The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

Young Jack is a bi-racial boy, the product of a Chinese mother and a Caucasian father. As the story opens, he is sobbing. His mother folds paper into an animal and then she blows into it. The paper tiger, named Laohu (the Mandarin word for “tiger”) comes to life, and Jack laughs. His mom explains, “This is called origami” (178).

Jack relates that his mother is a mail-order bride that his father picked from a catalog that lied about her abilities. At his request, though, his mom makes other paper animals that get into trouble and amuse them, including a shark out of tin foil so that it can swim in water. At age 10, he moves into a new house, where the neighbors come by to say hello. They make racist comments about Jack and his mother.

Mark, a neighborhood boy, comes over with Star Wars toys. Jack is not impressed, but his paper toys don’t impress Mark either. When Laohu pounces on Obi-Wan Kenobi, the action figure’s head falls off, and Mark punches Jack, telling him, “It probably cost more than what your dad paid for your mom!” (182). Laohu defends Jack, and Mark grabs him and tears him in half.