70 pages • 2 hours read
Lensey NamiokaTies That Bind, Ties That Break
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Foot Binding
The Chinese practice of foot binding refers to a custom that women, especially those of the upper classes, may have been subjected to starting in the Shang Dynasty (1700-1027 B.C.). However, foot binding probably became widespread during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). There are different stories about its origins; one says that a concubine of the Southern Tang emperor who lived just before the Song Dynasty bound her feet and did a dance for him that was so graceful others tried to copy her. Foot binding remained popular until the early 1920s—about the time this narrative takes place; the last women who had their feet bound did so in the 1940s.
The painful process involves breaking the toes and arches of the foot by bending the four smaller ones into the sole of the foot. Feet were formed into a crescent shape by winding them tightly in 10-foot-long cloth bandages repeatedly over the course of years until they were just 3-4 inches in length. This was called “lotus feet” or the “golden lotus.” The process is usually done in young girls because the softer, younger bones of children break more easily. Foot binding was a status symbol, often performed under social duress—a virtual requirement for women to marry into moneyed families.
It is certainly a practice that curtailed women’s freedom and deepened their dependence on others. Foot binding is thought to have been done to please men, who found such feet more attractive, although more recent research suggests that the custom also served economic reasons; specifically, it fostered inactivity in girls and women and made it possible for them to spend more time making embroidered goods their families could sell. As evidence, researchers point to the fact that foot binding only ended when cheaper, factory-made cloth items became available in areas where foot binding was done (both the idea of embroidery as an appropriate activity for women with bound feet and the advent of machine-sewn fabrics are mentioned within this text).
Women with their feet bound found it difficult but necessary to wash their feet often; such feet became stinky easily, thanks to dirt and sweat becoming lodged in the crevices created by the binding process. Foot binding was banned in the 1600s by the Manchu nobility without success, and the first anti-foot binding organization was formed by a British priest in 1874. In 1912 it was banned again, but many families continued to do it in secret even as its popularity dwindled. In 1949, the Communists came into power and also tried to end the practice. American author William Rossi claimed that in the 1800s, up to 50 percent of Chinese women had their feet bound, and this number rose to 100 percent for the upper classes.
This story begins in 1925, after foot binding was banned, but clearly it is still a desired state for the upper classes, such as the Tao and Liu families of Nanjing. During this time period, foot binding remains an entrenched custom and bound feet are feminine symbols of beauty and obedience. However, given its slow decline as a desirable state and the anti-foot binding campaigns of the era, Ailin’s father is justified in believing that times might be changing. Ailin, who is coming of age in this novel, suffers socially from not having bound feet to the extent that it becomes part of her identity, for better or for worse.
Ailin certainly experiences ills as a result of not having bound feet. She also discovers as she gets to know more of the world that it is a localized custom. Some of the girls in her age group are also starting to shun the idea, and no other countries do it. From the beginning, her freedom is more important to her, and her unbound state shapes her personhood as well as her destiny. Ailin’s “large” feet are symbols in this narrative as well—they show her strength and her independent nature, as well as her rebellion against a cultural paradigm she believes is wrong despite what she suffers as a result. As a motif, the subject is both is a catalyst and, interestingly, a binding element in Ailin’s life.
Courage
From the start, young Ailin shows herself to have courage and persistence. She doesn’t just want to escape the pain of foot binding—she wants to run free. Though she doesn’t quite understand the ramifications of not having her feet bound when the book begins and she is less than five years old, she does see consequences fairly quickly, given that her engagement to Liu Hanwei is broken. Her courage is both moral and practical; this is possibly a result of the fact that she resisted her family at such a young age and continued to stay strong despite the way her rebellion affects her familial and other relationships. She must show her courage in many small and large ways: when confronting her uncle, when deciding to take employment with a foreign family who doesn’t understand her ways and considers them barbaric, and when deciding to move to America. It is also her bravery that cements her satisfactory (for her, anyway) ending; standing up to an irritable bartender gets her noticed by James Chew, and her story inspires him to be courageous too. Their relationship is thus based in large part on their collective courage.
Cultural Change
The revolution that Big Uncle and Ailin’s father reference during the course of the narrative is called the Chinese Revolution, the Revolution of 1911, or Xinhai. A series of political events that started in the late 19th century contributed to the overthrew the last imperial dynasty in China—the Qing Dynasty—and installed the Republic of China, or R.O.C. Historical sources say this was the result of Qing Dynasty’s ineptness; it failed to modernize China and stem the tide of foreign aggression. For example, China’s sovereignty had been decimated by the two Opium Wars waged against it by Britain and Western powers in the mid-19th century, referenced by Ailin’s father in the second chapter.
The goal of the Western countries was to be able to export opium into China, which, because of addiction and widespread economic havoc within the country, caused the Chinese government to confiscate and destroy large amounts of opium. This, along with anti-Chinese violence that led to criminal charges against British sailors, antagonized Britain and caused its fleet to attack and occupy parts of China. The resulting negotiations resulted in the loss of Hong Kong, forced openings of Chinese ports for opium trading, and conditions for unequal concessions to foreign interests. This and other events led Chinese citizens to believe their government was incompetent, resulting in anti-Qing groups trying to overthrow the government in a civil war in the early 1900s. The Last Emperor, Puyi, was aged six when he abdicated in 1912. The revolutionaries, led by Sun Yat-sen, spent years after the revolution trying to establish a stable provisional government.
The ideals of the revolution included nationalism, modernization, and a commitment to republican ideals. The imperial system, led by a monarchy, was replaced by a democratic system. The more liberal views of those sympathetic to the revolutionaries are represented by Ailin’s father; the stricter dictates of the traditional, imperialist Chinese system under the Qing Dynasty are encapsulated in the personality of Big Uncle. This is a time of major change in China, as it took years for the country to stabilize after the revolution—the rise of the chaotic Chinese warlord era (1916-1928), when many private regional militias split Chinese power between them, did not help. This background provides the backdrop of Ties That Bind, Ties That Break and drives the change that is constantly being referred to within the text. Multiple characters, from Ailin to her father and Miss Gilbertson, remark that things are changing in China.
Bamboo
Ailin relates a story from when she was a little girl, running away from her amah into the kitchen garden. The cook shows her some bamboo shoots, which are good to eat because they remain mostly underground. Ailin points at some other bamboo, which the cook says are no longer good because they have been exposed to the sun and air. Ailin wants to know if they will become good again if she covers them with sand. The cook says, “No, it’s too late. Once they’ve become tough, nothing will make them soft again” (111). Ailin compares herself to the bamboo shoots, noting that she is like a plant that has been out in the air and sun, and has become tough. She says, “I was no delicate shoot buried in the sand. I was a stalk of bamboo, strong enough to stand against wind and snow” (118). This symbol emphasizes Ailin’s self-esteem and independence.
Silkworm Cocoons
Early in the book, Second Sister shows her younger sister the silkworms that she is tending. The silkworms have spun their cocoons, and Second Sister brings to Ailin’s notice a pale green-colored one that’s different than the others. She says, “Too bad we don’t have more of the same color. We could have beautiful silk green thread without having to dye” (20). Later, Second Sister feels differently. She talks to Ailin before she leaves home to be married, asking her if she remembers the cocoons. Ailin does because it was the day she learned what bound feet look like. Second Sister said she personally loved the colored cocoons. However, she adds that “silk weavers hate them because they spoil the white uniformity. Whenever they see a colored one, they immediately take it out and burn it. Remember this” (55). Ailin does not understand her meaning at first, but later realizes her sister was warning her not to be different. She says she is not sure if Second Sister was referring to her own fate or Ailin’s; nevertheless, the comparison is certainly pertinent to Ailin’s state as the one girl who will stand out because she doesn’t have bound feet. This communicates something to the people around her, and it is not necessarily a positive tell. This particular symbol reflects and highlights the relationships that Ailin experiences within her family.
