Language and Translation Theme Analysis

In “The Paper Menagerie,” acts of translation represent the desire for human connection and the attempt to understand other people. Early in the story, Jack asks his American father how he came to marry his Chinese mother. and Jack’s father explains that he met Jack’s mother through an introduction service. Initially, he believed that she spoke English because the introduction service told him so and wrote English letters to him on her behalf. When he flew to meet her in Hong Kong, however, he learned that she spoke almost no English. Rather than becoming angry, he hired a translator. This choice to translate and seek connection despite the language barrier, rather than give up on a possible relationship, eventually leads to Jack’s father and mother marrying and having Jack. Similarly, when Jack finds a letter from his mother after her death, he immediately searches for a Chinese tourist to read it aloud, translating the letter from written to spoken Chinese. The speed with which Jack searches for a translator indicates his desire to connect with and understand his mother after her death.

By contrast, when characters in “The Paper Menagerie” refuse to translate, they are refusing connection and understanding. For example, after his neighbor Mark subjects Jack to racist bullying, Jack refuses to translate for his mother the racist slur Mark called him and demands that she speak only English from then on. By ignoring her request for translation, Jack prevents her from understanding how he is suffering—a disconnect that damages their relationship for the rest of his mother’s life. By marking moments of connection and disconnection between characters with successful or failed translations, “The Paper Menagerie” suggests that human connection demands hard work and even discomfort, and that the effort is worth it in order to build understanding.