Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese is a graphic novel that explores the idea of cultural identity of the course of the book. Through the use of both visuals as well as text, the novel demonstrates the endeavors of the various characters -- the Monkey King, Jin, and Danny -- as they try to discover who they truly are, both physically and culturally.
Through the storylines of these three characters, it is evident that they are searching for their true identity. At the beginning of the novel, none of them have discovered who they are and what they stand for, and each have inner conflicts as they search for the best version of themselves. The Monkey King wants acceptance from the immortal beings, Jin wants to assimilate to American culture and forget his background, and Danny wants to uphold his American identity without disruptions from his Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee. For example, the Monkey King masters the twelve disciplines of kung-fu as a means of transforming into a god. Even though he considers himself a god, the god who created him “says that [the Monkey King is] a monkey. Therefore [he is] a monkey” (Yang 69). Despite his attempts to hide his true being, there is no escaping who the Monkey King truly is. On the other hand, Jin and Danny come to terms with their true selves in a very similar manner. Jin does his best to assimilate to American culture and American ideals, which is seen through the way that he mentors Wei-Chen, and “show[s him] how things work in America” (Yang 102). While Wei-Chen sees this as an act of kindness and appreciates the way that Jin has helped him, this reinforces just how much Jin wants to put his Asian past behind him, and forget his true identity. Danny faces a similar fate throughout the course of the novel. He appears completely American, and yet his cousin Chin-Kee always comes to visit, “talking his stupid talk and eating his stupid food” as a means of reminding Danny about his past (Yang 127). Just before Danny begins to make a new life for himself at a new school, Chin-Kee arrives as a reminder of his culture and who he is. In fact, it is later revealed that Danny and Jin are actually the same person. They both struggle with their true character and want to forget their pasts and embrace life in America. The book helps to visualize how important it is for them to hold on to their cultural background.
Essentially, Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese analyzes the importance of the acceptance of one’s cultural identity in the novel, which is visualized through the three storylines of the Monkey King, Jin, and Danny. While each of these characters have different stories, they are ultimately unable to pretend to be someone who they are not, and must choose to embrace their culture and appreciate who they really are.
You make a strong argument that American Born Chinese reveals the identity transformation and journey to acceptance that immigrants undergo when coming to America. However, I would add that a large part of Yang’s story is explaining the struggles the characters experience recognizing and accepting their identities because of the stereotypes projected onto them. Jin feels he has no choice but to change his identity because of the unaccepting community he is surrounded by at school. On his first day, Jin’s classmate tells the class that “Chinese people eat dogs” (Yang 31). While Jin identifies as an Asian-American, his peers make him question his background at a time when all he wants to do is fit in with everyone else. This causes conflicting ideas on background, heritage, and American-ness in Jin’s mind, and eventually leads him to want to change who he is. Jin desires to be like his white classmates, who are never made fun of and whose American-ness goes unquestioned simply because of the way they look. Jin curls his hair to look more like Greg, abandoning his own features because he believes his classmates will like him more if he looks more “American” (97). Changing his identity seems less like an active choice and more like a means to be accepted by others. Jin should not have to change who he is to be able to embrace life in America – I think this is what Yang is trying to teach in the graphic novel.
ReplyDeleteI agree that American Born Chinese teaches the importance of accepting one's cultural identity through the stories of the Monkey King, Jin, and Danny. With the story of the Monkey King in particular, the Monkey King is first introduced as a hero of sorts, removing the evil tiger spirit that was plaguing the flower fruit mountain for centuries and ruling over his monkey kingdom "with a firm but gentle hand" (Yang 10). The Monkey King was kind and admirable, however, in trying to have the gods accept him to being a god, he becomes tyrannical and violent, fighting the gods and forcing all monkeys to wear shoes, which is seen to be harmful and disruptive to their everyday lives (Yang 55). It is only once he accepts that he is a monkey does he return to his kind and admirable character, sparing the lives of the goblins who stabbed his master and accompanying his master's journey to the west "faithfully until the very end" (Yang 160). The Monkey King embraced who he truly was, a monkey, and only then was he able to enter the ranks of the gods as the emissary of Tze-yo-tzuh, the creator of all existence, something that he once previously thought impossible as a monkey.
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