Regardless of age and country, all adults and teenagers would readily relate to Jin’s struggle to fit in his society. Especially, all the immigrants once imagine if they could transform into other races as Jin transforms himself into Danny - a white boy. When it comes to the topic of the appearance based on the culture or society, some of us will claim that the looks do not represent our identity so there is no need to change our appearance in order to fit into the society we are in. On the other hand, others contend that our appearances define who we are and that we should alter how we look so as to assimilate into the society. Nowadays, many teenagers from all over the world pursue the same look. If they do not share a common feature that
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Lan Dong’s “Reimagining the Monkey King in Comics” describes that this book retells the Chinese folk tale of the Monkey King in a new light focusing on identity formation through the inner transformation. He also emphasizes the importance of self-acceptance in his article; what ultimately signal and give rise to the characters’ inner transformations are their hopes of physical transformations, which are not in opposition to their spiritual growth. Accepting own difference and identity is essential to the journey toward an authentic inner self; in fact, bodies and souls are conjoined and play off the changes in each other, facilitating development, rather than obstructing it. In American Born Chinese, the characters’ self-acceptance of the differences from others is the first step to their spiritual …show more content…
Jin Wang tries to look like a white boy by changing his hair to curly hair, hoping to date a white girl - Amelia (Yang 97). Jin’s hope of imitating a white teenager gets even bigger when he consciously transforms himself into Danny (Yang 194). This transformation allows Jin to savor the life he has always hoped for. However, his fantasy ends when Danny’s cousin, Chin-Kee comes to visit him. Chin-Kee embarrasses him with his strong Chinese accent and obscene acts. Danny eventually fights with Chin-Kee, resulting in their return back to their real forms – Jin and the Monkey King. Waking up from his own fantasy, Jin finally realizes his identity as a Chinese and that it can never be changed even if he tries to escape his reality through his alter ego. The physical transformation that Jin desires turns out not to be a solution to Jin’s insecurity. His self-doubt comes from his different appearance, or race, from other kids in his high school. When he eventually accepts his difference and his identity as a Chinese, he reconciles with Wei-Chen after waiting for him for over a month and apologizing for what he has done (Yang 231). Jin abandons his alter ego Danny, but gains Wei-Chen in reality - his friend who has sincerely supported Jin. As Dong claims that, similar to the Monkey King,
Lan Dong’s “Reimagining the Monkey King in Comics” describes that this book retells the Chinese folk tale of the Monkey King in a new light focusing on identity formation through the inner transformation. He also emphasizes the importance of self-acceptance in his article; what ultimately signal and give rise to the characters’ inner transformations are their hopes of physical transformations, which are not in opposition to their spiritual growth. Accepting own difference and identity is essential to the journey toward an authentic inner self; in fact, bodies and souls are conjoined and play off the changes in each other, facilitating development, rather than obstructing it. In American Born Chinese, the characters’ self-acceptance of the differences from others is the first step to their spiritual …show more content…
Jin Wang tries to look like a white boy by changing his hair to curly hair, hoping to date a white girl - Amelia (Yang 97). Jin’s hope of imitating a white teenager gets even bigger when he consciously transforms himself into Danny (Yang 194). This transformation allows Jin to savor the life he has always hoped for. However, his fantasy ends when Danny’s cousin, Chin-Kee comes to visit him. Chin-Kee embarrasses him with his strong Chinese accent and obscene acts. Danny eventually fights with Chin-Kee, resulting in their return back to their real forms – Jin and the Monkey King. Waking up from his own fantasy, Jin finally realizes his identity as a Chinese and that it can never be changed even if he tries to escape his reality through his alter ego. The physical transformation that Jin desires turns out not to be a solution to Jin’s insecurity. His self-doubt comes from his different appearance, or race, from other kids in his high school. When he eventually accepts his difference and his identity as a Chinese, he reconciles with Wei-Chen after waiting for him for over a month and apologizing for what he has done (Yang 231). Jin abandons his alter ego Danny, but gains Wei-Chen in reality - his friend who has sincerely supported Jin. As Dong claims that, similar to the Monkey King,