Symbolism In Ribbons

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Over time, culture and beliefs of different generations can differ greatly. Stacy and Ian’s grandmother, a strong and independent woman, comes to visit from Hong Kong. In order to get Grandmother to like her, Stacy shows Grandmother her toe shoe ribbons, which remind Grandmother of her troubling past with foot binding. Laurence Yep displays the theme of his story “Ribbons” through the usage of characterization, conflict, and symbolism.
First, characterization is used in revealing the theme of “Ribbons”. For example, Grandmother’s personality is exhibited through indirect characterization: “The red car door opened, and a pair of carved black canes poked out like six shooters. ‘Wait Paw-paw’,dad said… Grandmother, however, was already using her canes to get to her feet” (347). Her actions display Grandmother’s independent, sassy, and determined personality, which is an important piece in developing the theme. Besides personality, the differences …show more content…
This begins the conflict between Stacy and Grandmother because Stacy wants Grandmother to like her as much as she likes Ian. Then, the conflict between the two of them begins escalating when Stacy shows Grandmother her toe shoe ribbons: “‘Give those to me.’ She held out her hand. I clutched the ribbons tightly against my stomach… Angry and bewildered, I retreated a few steps and showed her the shoe. “‘No, they’re for dancing!’”(352) Finally, the conflict is directly addressed when Stacy is deciding to ignore Grandmother: “The next morning I decided that if Grandmother was going to be mean to me, then I would be mean to her. I began to ignore her” (353-354). All of these examples help develop the theme because if communication is used to understand each other's differences, the conflict could be solved much

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