by Lensey Namioka. This book was named one of the American Library Association’s 10 Best Books for Young People, and won the California Young Reader Medal Award and the Washington State Governor’s writers Award.

Besides, this book is very important in its content because shows the ancient Chinese perspective on how society should be, and make a critique to that perspective through Ailin character and her deviant nature to the predetermined status-quo.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE.

            Ties that Bind, Ties that Break refers to the process women needed to pass through since little girls because the society demanded them to bind their feet in order to be more ladylike and therefore to successfully set up a marriage with a boy. It doesn’t only refer to the literal process of binding their feet, but I also consider it as a metaphoric title that reflects the fixed unions whose main condition was women’s bound feet and the breakup among Ailin and Mrs. Liu’s son due to Ailin’s behaviors that didn’t match with the common principles in that society.