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Jack’s Mother
Jack’s father is an American man who meets Jack’s mother, a Chinese woman, through an introduction service that matches American men with Asian women. He first sees her in a catalogue of women put together by the introduction service. For a while, they exchange letters. Then he flies to Hong Kong to meet her. When he arrives, he discovers that the introduction service has been writing her letters for her, as she speaks very little English. To surmount the language barrier, he hires a translator. Jack’s father and mother speak through the translator. Afterward, they marry and Jack’s mother immigrates to the U.S. Although Jack’s father cares enough about Jack’s mother to hire a translator to speak with her, he does not support her adequately once they have moved to the U.S. When Jack demands that his mother stop speaking Chinese, Jack’s father takes his son’s side. When Jack rejects the paper animals his mother has made, Jack’s father buys him new toys. After Jack and his mother stop speaking, Jack’s father tries to reconcile them, but he fails. In a way, then, Jack’s father represents Jack’s American side, which hurts and fails to understand his Chinese immigrant mother.
Jack’s Father Quotes in The Paper Menagerie
The The Paper Menagerie quotes below are all either spoken by Jack’s Father or refer to Jack’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Paper Menagerie
Quotes
The neighbors conversed in the living room, not trying to be particularly quiet.
“He seems like a normal enough man. Why did he do that?”
“Something about the mixing never seems right. The child looks unfinished. Slanty eyes, white face. A little monster.”
“Do you think he can speak English?”
The women hushed.
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“English,” I said. “Speak English.”
She tried. “What happen?”
I pushed the chopsticks and the bowl before me away: stir-fried green peppers with five-spice beef. “We should eat American food.”
Dad tried to reason. “A lot of families cook Chinese sometimes.”
“We are not other families.” I looked at him. Other families don’t have moms who don’t belong.
He looked away. And then he put a hand on Mom’s shoulder. “I’ll get you a cookbook.”
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Dad bought me a full set of Star Wars action figures. I gave the Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mark.
I packed the paper menagerie in a large shoe box and put it under the bed.
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Susan found the shoe box in the attic. The paper menagerie, hidden in the uninsulated darkness of the attic for so long, had become brittle, and the bright wrapping paper patterns had faded.
“I’ve never seen origami like this,” Susan said. “Your mom was an amazing artist.”
The paper animals did not move. Perhaps whatever magic had animated them stopped when Mom died. Or perhaps I had only imagined that these paper constructions were once alive. The memory of children could not be trusted.
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Get the entire The Paper Menagerie LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jack’s Father Quotes in The Paper Menagerie
The The Paper Menagerie quotes below are all either spoken by Jack’s Father or refer to Jack’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Paper Menagerie
Quotes
The neighbors conversed in the living room, not trying to be particularly quiet.
“He seems like a normal enough man. Why did he do that?”
“Something about the mixing never seems right. The child looks unfinished. Slanty eyes, white face. A little monster.”
“Do you think he can speak English?”
The women hushed.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“English,” I said. “Speak English.”
She tried. “What happen?”
I pushed the chopsticks and the bowl before me away: stir-fried green peppers with five-spice beef. “We should eat American food.”
Dad tried to reason. “A lot of families cook Chinese sometimes.”
“We are not other families.” I looked at him. Other families don’t have moms who don’t belong.
He looked away. And then he put a hand on Mom’s shoulder. “I’ll get you a cookbook.”
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Dad bought me a full set of Star Wars action figures. I gave the Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mark.
I packed the paper menagerie in a large shoe box and put it under the bed.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Susan found the shoe box in the attic. The paper menagerie, hidden in the uninsulated darkness of the attic for so long, had become brittle, and the bright wrapping paper patterns had faded.
“I’ve never seen origami like this,” Susan said. “Your mom was an amazing artist.”
The paper animals did not move. Perhaps whatever magic had animated them stopped when Mom died. Or perhaps I had only imagined that these paper constructions were once alive. The memory of children could not be trusted.
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