Analyzing "The Paper Menagerie": Themes, Symbols, and Diaspora

"The Paper Menagerie": A Literary Analysis

Diasporic Literature

Writers displaced from their homeland often imbue their writing with deep emotions reflecting their experiences.

A key element of diasporic literature is the sense of lacking a motherland.

Understatement

Understatement is used when something important is said with a lack of interest or emotion. For example: "She died when my plane was somewhere over Nevada."

Personification of Origami Animals

The mother's ability to give life to origami animals symbolizes hope, origins, and connection, particularly with the mother. "The animals will stop moving when I stop breathing. But if I write to you with all my heart, I’ll leave a little of myself behind on the paper."

Themes

• Motherhood and its hardships, pain, and vulnerabilities: "Why won't you talk to me, son? The pain makes it hard to write."
• Regret, self-embarrassment, segregation/discrimination, and the feeling of being too late.

Epiphanic Moment

"Following the creases, I refolded the paper back into laohu. I cradled him in the crook of my arm, and as he purred, we began to walk home." This signifies embracing his Chinese culture.

Symbols

The paper menagerie symbolizes the Chinese roots of the child and his mother.

Style and Tone

• Style: Retrospective, use of flashbacks, narrator evokes memories from younger self.
• Tone: Nostalgic and metaphoric.

Examples:

• "One of my earliest memories starts with me sobbing."
• "The pain inside her that she said was not a big deal."
• "I know you do not like your Chinese hair."

Rite of Passage

1. He accepts his Chinese roots: "The menagerie was her magic."
2. He denies his Chinese roots and wants to be only American: "It was really just a piece of wrapping paper."
3. He regrets how he denied his Chinese roots: "I refolded the paper back into laohu."

Quotes

• "You know what the Chinese think is the saddest feeling in the world? It’s for a child to finally grow the desire to take care of his parents, only to realize they were long gone." The sadness of losing a child becomes paradoxical. Now the child has lost his mother, and the only thing left of her is the paper menagerie.
• "I felt the words sinking into me, through my skin, through my bones, until they squeezed tight around my heart." Personification of the words, they are traveling through his body trying to reconnect Chinese with his emotions.
• "We had nothing in common. She might as well be from the moon."
• "Speak English," "You are in America," "We should eat American food."
• "But her accent and broken sentences embarrassed me."