Analyse af 'The Paper Menagerie'

Jack mentions that he was born a year after his mother came to America, in the year of the tiger. Since we know the mother came to America several years after the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, we can place that Jacks birth between 23rd og January 1974 and Febuary 1975, as that was the closest to the Year of the Tiger.

Setting:

The Paper Menagerie takes place in Connectitus, US, where Jack was born and lives with his parents. When Jack is ten years old, the family moves to a new house across town. While the house is not described, the narrative hints that Jacks room symbolizes his isolation and determination to forget about his Chinese heritage. ”I would hurry on to my room, where i could continue my All-American pursuit of happiness.

In college, Jack moves to California, where he studies and where he takes part in jobinterviews. The end of the story focuses on Jacks mothers life in China and Hong Kong.

The letter:

The letter that Jack reads highlights the poverty in which his mother lived before the Cultural Revolution. Later on, when Jacks mother arrives in Hong Kong, she works for an abusive family and lives in terrible conditions. ”At night i was lockes into a cupboard in the kitchen to sleep”.