Theme of Red Scarf Girl

I think that the theme of Red Scarf Girl is that no matter what people think of you, you should stand up for what you think is right, and no matter what, and that no matter how horrible life may be, one can still love and hope. The book consistently shows examples of these. For instance, one time, when Ji-Li went to change her name so that she and her family wouldn't be persecuted. However, when she found out that changing her name would mean making a clean break with her family, she ran away from the Red Guard. Obviously, she would rather be tortured than stay away and not protect her family. The story also hints that though sometimes she hated her landlord family, no matter what, she still loved them very much.

Response Paragraph on Red Scarf Girl

The book I'm reading is called Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang, and is the memoir of the story of Ji-Li during the cultural revolution. She and her family are considered black whelps because of the bourgeois lifestyle they led. Ji-Li thought this was unfair, and personally, so did I. Why were she and her family treated unkindly just because the generations before them in their family exploited many people? Ji-li was successful in all of her schoolwork, and hard-working as well. I didn't understand why her future, hopes, and dreams should be limited by the Cultural Revolution. I thought the Cultural Revolution was cruel, and almost utterly pointless. It was a power struggle in the upper-classes and did nothing to benefit the people.

Main Character

The main character of the story Ties that Break, Ties that Bind by Lensey Namioka is Ailin Tao. The story of her life starts when she is four years old, at a time when girls must bind their feet. However, Ailin is hard-headed and stubborn, so she won't follow this ancient practice without a fight. She is also angry and shows internal bitterness as well as resentment to the fact that men could do so much more than girls in China. However, though she is spirited and mischievous, she is still kind and considerate of others. She is also very pretty and clever, and can also mimic sounds quite well. Overall, Ailin is a kind, but headstrong girl who refuses to considered lower than men.

Setting of Ties the Break, Ties that Bind

This story was most likely set in the past, during the revolutionary, when times were changing in China. The story is about a girl named Ailin, who was a daughter in the wealthy Tao family in Nanjing, China. The main character is a girl named Ailin, who lives withing the aristocratic Tao family. The mood of the story starts out as lively and happy in the view of Ailin, who was mischeivous and loved to run. The story gets more serious as I found at that girls in Ailin's time had to follow an ancient tradition of foot-binding, which at the same time was pure agony and reduced their feet to pitiful three-inch stumps. Ailin's early life is mostly in her large home, with her running and hiding in the lush gardens.