The notion that changing the physical behaviors and countenances to fit into another group of people with different identities does not alter the identity of each person is a prominent theme throughout Gene Luen Yang’s book American Born Chinese. There are three main characters throughout the entire book, Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Danny, who all exemplify the theme of immigration. Monkey King identified himself as a god since he built his kingdom, but when he was not accepted by gods and goddess due to him being a monkey, he started to see how good it is to live as a monkey. Jin was not accepted by American students at his school. He was treated differently from everyone each day due to being an Asian. So, he becomes to act differently and
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The monkey king built his own kingdom and thinks he is eligible to be included as the part of gods. So, he went to the dinner party where all gods and goddesses attended. When the monkey king was about to step into the gate, the security guard blocked him. Monkey King started to argue with the security guard how he was a king in his kingdom, but the guard ignored and said, “Look. You may be a king- you may even be a deity- but you are still a monkey.”(Yang and Pien 15) It made Monkey King feel angry because he had never treated badly and no one had told him he is a monkey. After hearing that he is still a monkey, the monkey king could start to smell the monkey furs in his kingdom that he had never noticed before (Yang and Pien 20). This seemed like he was in the very first step of going through the transition of trying to think who he actually is. “He stayed for the rest of the night thinking of ways to get rid of it” (Yang and Pien 20). This part tells a lot about the monkey king trying to deny the fact that he is actually a monkey. To me, it seemed that he was somewhat confused and thought he could still be a god if he tries. Then, the monkey king met Tze-Yo-Tzuh, the creator of creatures. He came up to the monkey king and told, “I created you. I say that you are a …show more content…
Initially, Jin was from a Chinatown in California where he did not have any problem being an Asian in the US. The author presents that the problems about Jin’s identity and race started to arise when he and his family eventually moved to another place where very a few Asians were present. However, there is a significant part that may have affected Jin’s identity as a Chinese a lot. “Ironically they did not meet until a year and a half later, in the library of San Francisco State University. They were both graduate students” (Yang and Pien 26). The fact that the parents came to the US when they grew up in China for the rest of their lives up until college can affect Jin and the entire family to still have some Chinese cultures implemented into their life styles even when they do not notice. For instance, Jin narrates “Every Sunday, mother used to visit the Chinese herbalist just around the corner for her allergies. She would always take me along” (Yang and Pien 28). This is exceptionally a unique experience that not many people will get especially for Americans. As the book states, Jin is considered American born Chinese. However, everything inside and around him seemed to make him not different from any other Chinese. It was not strange for me to see Jin going through hardships as an immigrant in the US. Yang implied very well about
The monkey king built his own kingdom and thinks he is eligible to be included as the part of gods. So, he went to the dinner party where all gods and goddesses attended. When the monkey king was about to step into the gate, the security guard blocked him. Monkey King started to argue with the security guard how he was a king in his kingdom, but the guard ignored and said, “Look. You may be a king- you may even be a deity- but you are still a monkey.”(Yang and Pien 15) It made Monkey King feel angry because he had never treated badly and no one had told him he is a monkey. After hearing that he is still a monkey, the monkey king could start to smell the monkey furs in his kingdom that he had never noticed before (Yang and Pien 20). This seemed like he was in the very first step of going through the transition of trying to think who he actually is. “He stayed for the rest of the night thinking of ways to get rid of it” (Yang and Pien 20). This part tells a lot about the monkey king trying to deny the fact that he is actually a monkey. To me, it seemed that he was somewhat confused and thought he could still be a god if he tries. Then, the monkey king met Tze-Yo-Tzuh, the creator of creatures. He came up to the monkey king and told, “I created you. I say that you are a …show more content…
Initially, Jin was from a Chinatown in California where he did not have any problem being an Asian in the US. The author presents that the problems about Jin’s identity and race started to arise when he and his family eventually moved to another place where very a few Asians were present. However, there is a significant part that may have affected Jin’s identity as a Chinese a lot. “Ironically they did not meet until a year and a half later, in the library of San Francisco State University. They were both graduate students” (Yang and Pien 26). The fact that the parents came to the US when they grew up in China for the rest of their lives up until college can affect Jin and the entire family to still have some Chinese cultures implemented into their life styles even when they do not notice. For instance, Jin narrates “Every Sunday, mother used to visit the Chinese herbalist just around the corner for her allergies. She would always take me along” (Yang and Pien 28). This is exceptionally a unique experience that not many people will get especially for Americans. As the book states, Jin is considered American born Chinese. However, everything inside and around him seemed to make him not different from any other Chinese. It was not strange for me to see Jin going through hardships as an immigrant in the US. Yang implied very well about