Ken Liu presents Jack's attitude towards his mother in the short story “The Paper Menagerie” as one of contempt.

When Jack reaches high-school age, he begins to show contempt for his mother, who is an immigrant from China. His contempt for his mother, which he admits to feeling good, “like wine,” manifests itself in Jack's not talking to his mother, who does not speak English.

Jack's contempt for his mother is mixed with a fair amount of embarrassment at her inability to speak English and the manner in which she met Jack's father after he picked her out of a catalog.

The effect of Jack's contempt for his mother is to drive a wedge between them. When Jack was little, he had a good relationship with his mother; he would delight in all the remarkable origami animals she made for him and which would magically come to life.

But when Jack hits his teen years, he becomes increasingly estranged from his mother and, as we've seen, feels contempt towards her. However, it's clear that Jack's feelings are a consequence of ignorance. As he readily confesses when his mother lies dying, he doesn't know much about her. But then, the same can be said about his father.