Ken Liu's Heavy Use Of Origami Animals In Paper Menagerie

Ken Liu’s heavy use of fantastical symbolism within “Paper Menagerie” in the form of origami animals expresses the idea that people should never forget their past, because their past is what defines them. This use of fantastical symbolism holds true throughout the story, with the origami animals representing Jack’s childhood, more specifically, his time with his mother.
The way Jack’s mother breathes life into the animals demonstrates his association with her and his exciting childhood. This is shown in how “She breathed into them so that they shared her breath, and thus moved with her life.” (65). Her ability to breathe life into paper animals is clearly symbolic. It represents his nostalgic memories of his childhood. More specifically, all the love his mother gave to him. At this point, his relationship with his mother was very good. In fact I'd go so far as to say, it began with her breathing life into Laohu. After all, he didn't stop crying until she did. It felt so immensely exciting at the time, that his mind remembering it puts him in a state of nostalgia. He can only remember it fondly, that’s what nostalgia is. Also, whenever he describes the animals, his mother is always involved somehow. Either by making them, fixing them, or simply being remembered when they are spoken of.
Laohu being torn apart and repaired poorly is

symbolic of Jack’s crumbling relationship with his mother. “Mark crumpled him in his hand and tore him in half. He balled up the two pieces of paper and threw them at me,”(68). It is clear that Laohu, perhaps more so than the other animals even, being the first animal made, and as such the one who began the relationship, is representative of both Jack and his mother, and their relationship. This means that when he is torn apart by Jack’s friend, so was their relationship. It was, in fact, at that exact moment he decided to start moving away from his mother. Jack even says that, “Eventually, she stopped speaking altogether if I was around” (70). His mother tried to patch up the rift that was beginning to form between the two, but as Jack said, “After Mark left, [he] spent a long time trying, without success to tape together the pieces,” (68). He couldn’t patch up Laohu. This was also true for Jack and his mother's relationship. They never talked the same. They never connected again, and perhaps worst of all, he pushed her away altogether, practically saying, if you can't change, you can't be my mother. “Mom began to mime things if she needed to let me know something. She tried to hug me the way she saw American mothers do on TV” (70). She’s failing at changing, just like the tape failed to hold together Laohu. The relationship is broken, and this is all heavily symbolized within the tape that she tries to use to fix Laohu, to no avail.
Jack's ability to revive Laohu as an adult demonstrates heavy symbolism. He is only able to revive Laohu after reading the letter from his mother, “Following the creases, I refolded the paper back into Laohu. I cradled him in the crook of my arm, and as he purred, we began the walk home.” (76). The symbolism within Laohu being alive is palpable. This shows that the narrator has changed upon reading the letter. He has a new outlook on life now, and really he has begun to feel depressed to a degree that his mother is gone. He finally understands his mother’s circumstances. Therein lies the largest part of the symbolism. Given that the animals represent his mother, and his memories with her, his ability to revive Laohu shows that he truly loves his mother now. Moreover, that he has accepted her, despite her strange circumstances that he despised her for, for so long.
Jack being able to save Laohu, in a way demonstrates his mother passing her childhood on to him after she dies. When speaking about origami in her childhood, she says in the letter, “This was the practical magic in the life of the village” and she goes on to say “I’ll never forget the sight of all those little dragons zooming across the sky overhead,” (74). It is her wish to impart upon her son all the joy origami brought her, despite her rough past. She wants him to be able to experience all the wonderful things she did with origami, not so much because of the origami itself, but rather the experiences. She wants him to have wonderful experiences that make him smile and enjoy himself, like he did when he was a child. This is also why the origami is symbolic, not only does it represent Jack and his mother’s relationship, but also, Jacks happiness. It is made very clear that, when Laohu is torn apart, so is Jack. He becomes incredibly unhappy, and tries to fix this with symbolic tape, in this case, he uses a fake version of himself to give the illusion that he is happy, when in reality, this could not be more untrue. This illusion is tearing away at him. It’s pushing him to his limit, and Jack’s falling apart because of it. This fake persona is not him. When Susan finds the box of animals in the attack, they are described as “brittle” and that “the bright wrapping paper patterns had faded” (72). This is exactly how Jack has become. As the animals were “hidden in the uninsulated darkness of the attic for so long” (72), so was Jack. With his true self hidden in the darkness, he’d become brittle, and faded. He probably doesn’t even realize this. Much like the animals are forgotten, again, so is Jack’s true self.
Laohu purring as they walk home symbolizes a reparation in the relationship between Jack and his mother. Upon reading the letter from his mother and writing the symbol for love on the paper an inordinate number of times, Jack “refolded the paper back into Laohu. [He] cradled him in the crook of [his] arm, and as he purred, [they] began the walk home.” (76). This could perhaps be the most subtle piece of information within this entire story. If the reader does not pick up on the fact that Laohu is purring, then they feel lost and without closure. This is because there is no way of knowing if the relationship between Jack and his mother has changed at all, Jack doesn’t cry, he doesn’t feel anything outwardly, and at most draws the symbol for love on the paper. He doesn’t appear very moved. However, the fact that Laohu is purring as they leave shows something has changed, given that Laohu almost immediately stopped playing when he was rediscovered by Jack. Given Laohu represents Jack and his mother’s relationship, when he stops playing, it means something is wrong. There is a rift in their relationship. When Laohu is folded back up into himself, he begins purring. The rift has disappeared, and it hasn’t just been taped over, like last time. Jack loves his mother yet again, as she always loved him. That is why Laohu is purring, he is together again, just like Jack and his mother’s relationship, after all, Laohu is the symbol of his time with his mother, which he recollects fondly here.
The use of impossibly fantastical symbolism is symbolic for Jack’s time with his mother.

Jack keeps growing farther and farther apart from his mother throughout the story, and this is demonstrated through the condition of the animals breaking down, and more so through the way he pushes away the animals like he did his mother. However, Jack inevitably comes back to his roots; the animals, despite all the effort he puts into leaving them behind. This is something we all must do eventually. No matter how far we stray from our roots, we have to come back sometime, whether we do it soon after straying away, or on our very

deathbed.