In Ken Liu’s short story “The Paper Menagerie”, the main character, Jack, develops his understanding of identity through the author’s use of symbolism. The paper animals, which are also known as the paper menagerie from the title, are symbols to represent his mother’s love. This starts off near the beginning of the story, where Jack’s mother is folding an origami tiger for him: “I didn’t know this at the time, but Mom’s kind was special. She breathed into them so that they shared her breath, and thus moved with her life. This was her magic.” From this sentence, it is clear that Jack sees the origami his mother creates as one of a kind. Using symbolism, the author is trying to express that his mother’s love is also unique, and she had put so much love into making the origami for him, that the paper menagerie had come to life. Furthermore, it can be interpreted that Jack’s mother’s love for him is magical, as it brought animation to her origami animals. Throughout the story, Jack grows older, and the cultural differences between America and China influence him along the way. After one look at Jack’s origami tiger, his American friend […]

In Ken Liu’s short story “The Paper Menagerie”, Jack, the main character, develops an understanding of his identity, and it changes through the author’s use of symbolism, interactions with other characters, and pov.

The main character, Andy, in Evan Hunter’s short story entitled “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” initially believes that he is a ‘Royal’, and that defines everything about him, but later understands that your rank does not define who you are. His changing understanding is revealed through the use of symbolism through the weather, his thoughts/point of view, and his interactions with other characters. Examples – Quotes: Symbolism through the weather: “He did not know why his voice had deserted him, or why there was an open hole in his body from which his life ran readily, steadily, or why the rain had become suddenly so fierce.” (paragraph 3) Thoughts and point of view: “The knife had not been plunged in hatred of Andy. The knife hated only the purple jacket. The jacket was a stupid meaningless thing that was robbing him of his life.” (paragraph 89) Interactions with other characters: “‘I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t want to get mixed up in this. He’s a Royal. We can help him, and the Guardians’ll be down on our necks. I don’t want to get mixed up in this, Angela.’” (paragraph 66)