Ties That Break Comparison

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Title “I was born with water on the brain. Okay, so that’s not exactly true. I was actually born with too much cerebral fluid inside my skull”(Alexie 1). Junior Spirit entered the world of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian with a killer hook. Ailin Tao’s story in Ties That bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka, begins at a restaurant in San Francisco. Both Sherman Alexie’s and Lensey Namioka’s realistic fiction stories show a character struggling to fight against the common stereotypes of their time. As well written as both books are, one story definitely outdoes the other. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is a better read than Ties That Bind, Ties That Break because it is easier to relate to,…show more content…
Sherman Alexie’s novel is much more identifiable to our everyday life than Lensey Namioka’s novel for many reasons. Junior lives on an Indian reservation in America, he’s fourteen years old throughout the entire book. He deals with poverty and racism towards his people as well as the death of countless members of his tribe. Those are problems America is dealing with today, problems young teenagers can relate to and have a deep understanding of. Ailian’s age changes throughout the book, which is harder to identify with because many teenagers don’t remember what they thought of about politics when they were five. For a good portion she is five to eight years old. For at least half the book, she is twelve to fourteen years old. She lives in China and America as a housemaid and a tutor to an American couple's children. She is shunned because she refuses to get her feet bound which is the start of all of her problems. Footbinding became illegal in 1912 and very few people in China, and none in America, are still alive that have bound feet. Ailin’s story of fighting for something she wants is relatable, but fighting for the right of having unbound feet is not something we can relate to at

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