Ties That Bind, Ties That Break

Ailin’s father is an intelligent man with modern sensibilities. Ailin is proud of him: “His manner was mild toward everyone, but I knew he was very wise. In my eyes he was the perfect Chinese gentleman” (23-24). He is the one who has the final word on whether or not to keep Ailin’s feet unbound, telling his wife that though Ailin may not understand the consequences of keeping her feet unbound, he does: “Let her run free if that’s what she wants” (40). Through him, Ailin learns about the political situation in China and about Big Uncle’s objections to the changes that are happening in society. Her father says, “We cannot expect our old customs to remain forever—even customs that have prevailed for a thousand years” (41). Later, when he decides Ailin will go to school, he takes an interest in her education, and she is proud that he speaks to her like an adult. However, he becomes sick with tuberculosis and dies during the course of her schooling, leaving her without a defender. Big Uncle becomes her guardian, and his more draconian policies and threats spur Ailin to find her own destiny elsewhere. 

As Ailin’s intended, Hanwei does not appear often, but does pop up at significant times during the course of the book. He is the second character introduced in the book. Hanwei is a young male member of the prestigious and wealthy Liu family, whom her family wishes to marry. She meets him when she is almost five and he is seven years old, so she has known him for much of her life. They like one another; it is Hanwei who tells her about what life at a public school is like. After the engagement is broken they meet during a family outing at Lake Xuanwu and in front of her school—and again in America when he is on his way home from the University of Illinois to visit his sick mother. At that time, Ailin reflects upon the spoiled, soft boy he used to be, compared with the working man he has become. Hanwei’s presence in James Chew’s restaurant is the impetus for Ailin’s remembrance of her past. He asks her, “Why didn’t you wait, Ailin? What made you run away to that American family?” (5). This leads to the telling of the story and Ailin’s realization that she is ready to speak with her family once again.

Within the upper-class compound in which the Tao family lives, a person’s place in the family is very important. Members of Ailin’s family are not referred to by name but by their standing in the family. Second Sister and Ailin are close, but also have very different personalities. The best evidence of this, of course, is that Second Sister has her feet bound and submits with a docile spirit to her fate—marriage into a family that may not treat her well. Second Sister allows Ailin to see her bound feet, which is one important factor in Ailin’s refusal to undergo the binding process. In a fight following that incident, Second Sister shows that she values honesty. Later, Second Sister leaves the compound with her new family (after issuing a subtle warning to Ailin about the problems of being different), but returns occasionally for important family events such as the death of their grandmother. Unlike Ailin, she keeps her standing because she has followed the dictates of her relations.

In contrast to Ailin’s father, Big Uncle is crass, uncouth, and has no fear of loudly expressing his opinion. He and Ailin’s father often converse about the state of China, which is how Ailin learns about what is happening in the world around them. His views are all traditional, and he prefers the imperialist form of government. He doesn’t agree that girls should go to school, either. When he says, “The empire may seem weak, but it still has teeth” (23), he might be talking about himself; after all, it is his threats to Ailin that cause her to leave the Tao residence. Yet, he is not a completely bad man—in some ways, he is just trapped by society’s dictates. Despite his family’s need for money, he shows a grudging respect for Ailin when he returns her earnings to her in a roundabout way to help her make her way in the New World. The text implies that his threats to Ailin, specifically about her choices for the future, were done more strategically than out of spite. In the end, he appears to admire his niece’s independence and the choices she has made.

Xueyan is Ailin’s first like-minded female friend. Like Ailin, Xueyan has unbound feet. She wants to be a doctor and stay unmarried, and Ailin says, “[W]hat I liked best about her was the fact that she was not ashamed of her big feet. She was proud of them” (53). Ailin admires Xueyan, whose path seems a bit easier than hers. She is from a family who also believes China is changing, and the two often get in trouble together. After Ailin leaves school, Xueyan attends a party put together by Miss Gilbertson, and comes all the way to Shanghai to see Ailin before she leaves for America. She says, “How I envy you! You’re embarking on a great adventure!” (122). She also delivers the money that Big Uncle wants to give back to Ailin. Xueyan is the subject of the novel’s sequel, An Ocean Apart, A World Away, which focuses on the girl’s decision to choose her education over love with a dangerous man. She travels to America, across the continent from Ailin, to attend Cornell University. Ailin makes an appearance in the sequel, too, through letters with Xueyan and a visit Xueyan makes to San Francisco; it is clear in An Ocean Apart, A World Away that Ailin has attained self-respect, love, and success.

Like many teachers, Miss Gilbertson positively influences Ailin’s life. Not only does she teach her, Miss Gilbertson connects her student with the outside world—literally. Miss Gilbertson is the first American, or “Big Nose,” that Ailin meets when she passes her entrance exam to the MacIntosh School. She sees great promise in the way Ailin picks up English so quickly, and after Ailin is forced to leave school, Miss Gilbertson takes her on as a summer pupil. More than that, she introduces the girl to Imogene Warner, who employs her as an amah. Later, she also helps Ailin find a doctor for young Billy while the Warners are away, an event that cements the family’s confidence in the girl and leads them to offer Ailin a place with them in America. Like many Americans, Miss Gilbertson doesn’t quite understand the Chinese culture, but she is kind and supportive of her student. 

The Warner family’s importance in Ailin’s life is generally positive, with some negative undertones as a result of cultural misunderstanding and religious intolerance that cause her to feel alienated from two different ways of life. The parents, Timothy and Imogene, hire her when her own family doesn’t want anything to do with her. She cares for the children, Grace and Billy, and feels an affinity especially with Billy. At first there are challenges, because the Warners are a missionary family and do not approve of some of what Ailin is teaching their children from her culture. Eventually, they learn to trust her and encourage her to fix authentic Chinese meals for them. Just as they have had a profound effect on Ailin, she has had an effect on them, as they are the ones who return to China, not her.