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Theme of Identity in The Paper Menagerie, , , - Coggle Diagram
Theme of Identity in The Paper Menagerie
Cultural
The story is about Jack's mother's origami art, which is a part of Chinese culture.
Jack's mother wants to embrace this part of her, and Jack begins to hate it.
Jack also begins to dislike that his mother speaks Chinese, and that her English isn't that good.
Wanting to "fit in"
When Jack and his family moved to their new house, from the first interaction they had with people, he wanted to "fit in."
Jack's neighbour, Mark, kick's of this desire to fit in, by making Jack feel ashamed of his culture after they meet.
Jack's desire to "fit in", drives him farther and farther away from his mother, ruining their relationship.
The setting of the story plays a role here, as the suburban US was not so accepting of people like Jack and his family during this time.
Relationships
The story begins with Jack having a good relationship with his mother.
This progresses into Jack holding resentment towards his mother, primarily due to his desire to "fit in" (see that section)
Jack's mother loves him unconditionally throughout the story, and remains like this even after Jack begins to hate her.
Jack's father does not play much of a role in terms of relationships, but both Jack and his mother like him.
Conflicts
This conflict is fuelled primarily through the setting of the story, and his company. (Mark, and the other neighbours)
The story is built around Jack's personal conflict with himself about his cultural, and outward identity.
This evolves into Jack beginning to regret what he treated his mother like, after she gets sick.
After her death, Jack begins to understand himself, and begin to accept, and connect with his culture.