The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu Book Review

📌Category: Books
📌Words: 397
📌Pages: 2
📌Published: 01 September 2021

Introduction

In the short story The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu, the narrator shares his coming-of-age story with the audience. Jack, the narrator, goes through a period in his life where all he wants is to fit in. When Jack is a baby, he has a special bonding moment with his mother, and they are very close until Jack gets older. Throughout the short story Jack uses a lot of symbols to show his relationship with his mother. The theme of love, alienation, and American Dream are evident throughout the story. 

Foreshadowing in the Paper Menagerie

A literary device that is found early in the story is foreshadowing. After the mother makes Jack a paper shark, Jack places the shark in the sink filled with water. The shark “swam around and around happily. However, after a while he became soggy and translucent, and slowly sank to the bottom, the folds coming undone” (Liu p.3). This moment foreshadows the paper animals bringing him joy, but the joy they bring is temporary and eventually fades. This moment also foreshadows Jack and his mother’s relationship unfolding and fading. The paper shark ends up getting recreated and “the shark [lives] happily in a large goldfish bowl” (Liu p.3). The shark’s life foreshadows Jack’s relationship with his mother throughout the short story.

The Paper Menagerie: Symbols of the Paper Zoo Animals

The main symbols used throughout the story are the paper zoo animals that the mother makes for Jack when he is a baby. Once Jack starts to feel alienated by Mark, he wants his mother to be more “American” so Jack can fit in. Jack collects all of the animals his mother made and puts them in a box. This symbols Jack trying to change his mother so he can fit in. Even though Jack put all the animals away, they escaped and returned to their usual spots, but Jack collected them, taped up the box, and placed them in the attic. Jack capturing the animals and hiding them represents him trying to hide his mother’s heritage. When the animals escape, it represents his mother trying to continue to share her heritage with Jack, but Jack rejects her.

The most evident metaphor is the paper tiger, Laohu. Laohu was the first paper animal that created the initial bond between Jack and his mother.

The Paper Menagerie Quotes

1. “Each moment and everywhere, civilizations rise and fall, much as the stars are born and die.”

2. “God created heaven, men created hell.”

3. "An idea was worth keeping only if it led to victory."

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.