Chen Pan Identity

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.

The largest Chinese community outside Asia, the novel's Chinatown - as in reality - blends together elements of the immigrants' ancestral homeland with the American way of life. It illustrates the life of "dualities" many Chinese Americans encounter - "two identities, two voices, two cultures, and even two names" (Huntley 73).

From the West looking at the East, China exudes an exotic, curious and alluring air. The Chinese culture is remarkably different from that of Europeans as well as Americans. Besides the most obvious differences—“color of their skins, repulsiveness of their features, their undersize of their figure, their incomprehensible language, strange customs and heathen religion”—the way of life and philosophy is perhaps the most different. In the Western culture, the self or the ego is at the center, while the sense of “group” is weak. Oppositely, the Eastern culture does not have a strong sense of self and has a strong sense of group.

Identity is a group of characteristics, data or information that belongs exactly to one person or a group of people and that make it possible to establish differences between them. The consciousness that people have about themselves is part of their identity as well as what makes them unique. According to psychologists, identity is a consistent definition of one’s self as a unique individual, in terms of role, attitudes, beliefs and aspirations. Identity tries to define who people are, what they are, where they go or what they want to be or to do. Identity could depend on self-knowledge, self-esteem, or the ability of individuals to achieve their goals. Through self-analysis people can define who they are and who the people around them

There is one thing in this world that belongs to one person and one person entirely. With it, they feel connected, grounded to something that keeps them strong. Without it, they cannot feel complete. This is Identity. One’s identity comes from the past, their origins and their past experiences.

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.

In the “Two Kinds” story the author illustrates the struggle between her American cultural identity, and her mother’s Chinese culture, as like the characters in the story. The author shows what is the struggle and the conflict that cultural differences creates. The author also uses symbolism, to address the conflicts between the characters in the story.

An identity defines who an individual is. It represents the attributes of an individual, such as interests, relationships, morals, and values. The journey to find to find a person’s identity can become complicated, especially when racial origin places a role in it. This phenomenon is evident in Two Kinds by Amy Tan. In this short story, a young girl, named Jing-Mei Woo, conflicts with her immigrant Chinese mother, Mrs. Woo, when she continues to fail to become a prodigy. Eventually, Jing-Mei realizes that her Chinese mother’s expectations restrict her from being her true-self and refuses to fit her mother’s prodigy ideology anymore. However, Mrs. Woo’s motivation for her daughter are, in part, due to the culture that she originated from. Throughout the plot, the Chinese culture fosters the appeal for the American Dream, creates a different cultural expression of love, affects Jing-Mei’s identity, and destroys Jing-Mei’s chance of becoming a prodigy.

The sense of identity is what helps an individual determine themselves. The multiple factors that it is based on includes the ethnic background and upbringing. In the creative Non- Fiction essay by Andrew Lam, he narrates his perspective of the conflictions of being a Vietnamese-American. He discusses the internal fight that he had with his self about not carrying on the Vietnamese traditions and how it troubled him. The abandonment of his mother’s cultural legacy perturbed him. This is where Lam presents the theme of identity being a quest that one must complete on their own to reach the fulfillment of self.

Although, Jin Wang’s essential obstacle is to identify his place amongst the individuals who surround him in America, however, he is considered an outsider because of his culture. For example, “What the hell is that?! Dumplings. Hmph. Stay away from my dog…Come on. Let’s leave bucktooth alone so he can enjoy lassie.” (32-33). Therefore, initially, Jin Wang struggled to discover his position in America around the individuals who surrounded him. This eventually caused Jin Wang to change his appearance in order to fit in and attract the girl he adored. Nonetheless, by gradually changing one self in order to fit in and comprehend ones surroundings causes an individual to lose sight of their individual I identity, as they forget who they

In this interesting short story, the author presents a theme that is very relevant in modern day’s world that is one of self-awareness and identity. Identity from its definition may seem inter-related to self-awareness, but in reality, they are not. Identity by definition is a representation of what a person is, his or her: value, beliefs, customs, ideas and culture. Self-awareness however is the realization of a person by understanding his or her limits (Amy 157). Therefore, these two concepts of identity and self-awareness are related. This short story is about a young Chinese student who makes her first trip to China to look for her half-sisters and family. For the purpose of this essay, I will highlight in details how the character finds her identity as a Chinese born in America.

A common theme about identity in “Paper Menagerie,” “1000-Year-Old Ghosts,” and “The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses” is that you need to be willing to be accepting, of both yourself and others, before you can live happily. In “Paper Menagerie,” Jack doesn’t want to be involved in his mother’s Chinese culture at all. He wants to be white, all-American, so much so that he begins to resent his mother. By the time he was in high school, he, “was already at that age when he wasn’t interested in what she had to say, whatever language she used.”

Immigration is a complex process that results in a transformation of identity. Depending on contextual, individual, and societal differences this transformation can have either positive or detrimental results. Initially, the immigrant will be faced with an intense culture shock while settling into a new country. During this time, cognitive functioning becomes increasingly jumbled amidst the new context, resulting in immense identity confusion. This process of acculturation involves two specific issues regarding identity for each individual. These two issues include the delicate balance between remaining ethnically distinct by retaining their cultural identity and the desire to maintain positive relations with the new society. A variety of

Li Cunxin’s autobiographical Mao’s Last Dancer and Kazuo Ishiguro’s fictional Never Let Me Go are two contemporary pieces of literature that explore the theme of identity. The underlying nature of identity itself is questioned in both texts with the Li and Ishiguro drawing attention to the importance of self-identity in today’s society. Both authors highlight the theme of identity through their portrayal of their characters living in hardship in their childhoods, defining themselves through the people around them, dealing with the lies and deceit that come with their confined worlds, self-identity dependent on setting and their changing personalities.

The world has become modern and global. Identification of the self is a complicated, though, an important problem of every individual. Self- identity is based on inner values and reflections on culture, politics and social interactions. The main point is that people label themselves to any particular group in the society (Worchel etc., 1998). According to Ferguson: “Identity commonly refers to which it makes, or is thought to make