Clair first handed the beggar a piece of paper money, hoping to help him feed and clothe him, but the beggar folded the paper money into a paper crane and threw it back, saying that he did not accept the so-called kindness. (If you are really grateful, you don't have to return the original paper money.)
The image of a paper crane is already contradictory in terms of its form. Paper money has no value on its own. Its value comes from the items it can be exchanged for. On the other hand, the paper crane has invested the painstaking efforts, time and emotions of the craftsmen, and has become a handicraft. It may not have market value, but it has intrinsic value for the creator. (If you send a child away a hundred yuan, he may not care, but if you take away his worthless toys, he may be anxious to you)
Paper cranes constitute two tensions in the subsequent plot. The first tension is in Russell's situation. Russell was Frank's springboard to gain the vice presidential position, similar to paper money, which Clair had known for a long time. However, the scene where the paper crane appeared between Clair and Russell led Clair to Russell's children. Clair discovered that Russell, who was only useful for her and Frank, had inherent value for his children. The paper money became a paper crane. That's why after Russell's death, Frank didn't have any mood swings, but Clair had a dream of Russell's daughter being torn in half by poison ivy.
The second tension is in Clair's situation. According to Clair's self-report, in the first episode, she fired ordinary employees, ended small domestic projects, and started working on international water purification projects, also in order to achieve her and Frank's common goal (Vice President-President-Re-elected President). However, on Russell's bill, she found that she had been making sacrifices for Frank, but Frank did not make any compromises for her, so she rushed to Adam's house in New York. During her time with Adam, Clair confided in her past. Her mother never cared about her inner feelings, but only paid attention to her outer value (whether beautiful and happy, you can imagine her family’s values and hope she would marry a good one. Husband even if his life is complete).
She later quarreled with Adam, saying that she had never loved anyone for more than a week. It's hard to say that this is love. It's better to say that this is a value of paper money-it is difficult for others to bring her a constant sense of external value (Frank is worthy of being a master of customs clearance). But in the few days she was in New York, she had a skin-to-skin blind date with Adam, dancing in a bistro, and photography in Central Park. She felt the kind of value that Adam’s life represented: freedom, beauty, love-and all of these. It cannot be measured by external value. Adam said that the girl in the photo looked like Clair, not that she looked alike, but the rebellious look in her eyes. Adam always hoped that Clair could be the original self in her heart.
Among the two ends of banknotes and paper cranes, Clair chose the value she was most accustomed to. She scrambled the photo and put a paper crane in the middle, which meant that she did not agree with Adam's expectations and positioning of her and left the paper crane values behind her.
Clair's questioning of "who am I" did not end. In the second season, she once again swayed in this bipolar value due to the incident of "rape-abortion-call for the protection of the rights and interests of female soldiers". She chose Frank's power again. The ring is an important symbol of the second season. In the third season, she swayed again (not spoiled). After the first two seasons, her self-questioning and consciousness awakening were fully completed, so the third season ended with her "Francis, i'm leaving you". So I said, "House of Cards" is written "Fank" and "Clair" is written. The whole drama seeks an exit in the tension between strategic rationality and moral rationality.
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