Character Analysis: American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Yang

Jin Wang was born in America but is also Chinese. He faces some difficulties with racism and stereotypes as he grows up. He just moved to a new school from San Francisco. The teacher introduces him to the class and says,” Class, I'd like us all to give a warm Mayflower Elementary welcome to your new friend and Classmate Jin Wang...He and his family recently moved to our neighborhood all the way from China!”(30). Jin has this look on his face of annoyance. Like, did she actually say this. She is too ignorant to ask so she just assumed that since he is Chinese, that he must be from China. He was born in America. This just shows how ignorant people are about other cultures. It makes it even harder to fit in if people don't even care where you're from and just make assumptions. Jin now experiences this first hand. He tries so hard to fit in and be normal. He goes as far as changing his hair to match the guys hair that Amelia likes. When he isn't noticed as much he wants to become someone else, someone who will fit in. He wakes up in the morning a new person, as he has transformed into someone he is not, he thinks to himself,”A new face deserved a new name. I decided to call myself...Danny”(198). He changed his race he didn't like his heritage and cultures so much

Through the personal stories of his hair, love life, and behavior, Liu is able to show the effects of his assimilation. The second section deals with Liu’s struggles to conform to white stereotypes as an Asian American. With his personal anecdotes, he establishes himself as a more credible source to speak on the subject of assimilation. The second section uses narration to provide evidence about Liu’s definition of assimilation.

Stories and stereotypes make many people want to change themselves negatively and assimilate just to fit in with society. As time passes, society’s stereotypes for how people of each race should be, which race is more dominant than others, and which race you should be, all play a role in impacting someone’s self-esteem and their insecurities. This is portrayed through Jin Wang, a main character in Gene Luen Yang’s “American Born Chinese” when Jin Wang thinks his crush, Amelia, he instantly becomes happy. But then he thinks about Greg and Amelia together and gets mad. He finally zooms into Greg’s blond hair. The next day he goes to school with the same hairstyle. The hair symbolizes Greg’s all American identity because the stereotypical American is portrayed with blond hair and blue eyes. To Jin Wang, this hair symbolizes what he wants to be, so he changed his hair to an “American” hairstyle to get Amelia to like him. Due to stereotypes about how Americans are suppose to look like, Jin Wang feels insecure about himself and wants to change his identity and himself as well to assimilate into American culture and stereotypes. These stereotypes and the Anti-Asian stereotypes impact Jin Wang greatly and make him hate himself as well as his background and where he came from because he believes that in order to be AMerica, you have to be white. Another way that this is portrayed is from a personal experience I had as a kid. Growing up as an Asian kid in America, I didn’t really know

Many new arrivals still struggle to survive and often Chinese Americans still encounter suspicion and hostility. Chinese Americans have achieved great success and now, like so many others, they are stitching together a new American identity. As Michelle Ling, a young Chinese American, tells Bill Moyers in Program 3, “I get to compose my life one piece at a time, however I feel like it. Not to say that it’s not difficult and that there isn’t challenge all the time, but more than material wealth, you get to choose what you are, who you are.” (www.pbs.org)

In his essay “Paper Tigers,” Wesley Yang discusses his own experiences as an Asian American, tying them into the larger picture of Asians functioning in American society today. Yang’s argument is that even though Asian Americans are one of the most successful ethnicities in the country, stereotypes that Asian Americans are exposed to affect the way other Americans view them. Because of personal bias and racism, human society fails to see other people for who they are and put too much emphasis on what they are supposed to or not supposed to be in America today. Stereotypes cloud people’s vision and judgment and keep some from achieving their goals because others have a pre-created

Chin-Kee represents everything Danny hates about himself and his Chinese identity. He’s therefore a manifestation of his internalized racism. Every time Chin-Kee visits, he is reminded of the Chinese identity that he rejected. Danny tries to run away, change schools, but that won’t change the fact that he is Chinese. His struggles with his identity will always follow him around, until he deals with them. When the Monkey King shows his true form, he asks Danny to do the same thing, to reveal himself as Jin Wang. The Monkey King tells Danny that he’s not here to punish him, but to “serve as your conscience- as a signpost to your soul”(221). The Monkey King is here to try and help Jin find his true identity, instead of running away from it. When Jin Wang asks him what he is supposed to do next, the Monkey King answers him: “You know, Jin, I would have saved myself from five hundred years imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock had I only realized how good it is to be a monkey”(223). The book does not give a clear answer what exactly his identity will be now. However, he has started to try and make things right with Wei-Chen Sun, so he has made a first step into overcoming his internalized racism and accepting his Chinese identity .He seems at peace with himself, which is all a reader can hope

On the way, he comes across the Patriarch Subodhi and his disciples. Although Monkey gives the Patriarch a hard time, he eventually recites a poem for Monkey avoiding for the Three Calamities. The Patriarch recites a secret formula that will enable Monkey to undergo seventy-two bodily transformations, while granting him with other talents, like the ability to soar through clouds at high speeds. While in Heaven, Monkey demands to be called Great Sage of Heaven. In order to gain immortality, he steals and eats from the Immortal Peach Garden and drinks elixir. Consequently, Monkey’s punishment is to be put to death in the alchemical crucible. As a result, the fire makes him stronger and indestructible. For example, Monkey uses his powers to rob, deceive, and battle monstrous

The tale “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luch Wang depicts the story of three characters, Monkey, Jin, and Danny. They all have the problem of fitting into their new environments. Jin Wang has to deal with Asian stereotypes. Danny has to deal with embarrassment of his cousin. Lastly, Monkey has to deal with the fact that there is no position for him in the heavenly ranks. However, over time, these characters have to come together to fit in. Yet the question remains: what exactly about fitting in is the problem? Although Jin Wang takes the form of Danny to reject his Chinese roots, the embarrassment of Chin-Knee shows he cannot hide behind a false American identity, thereby delineating that race is the source of his problem.

THESIS - When evaluating Arnold “Junior” Spirit from Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Jin Wang from Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese, similarities radiate in both characters as their disparity in race deem the two of them as outcasts in the entirety of society. In addition to their lack of social interactions, their uniformity in their impulsive decisions cost them each a dear friend. Although Junior and Jin are quite similar, they share differences in the way Junior tries bettering himself by fitting into both his Indian and Reardan culture whereas Jin changes himself in every possible way to become Americanized.

To some people this is not be viewed as a stereotype due to the fact it is not instantly perceived as “negative”; for those readers who delve in deeper, this stereotype outlines the educational daily hidden pressure of people from Chinese descent whom do not fit this “positive” stereotype. Every day, especially in American society, classmates look to their Asian counterparts to provide the answers to questions they do not know in every subject they take. Nonetheless, this ridiculous assumption hurts the Asian students that do not feel comfortable with their intellectual abilities. Placing Asian students as the “model student” excludes the students who actually have problems and need help that other classmates are reluctant to give the students simply because their classmates do not view helping their struggling Asian classmates as an actual necessity. By “poking” fun and bringing into light both Asian stereotypes, Yang enforces view that stereotypes are in use today.

     The focus of our group project is on Chinese Americans. We studied various aspects of their lives and the preservation of their culture in America. The Chinese American population is continually growing. In fact, in 1990, they were the largest group of Asians in the United States (Min 58). But living in America and adjusting to a new way of life is not easy. Many Chinese Americans have faced and continue to face much conflict between their Chinese and American identities. But many times, as they adapt to this new life, they are also able to preserve their Chinese culture and identity through various ways. We studied these things through the viewing of a movie called Joy Luck Club,

Many people in the world wish they could be better or be like a superstar but they never realize that if they live with themselves they will be a lot happier and have a more positive outlook on themselves. The novels American Born Chinese, A Raisin In The Sun, and War Brothers are all examples of people and books all trying to look different, get richer and change the way they are living also know as faustian bargain. In the book American Born Chinese cousin Danny is trying to get rid of his annoying cousin Chin-Kee because Chinkee won't let him live in peace. The monkey King is trying to change himself because of the guard called him a monkey and wouldn't allow him to go into the party. The last example in the book American

2:The story 2.2-Character (Prepare Character Analysis) Kelvin Palaguachi In the graphic novel “American Born Chinese” every character such as The Monkey King, Jing Wang, and Danny all go through an external and internal conflict and a specific character arc. These characters suffer throughout the novel trying to accept their culture, tradition and aspects. Eventually these characters learn to accept and understand their true identity through a certain conflict.

They contribute to a prejudiced and limited perspective of Asian Americans that does not reflect the group’s heterogeneity. Not all Asian Americans are smart, nor are they all quiet, short, and unacculturated. There are more than thirty ethnicities categorized as Asian American, and they need to be portrayed in the media with characters that celebrate this grand diversity. Many Asian American students, myself included, waste time and energy worrying about whether we are acting in accordance with these stereotypes and consequently divert our attention from our studies to less productive activities. We internalize these stereotypes and often feel alienated from mainstream society because our culture, an integral part of our identity, is constantly being made a caricature, to the extent that Asian Americans themselves propagate these stereotypes and degrade their own culture. Microaggressions that accumulate conversation after conversation, day after day, year after year, question our sense of belonging and erode our individuality. Some Asian Americans, desperate to avoid fulfilling stereotypes, attempt to act “white”. Having only white friends becomes a sort of a

One day, from the back seat of the car, “Luke announced that he didn't want to go to Chinese school anymore.” His parents looked to one another, while Jen said “Oh, really?” and continued driving. Though Luke is only four years old, he voices his opinions - twice eve – yet they are still quickly overtaken by those of his parents. Luke’s parents wanted him to grow up “embracing his whole complex ethnic heritage” and not being “more” Chinese than Irish. It could be that his parents yearned to show Luke what being Chinese really means – its language, its culture, and its people. With this knowledge, he might feel confident to display this part of his identity. It could also be that they have a deep rooted bias for Luke not to ignore his Chinese heritage, thinking they know what is best for him. It is like what Emerson once wrote, “These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world.” His parents hold a heavy influence on Luke’s future. The weight of parents’ ideas stretches farther than a stranger’s, for we emulate their words, their ideas, and their values and these soon replace our own. Yet, the more one thinks about this, the more one will find it absurd. It does not mean that his parents are right. Acceptance looks so normal, but his mother’s opinions that replace his own will never be as strong as his own conviction. His