Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

The Paper Menagerie

 The Paper Menagerie
type
TVTItem
 The Paper Menagerie
label
The Paper Menagerie
 The Paper Menagerie
page
ThePaperMenagerie
 The Paper Menagerie
comment
The Paper Menagerie is a Magical Realism Short Story by Ken Liu. Initially published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 2011, it was then republished as part of the collection The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories in 2016.The story is about Jack, a biracial teenager raised in Connecticut by his Chinese mother and his white American father. Jack's mother folds a multitude of paper animals to amuse him as a child, only for him to reject them — and her — as he comes of age. But after his mother's passing, he learns to see them in a new light.It can be read here.
 The Paper Menagerie
fetched
2024-04-28T12:47:20Z
 The Paper Menagerie
parsed
2024-04-28T12:47:20Z
 The Paper Menagerie
isPartOf
DBTropes
 The Paper Menagerie / int_17dbe19a
type
Internalized Categorism
 The Paper Menagerie / int_17dbe19a
comment
Internalized Categorism: Jack begans to distance himself from his Chinese heritage as a result of racist encounters from his neighbors. He attempts to align himself with his white American father and neighbors, which really hurts his mother. He does not revisit his Chinese heritage until after his mother's passing.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_17dbe19a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_17dbe19a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_17dbe19a
 The Paper Menagerie / int_34e1ef45
type
Unnamed Parent
 The Paper Menagerie / int_34e1ef45
comment
Unnamed Parent: Neither of Jack's parents are named in the story.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_34e1ef45
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_34e1ef45
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_34e1ef45
 The Paper Menagerie / int_3e992c7b
type
Adopt-a-Servant
 The Paper Menagerie / int_3e992c7b
comment
Adopt-a-Servant: Jack's mother was orphaned during the Cultural Revolution and taken to a warehouse where families could "adopt" children. She was adopted by a family who used her as a caretaker for their sons and beat her for any errors.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_3e992c7b
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_3e992c7b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_3e992c7b
 The Paper Menagerie / int_3eb9e19f
type
Child of Two Worlds
 The Paper Menagerie / int_3eb9e19f
comment
Child of Two Worlds: The paper animals folded by Jack's mother are an unsubtle metaphor for his feelings towards their Chinese heritage. He adores them as a child, rejects them when he aligns himself with his white American father and neighbors, and returns to them in grief after his mother dies.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_3eb9e19f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_3eb9e19f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_3eb9e19f
 The Paper Menagerie / int_54d5ad9a
type
Asian Rudeness
 The Paper Menagerie / int_54d5ad9a
comment
Asian Rudeness: Jack's father tells his neighbors that his Chinese wife doesn't speak good English, and to not mistake her lack of fluency for rudeness.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_54d5ad9a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_54d5ad9a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_54d5ad9a
 The Paper Menagerie / int_9aebded4
type
Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow
 The Paper Menagerie / int_9aebded4
comment
Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow: Jack's Chinese mother became a Mail-Order Bride for his American father to escape abuse and poverty.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_9aebded4
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_9aebded4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_9aebded4
 The Paper Menagerie / int_a1591cc3
type
Living Toys
 The Paper Menagerie / int_a1591cc3
comment
Living Toys: The paper animals folded by Jack's mother seemingly come alive and play around his room. After her death, they lay inert, and he wonders if it was her life that kept them alive.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_a1591cc3
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_a1591cc3
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_a1591cc3
 The Paper Menagerie / int_c59d9a4b
type
Half-Breed Discrimination
 The Paper Menagerie / int_c59d9a4b
comment
Half-Breed Discrimination: Jack's neighbors look down on him for his mixed Chinese/white heritage, distastefully saying that his features aren't "mixed" properly.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_c59d9a4b
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_c59d9a4b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_c59d9a4b
 The Paper Menagerie / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 The Paper Menagerie / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: Fancy new Star Wars action figures are used as a cool American counterpoint to Jack's folded paper animals, which he is eventually embarrassed about.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_c75df49a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_c75df49a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_c75df49a
 The Paper Menagerie / int_d346d7e8
type
Mail-Order Bride
 The Paper Menagerie / int_d346d7e8
comment
Mail-Order Bride: Jack's mother put herself onto a mail-order catalog to escape her abusive "foster family". Jack's father flew to Hong Kong to meet her, and was charmed enough to marry her despite her lack of English fluency.
 The Paper Menagerie / int_d346d7e8
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_d346d7e8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_d346d7e8
 The Paper Menagerie / int_name
type
ItemName
 The Paper Menagerie / int_name
comment
 The Paper Menagerie / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
The Paper Menagerie / int_name
 The Paper Menagerie / int_name
itemName
The Paper Menagerie

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
Adopt-a-Servant / int_8a9d7d3d
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
Asian-American Media / int_8a9d7d3d
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
Asian Rudeness / int_8a9d7d3d
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
Child of Two Worlds / int_8a9d7d3d
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
Living Toys / int_8a9d7d3d
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow / int_8a9d7d3d
 The Paper Menagerie
hasFeature
Short Story / int_8a9d7d3d