The toy transformers that Jin and his friends play with at the beginning of American Born Chinese would not seem significant from simply the images and text. However, Gene Yang takes careful consideration to make sure we immediately take notice of these seemingly normal toys. On the cover art, the transformer toy Jin is holding takes up a significant portion of the page. Jin's transformer represents his desire to become someone else (ultimately that being Danny) and abandon what makes him different, his Asian descent. Telling the herbalist that he wants to be a transformer isn't out of place for a young kid, but the reasons he gives for his desire is what makes it significant. He wants to be "a robot in disguise" and "more than meets the eye" (28). These lines being bolded gives further evidence to Yang's desire to use Jin's transformer in this way. Oddly enough, Jin receives what he desires and becomes Danny, a white kid who is breaking into being popular. But his transformation doesn't completely erase his Asian roots. Rather, they are reincarnated as Chin-Kee. Though Chin-Kee embodies the stereotypes others hold about Asians, he also embodies how Jin has been molded to think about his Asian roots through the bullying and discrimination he experiences. Jin thinks that his Asian descent is what is ruining his life as he explains as Danny on page 126-127 that Chin-Kee always appears and ruins his social life, forcing him to run away. Danny's fight with Chin-Kee later is the ultimate rejection of his Asian heritage, while Chin-Kee's reveal as the Monkey King is a reminder to Jin of how he should be proud of his heritage instead.
Interestingly however, the toy on the cover isn't Jin's toy seen on page 23. Rather, it is Wei-Chen's toy seen on page 39. As Jin's transformer represent his desire to be someone else, perhaps holding Wei-Chen's instead of his own represents his eventual acceptance of his Chinese side, as Wei-Chen is instrumental in this transformation in Jin's life. Speaking of this robot in particular, Wei-Chen mentions that his "can change into a robot monkey" (39). This both foreshadows the reveal of the Monkey King's relation to Wei-Chen as well as gives us a potential insight into Wei-Chen's mind that we don't really get in the novel. The robot-monkey is a reminder to Wei-Chen about his role in the world, both his need to be virtuous and his loyalty to his father and Tze-Yo-Tzuh. Though Wei'Chen eventually rejects this role and transforms into a gangster of some sort, he eventually finds his way again through the Monkey King and Jin's influence
I agree that the role of Transformers are a very important symbol in the graphic novel, and reflect the main characters’ hopes of changing themselves in order to fit in. I think the reaction of the herbalist’s wife also reveals an important part of this theme. As she says in response to hearing Jin’s wish to be a transformer, she replies, “It’s easy to become anything you wish...so long as you’re willing to forfeit your soul” (Yang, 29). The book argues that the problem in transforming yourself in order to fit in lies in how that transformation separates you from your soul, or inner self.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of transformation can be seen in many places in the book, and how these transformations cause a rift between a person and their ‘soul’. We can see this in the Monkey King’s separation from his monkey-hood in order to become acceptable in the eyes of the Gods. He begins to wear shoes, train harder than ever to become a better fighter, and reacts with violence to anyone who laughs at him. He is then trapped under the mountain of rocks, and the only way to escape is to return to his true self. He must reverse the transformation and reconnect with his ‘soul’, his roots. This leads him to gain self-acceptance.