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In Fae Myenne Ng’s novel Bone, the symbolism of paper and bone are very symbolic and meaningful. In the novel, these two objects have a deep significance towards the meaning of the whole “Chinese immigrant” situation. The reference of paper in the novel symbolizes a lot about the past and how it is important to value and remember it. Paper also becomes identification and something that is used to give life and prove Leon’s existence. Bones may not seem as important for people who have no immigrated to another country. For the rest of us, and especially for Chinese immigrants living in a western society, the bones of the ancestors are very important and mean a lot if they are brought back to the homeland to bury. Being Chinese and raised in a western society is not very easy, and being Chinese, I find that many of their situations that they have been through are a lot like the ones that I have experienced. Throughout the novel, there are many references and indications about paper. Paper is very important especially to Leon because being a man whose legal identity is based on a piece of paper; it has become more important to him than anything else he owns. Leon came to America on a ship and had to falsify papers in order to make him legible to stay in the country. For Leon, living “in this country, paper is more precious than blood” (p.9).
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