What Binds Them Together
Author's Note - This is a Compare and Contrast Piece that explains the differences between the short story "Ribbons" and and the current laws in China and around the world.
The body's unnatural position of the foot. A ribbon as a binding holding your foot in a cramped position. The modern day laws say no to foot binding but yet some still do it. They think it is considered beautiful to have small feet. In the short story "Ribbons" a grandma coming over from China for the first time to live in America has trouble walking, her granddaughter notices and tries to get attention to figure out what is going on. The story shows some points about what happened in the 1900's and how the laws are different now.
The current law states that it is illegal to foot bind your child's feet. This doesn't stop parents from doing it even though the penalties can result in slavery. Women in China say they regret binding their feet, but then again they couldn't get married. This must have been why the grandma in the story got her feet bound. In the story it explains this when the mother explained what foot binding did she said, "Her mother and father thought it would make their little girl attractive so she could marry a rich man." If it were not an old Chinese custom there would be no penalties and new laws against foot binding. Instead there are laws with harsh penalties.
Another way that the story is connected is there are still villages doing foot binding. The grandmother obviously wanted nothing to do with foot binding again and that is why she got upset when she saw the shoes and the ribbons in the girl's hands. Even though there are harsh penalties against foot binding, the back areas of China stay under the radar and get away with it. The mother explains this when she says, "They were still doing it in some of the back areas of China long after it was outlawed in the rest of the country." It explains why the grandmother wanted nothing to do with the ribbons.
Although there are some ties there are also some differences in the way of the culture in foot binding. Most of the people still alive with foot bindings can walk very normal. Because they have it specially wrapped, they can walk around without feeling pain in their feet. Most of the time the women can not feel their feet but in the story the grandma constantly rests on the steps claiming that her feet hurt. Also she used a cane to walk around while most women can walk normal. The grandmother said "Each step hurt me as if I were walking on a knife."
Even though the grandmother didn't know about dance, she still didn't want to touch the ribbons. Some of the back villages of China don't know what they are doing even if they know the law or don't. In some ways it represents marriage, in other ways it represents pain and suffering.
The body's unnatural position of the foot. A ribbon as a binding holding your foot in a cramped position. The modern day laws say no to foot binding but yet some still do it. They think it is considered beautiful to have small feet. In the short story "Ribbons" a grandma coming over from China for the first time to live in America has trouble walking, her granddaughter notices and tries to get attention to figure out what is going on. The story shows some points about what happened in the 1900's and how the laws are different now.
The current law states that it is illegal to foot bind your child's feet. This doesn't stop parents from doing it even though the penalties can result in slavery. Women in China say they regret binding their feet, but then again they couldn't get married. This must have been why the grandma in the story got her feet bound. In the story it explains this when the mother explained what foot binding did she said, "Her mother and father thought it would make their little girl attractive so she could marry a rich man." If it were not an old Chinese custom there would be no penalties and new laws against foot binding. Instead there are laws with harsh penalties.
Another way that the story is connected is there are still villages doing foot binding. The grandmother obviously wanted nothing to do with foot binding again and that is why she got upset when she saw the shoes and the ribbons in the girl's hands. Even though there are harsh penalties against foot binding, the back areas of China stay under the radar and get away with it. The mother explains this when she says, "They were still doing it in some of the back areas of China long after it was outlawed in the rest of the country." It explains why the grandmother wanted nothing to do with the ribbons.
Although there are some ties there are also some differences in the way of the culture in foot binding. Most of the people still alive with foot bindings can walk very normal. Because they have it specially wrapped, they can walk around without feeling pain in their feet. Most of the time the women can not feel their feet but in the story the grandma constantly rests on the steps claiming that her feet hurt. Also she used a cane to walk around while most women can walk normal. The grandmother said "Each step hurt me as if I were walking on a knife."
Even though the grandmother didn't know about dance, she still didn't want to touch the ribbons. Some of the back villages of China don't know what they are doing even if they know the law or don't. In some ways it represents marriage, in other ways it represents pain and suffering.
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