PAPER MENAGIERE

QUES: "One of my earliest memories starts with me sobbing." Describe the memory a narrated in The Paper Menagerie'.
ANS. One day Jack was sobbing, His mother took him into the kitchen and sat him down She pulled a sheet of wrapping
paper from on top of the fridge. She began to fold it Jack stopped crying and watched her with curiosity. She pleated,
tucked, rolled and twisted until the paper disappeared between her cupped hands. Then she blew into it, like a balloon.
"Laohu'she called it. A little paper tiger, the size of two fists placed together. The skin of the tiger had the pattern on the
wrapping paper, with red candy canes arnd green Christmas trees. Fascinated, Jack reached out to the creation. Its tail
twitched, and it pounced playfully at his finger. "Rawrr-sa," it growled, the sound somewhere between a cat and rustling
newspapers. Jack laughed and stroked its back with an index finger. The paper tiger vibrated under his finger, purring. His
mother's kind of Origami was special. She breathed life into them, and they moved with her life. This was her magic.

QUES2. Dad had picked Mom out of a catalogue.' Closely referring to the story "The Paper Menagerie' describe the first
meeting of Jack's mother and father.
ANS. Jack's father was an American who wanted to marry an Asian girl. He had signed up for the introduction service.
Flipping through the pages of catalogue that they had sent, he saw the picture of a Chinese girl. She posed in a chair, her
side to the camera, wearing a tight green silk cheongsam. Her head was turned to the camera so that her long black hair
was draped artfully over her chest and shoulder. She looked out at him with the eves of a calm child. The 'catalogue' said
she was eighteen, loved to dance, and spoke good English because she was from Hong Kong. None of these facts turned out
to be true. He wrote to her, and the company wrote back on her behalf. Finally, he flew to Hong Kong to meet her. It so
happened that she didn't know any English other than 'hello' and 'goodbye. Instead of demanding his money back, he paid
a waitress at the hotel restaurant to translate for them. "She would look at me, her eyes halfway between scared and
hopeful, while I spoke. And when the waitress began translating what I said, she'd start to smile slowly." He flew back to
Connecticut and began to apply for the papers for her to come to him.

QUES3. Describe the earlier bond established between the Chinese mother and her son over Origami.
ANS3. In the initial stages of their relationship, the Chinese mother and her son shared a deep and meaningful bond which
was strengthened by their passion for origami as they created intricate paper animals, such as the tiger, goat, deer, and
water buffalo. The mother crafted various animals out of paper wrapping at the boy's request, and they would play with
them, laughing and running around the living room. The paper menagerie was not just a game; it was a symbol of their
relationship. It represented their ability to create something beautiful and playful out of simple materials, as well as their
ability to understand and communicate with each other on a deeper level. Their bond was also tested when the animals
became damaged. For instance, when the water buffalo's legs were ruined by soy sauce, the mother repaired them with
tape. When Laohu's ear was torn by a sparrow, she also tried it. The mother would use her creativity to fix the problems,
and the boy learned to appreciate her skill and dedication. through the experience of the paper menagerie, the mother and
son developed a bond that went beyond words. They learned to trust and depend on each other, and their love for each
other grew stronger with each passing day. Despite the challenges they faced along the way, their bond endured, proving
the power of love and creativity in building strong relationships.

QUES 4. Write about the making of the shark and Laohu's reaction.
ANS. One day, Jack saw a TV documentary about sharks and asked his mother to make one for him. She made the shark,
but he flapped about on the table unhappily. Jack filled the sink with water, and put him in. He swam around and around
happily . However, after a while he became soggy and slowly sank to the bottom. It ended up as a wet piece of paper. Mom
made a new shark out of tin foil. The shark lived happily in a large goldfish bowl. Jack liked to sit next to the bowl to watch
the tin foil shark chasing the goldfish, while Laohu stuck his face up against the bowl on the other side so that his eyes,
'magnified to the size of coffee cups, stared across the bowl.

QUES 5. What was the first episode that made the boy realise that he was different and felt embarrassed about his
mother?
ANS. Whern Jack was ten, the family moved to a new house. Two of the women neighbours came to welcome them. Jacks
father served them drinks and then apologised for having to run off to his office. He requested them to make themselves at
home. He apologised to them saying, “My wife doesn't speak much English, so don't think she's being rude for not talking
to you." The neighbours conversed in the living room, and Jack could hear them. They were talking about Jack and made
remarks for him like, "He seems like a normal enough man. Why did he do that?" followed by "Something about the mixing
never seems right." Jack was shocked to hear them remarking, "The child looks unfinished. Slanty eyes, white face. A little
monster." They wondered whether he could speak English. When he told them his name was Jack, they said "That doesn't
sound very Chinesey." His mom came into the dining room and smiled at the women. The three of them stood in a triangle,
smiling and nodding at each other, with nothing to say, until his father came back. That was for the first time a vague
feeling of embarrassment crept into the boy's mind.

QUES.6 How did the bond between mother and son in "The Paper Menagerie" change over the years?
ANS. Various experiences made Jack realise his mixed origin and it played a pivotal role in upsetting his relationship with his
mother.. He felt not accepted in the American community. One day he asked his dad if he had chink face. Even though he
had never told him what happened in school, the father seemed to understand. Mom asked in Chinese what the
conversation was about. "English," he said. "Speak English." He pushed back his Chinese meal and the chop sticks saying,
"We should eat American food." The father tried to reason with him saying other families also eat Chinese food. The child
replied, "We are not other families. Other families don't have moms who don't belong." When his mother reached out to
touch him, he brushed her hand away. "Im fine. Speak English!" he kept on shouting. The irate boy also demanded some
'real' toys, American ones. Dad bought him Star Wars action figures. The boy packed the paper menagerie in a large
shoebox and shoved it up the attic as far away as possible from his room. If Mom spoke to him in Chinese, he refused to
answer her. Even though she tried to use more English, her accent and broken sentences embarrassed the boy. He tried to
correct her. Eventually she stopped speaking altogether in his presence.Mom began to mime things if she needed to let him
know something. She tried to hug him the way she saw American mothers did on TV. Jack thought her movements
exaggerated, and graceless. She sensed his irritation, and stopped. The discarding of the paper animals symbolized the
cutting off all the threads with his mother. She finally stopped making the animals. By then her English was much better,
but he was already at that age where, he wasn't interested in what she had to say. He stopped communicating with her.
Instead, he would hurry on to his room where he could continue his 'all-American pursuit of happiness. They had nothing in
common. Gradually his mother became silent and fell ill. Jack did not realise his world. mothers worth until she left the

QUES6. With close reference to the text, describe the, encounter of Mark, Laohu and the
young boy of the story, "The Paper Menagerie'.
ANS6. Once Mark, one of the neighbourhood boys, visited Jack with his Star Wars action figures. Getting bored with them,
Jack asked whether they can play something else. Mark was annoyed and totally disappointed. He demanded, "Show me
your toys." He didn't have any toys except his paper menagerie. He brought Laohu. By then he was very worn, patched all
over with tape and glue, evidence of the years of repairs. He was no longer as nimble and sure-footed as before. Jack sat
Laohu down on the coffee table and introduced, "This is Tiger." Cautiously, Laohu strode up and purred at Mark, sniffing his
hands. Mark examined the Christmas-wrap pattern of Laohu's skin. "That doesn't look like a tiger at all. Your Mom makes
toys for you from trash?" He had never thought of Laohu as trash. But looking at him now, he was really just a piece of
wrapping paper. Mark pushed his Obi-Wan's head . The light sabre flashed; he moved his arnms up and down. Laohu
turned and pounced, knocking the plastic figure off the table. It hit the floor and broke, and Obi-Wan's head rolled under
the couch. "Rawwww," Laohu laughed. I joined him. Mark punched Jack hard and shouted, "This was very expensive! You
can't even find it in the stores now. It probably cost more than what your dad paid for your mom!" Jack stumbled and fell to
the floor. Laohu growled and leapt at Mark's face. Mark screamed, more out of fear Mark grabbed Laohu and crumpled him
in his hand and tore him in half. He balled and surprise than pain. up the two pieces of paper and threw them at Jack and
said, "Here's your stupid cheap Chinese garbage."

QUES 7. It was the first weekend in April, two years after Mom's death. Describe the circumstances in which the narrator
rediscovered Laohu and his mother's last
ANS. Susan, Jack's friend was out of town on one of her endless trips and he was home, letter. lazily flipping through the TV
channels. He paused at a documentary about sharks. Suddenly he saw, in mind, his Mom's hands, as they folded and
refolded tin foil to make a shark for him, while Laohu and he watched. Then Jack heard a rustle. He saw that a ball of
wrapping paper and torn tape was on the floor next to the bookshelf. He walked over to the trash. The ball of paper
unfurled itself, and he realised that it was Laohu who said "Rawrr-sa." Susan, Jack S friend had put the paper animals
around the apartment as decoration. She probabiy left Laohu in a pretty hidden corner because he looked so shabby. lack
sat down on the floor, and reached it out with a finger. Laohu's tail twitched and he pounced playfully. When he stroked his
back, Laohu purred under his hand. "How've you been, old buddy?" said Jack, Laohu stopped playing. He got up jumped
with feline grace into his lap, and proceeded to unfold himself. In his lap was a square of Creased Wrapping paper, the plain
side up. It was filled with dense Chinese characters. He had never learned to read Chinese, but the only character he knew
was for son, and they were at the top, It was certain that this letter was addressed to hinm by his mother. This letter was
written in his mom's awkward and childish handwriting. He went to the computer to check the Internet. The day was
Qingming when the spirits of the dead were allowed to visit their farnily. He took the letter with him downtown to get it
read by someone who knew Chinese and a young woman agreed to help.

QUES 8. What is the story of her life as penned by the narrator's mother in The Paper Menagerie'.

ANS8 In the heart-Wrenching short story "The Paper Mernagerie" by Ken Liu, the letter that Jack's mother writes to him
before her death is a poignant reflection on her life and the challenges she faced as a Chinese immigrant in the United
States. The letter is written in Chinese, a language that she feels most comfortable expressing herself in, and it is a
testament to her desire to pour her heart out. As she reflects on her life, she shares with Jack the struggles she faced as a
child born into a poor peasant family just before the Great Famines struck China. Her first memory was of seeing her
mother eating dirt so that she could fill her belly and leave the last bit of flour for her daughter. However, things improved
for her when her mother taught her the art of papercraft, and she learned to make paper animals and give them life, a
practical magic that was valued in her village. But, then came the Cultural Revolution in 1966, which tore families apart and
turned neighbours against each other. She lost a relative to the violence, and her life was changed forever. At the age of
ten, she became an orphan and was forced to flee her village, traveling on a freight train to Hong Kong. There, she was
taken in by a family who treated her like a servant, and she was beaten for every small mistake she made. However, after
six years of miserable life, an old lady told her about American men who wanted Asian wives. She saw this as her only hope
for a better life and agreed to be listed in a catalogue, where she eventually met Jack's father. They settled in the suburbs of
Connecticut, and for a while, she felt happy and content. However, when Jack stopped talking to her, her world crumbled,
and she felt like she had lost everything all over again. The letter to Jack is a beautiful and heart-wrenching testament to
the struggles of immigrants and the challenges of adapting to a new culture. The pain and pathos of the Chinese mother are
captured in the line, "Why won't you talk to me, son?" It is a powerful reminder of the importance of communication and
the deep love that exists between a mother and her child.
QUES.10. Attempt a critical analysis of the story, "The Paper Menagerie.

ANS10. The Paper Menagerie is a touching story that deals with complex human relationship, racial prejudice and cultural
differences. The writer delves into the minds of the characters and brings out the deep emotions felt by each. The story
comes under the genre of fantasy but the fantasy is not specifically acknowledged. It is narrated in a realistic way, so one
can call it as magic realism. The narration progresses as bits of experiences, moving from past to present and present to
past. They look more like anecdotes which give variety enhancing the readers' interest and involvement. The theme of the
story is mother-son relationship that comes under a scanner as the child connects with the outside world and imbibes its
prejudices. The childhood innocence gives way to biases and misconstrued notions that bring a lot of unhappiness to the
three characters. This realism is interwoven with magic of the animal menagerie giving a profound depth to the story. Jack,
the protagonist of the story is like any other boy deeply attached to his mother. There was a strong bond of friendship
between them in the earlier days. The mother's uncanny talent in giving breath to the exquisite paper craft she does, is
graphically brought out through the memories of the narrator. Thus, the paper tiger Laohu and the water buffalo and the
shark spring to life to entertain not only the boy but also the readers. The lovely relationship sours as the boy grows older
and becomes aware of his biracial origin. He feels she does not belong to the American society they live in. He feels
ashamed of her accent, her behaviour, her chink eyes which he has inherited. Thus, the theme deals with racism, cultural
disparity, tradition and heritage; not to forget appearance that gives an inferiority complex to the boy. The paper
menagerie is symbolic of childhood and a mixed American/Chinese heritage. The boy revels in the Chinese heritage as he
admires and plays with the paper animals. When he is exposed to American culture with insulting remarks about his
Mongoloid looks, he puts them away in the attic. This is the sign of breaking away from his mother's heritage, and from her
very being. Pathos is interwoven into the story when we come to know about the mother's past. Her poverty, her suffering,
her helplessness come to light a bit too late through the letter written by her. The story poignantly captures the emotions
of loss, guilt and remorse that cannot be assuaged in any manner. No wonder "The Paper Menagerie lingers in our mind
and tugs at our heart every time it is read.
QUES 11 What does Jack fondly remember about his childhood ? At what point in his life Jack learns about the
circumustances in which his father got married ?

ANS. Jack remembers his childhood days clearly. He feels happy about the days his mother tried to soothe him whenever
he cried as a child. At that time he was very fond of the paper animals his mother made for him. She would pull a sheet of
paper and expertly fold it and turn the paper into an animals. She would Crease, roll twist and pack the paper until it took
the shape of some animal. Jack remembers the way she had made a tiger, a shark, a water buffalo, and other such animals
for him. After making paper animals, she would breathe into them. Her breath seemed to have magical qualities and the
animals would start behaving like the real ones. This was something special for Jack. But later he starts disliking these paper
animals. Jack learns about the circumstances leading to the marriage of his parents. His father tells him the details about
these things. Jack asks his father about these things when he had stopped talking to his mother and father was trying to
persuade him to talk to her.

QUES12 How does Jack suffer racial discrimination in America ? Do you think all the people in America believe in racial
discrimination ? Why ?
ANS. Jack's mother is a Chinese woman and his father is an American. Jack is their biracial child. He moves to a new house
with his family. Two women come to meet them. These American women express their dislike for his name by calling it a
little Chinesey. A boy coming from the neighbourhood also shows dislike towards Jack and his mother because of their
belonging to a different race. He calls Jack's paper animals a kind of trash. He considers his own toys superior to that of
Jack. He takes liberties against Jack simply for belonging to a race that he considers superior. He destroys the paper tiger
that Jack's mother had made. He believes that he has the right to treat Jack the way he likes. Mark, therefore does not fel
ashamed while saying that he had paid more for his toy than Jack's father had paid for Jack's mother. All the people in
America do not think and behave like Mark and the women who discriminate against others. We find Susan, an American,
appreciating the art of paper menagerie and calls Jack's mother an amazing artist. She even becomes Jack's girl friend.

QUES 7 With reference to the text, describe the relationship between Jack and his parents. What brings a change in
Jack's attitude towards his mother after their arrival in their new house ?
ANS7. Jack is a biracial child as his mother is a Chinese woman and father is an American. Jack's relationship with his
parents, specially his mother undergo changes with different happenings. In his childhood, he shares a very close emotional
bond with his mother. He likes the paper animals she makes. He remembers her expertise in making these paper animals.
Jack has a close bond with his father also. His father explains the details about his marriage with Jack's mother to him. He
wants Jack to start talking to his mother again. When Jack's mother dies, he realizes the loneliness and pain of his father
also. After the death of his mother, Jack realizes how his mother used to love him and how she had felt deeply hurt when
he stopped responding to her. It makes him regretful and he again starts having affectionate feelings for his mother, though
after her death. In fact the racial discrimination that Jack faces at the hands of some American people brings a change in his
behaviour towards his mother. When they move into their new house, the women in the neighbourhood and a boy named
Mark treat Jack and his mother badly. They discriminate against Jack and his mother due to their belonging to a different
race and culture. Jack thinks that his mother was responsible for all this. He asks her to speak in English to adjust in the new
culture. Her failure to do so results in a big change in Jack's behaviour towards his mother.

QUES 4. Jack's mother suffers a lot due to different reasons but she suffers the most due to racial discrimination. Explain.
ANS 4. The story of Jack's mother is full of pain and sufferings. She struggles in her childhood, faces difficulties in youth and
dies of a deadly disease. But she suffers the most due to racial differences and the people's attitude towards other races.
Jack's mother is born in a poor peasant family in China. The villagers and her parents find it difficult to survive when a
famine occurs during her early childhood. She finds her mother eating dirt to satisfy her hunger. Jack's mother also faces
these problems. In the year 1966, Cultural Revolution brings many more troubles for Jack's mother and her parents. They
are tormented and treated as enemies by their own people. Jack's grandmother commits suicide and grandfather
disappears in the forest. Jack's mother becomes an orphan and suffers due to human trafficking. Her name is put on the
catalogue meant for women who could be purchased. AIl these happenings lead to her immense tension, sorrows and
sufferings in her life. Jack’s mother suffers much more when her own son stops talking to her. Her son Jack does this
because of the discrimination he faces. He considers his mother r responsible for all his troubles. The way his attitude
causes mental pain, emotional loss a sense of loneliness is mentioned in the letter written by her. It shows that she had felt
deeply hurt and suffered the most when he stopped talking to her. His behaviour with his mother is the result of the
change in him caused by racial discrimination. Thus, she suffers the most because of the question of her race.

QUES 8.What does Jack learn about the marriage of his parents ?
ANS 8.Jack's father told him in detail about his marriage with his mother. He had given his name to the introduction service
in 1973. This agency kept a catalogue in which the names, photographs and other accomplishments of women from Hong
Kong were given. These women could be purchased for money. In the last page of the catalogue, the picture of a woman
was given. The woman was sitting in a chair. Her head was turned to the camera so that her long black hair was draped
artfully over her chest and shoulder. She looked out at him with the eves of a calm child. It was mentioned there that this
young woman was eighteen years old, she loved to dance and spoke good English and she belonged to Hong Kong. But all
these details about her were false. Jack's father write letters to her. The replies to his messages were written by the agency
people as she did not know English. On his visit to the woman, Jack's father learnt that she could not speak English and all
the details about her were false. He did not feel annoyed on coming to know this. He brought her to his house in
Connecticut and married her.