TIES THAT BIND, TIES THAT BREAK
- THEMES:
1 One of the themes in this book is Gender Role in China. Throughout the pages it is possible to see the differences
between men and women roles in society. For instance, women are just a sort of
ornament, they are supposed to be pretty, well-behaved, elegant, between many
other "virtues", and, above all these, good family women must have
bound feet. On the contrary, men are more free, they can go to school and
receive education, women cannot do this. Additionally, men do not have to bind
their feet, they are the ones who give the orders and who decide women's future.
2. Another
theme of the book is Tradition and Customs. Bound feet is the tradition that stands the
most, and it is the starting point of the story. If a woman gets her feet
bound, she becomes a worthy woman, someone who can get married to a good family
man, to have children, she is someone in
the Chinese society. We can see that the protagonist refuses to get her feet bound
and, because of this decision, she has to face many difficulties and she must
find a new life for her own. She becomes an “exiled”, an unworthy woman, a
stranger to her own family, and she cannot marry a good family man. According to the book, people in China are
very rooted in their customs and their culture. It can be seen in the way they
reject foreigners culture, clothing, food, education, etc. This is also linked
to Xenophobia, another important theme in the book.
3. Politics
seen
through the revolution that took place in China, and transformed this country
from an empire to a republic. This change had an impact in all the aspects of
China (economic, religious, political, social, educational, cultural, etc.),
because it allowed the introduction of the western culture into the eastern. Through
this revolution, many of the traditions changed or stopped in China, including
the foot binding.
4. Another
theme in the book is Human relationships. Throughout the story, it is
possible to see the many relationships the protagonist builds (and breaks) with
other people. She makes some friends that help her, that support her (the English
teacher, the Warners, Xueyan, Second sister, etc.) and that somehow give her
the strength to continue. She also has to break her relationship to her family,
to her mother and Big Uncle, thought she never stopped loving them.
5. A brave
spirit is the virtue that helps the protagonist to overcome all the
obstacles she faces during the whole story, and to make the most challenging
decisions. For me, this is one of the most important topics in the book.
Without courage, the protagonist would not have done all what she did.
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BOOK IN THE LITERARY WORLD
This book has won many awards: ALA Best Books for Young
Adults (2000), California Young Reader Medal (2004), Texas TAYSHAS High School
Reading List (2001). Also, it was Nominee for the Illinois Rebecca Caudill
Young Readers Award (2002).
It is considered relevant for literature because it
brings to the world some of the features of the Chinese culture, such as gender
role, politics, old traditions, among others. Additionally, despite this book
is a fictional story, it is very historical and it is a portrait of the
suffering of thousands of women who went through the painful process of foot
binding.
Some Praises about the book:
"Atmospheric
and closely informed . . . this colorful novel has the force and intensity of a
memoir."–Publishers Weekly, Starred
"Emotionally
and historically illuminating."–Booklist, Starred
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE
The title “Ties that bind, ties that break” makes
reference to the material they used in China to bind the feet of the little girls. In order to make their feet
really small, they had to break
their bones with those cotton bandages. For me, it also has another meaning: for Ailin, refusing to get her feet bound split her life in two, because she had to separate
from her family and she found some new people to build her new life outside her
home. This means that those ties that once kept her next to her family also
were the ones who broke that link.
- SOURCES:
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