Now that you have read over half of
American Born Chinese, you should be able to see certain themes emerging that appear in all three different story lines within the graphic novel. Your assignment is to describe one of those emerging themes and explain, using specific examples from the text, how you see each of the three story lines embodying or developing that theme. Your post should be at least six sentences long. You may choose to write your answer in paragraph form if you wish. If you are unsure on what the definition of "theme" is, consult your literary term glossary at the back of Social Justice. Your comment is due by the start of class on Wednesday.
Remember--read the post, and then click on the word "comments" just below that post. After you have written your post, add your first name, a comma, then "Nekrosius," then your period (so, Frodo, Nekrosius 12). Then, select "Anonymous" for your identity and click "publish your comment."
40 comments:
I think that one of the themes that you can see emerging from the story is identity, and how you have to cope with who you are, and trying to brighten that part of you instead of trying to hide it. Like with Jin, he has to learn to create a balance between who he is and who he wants to be. Especially at school("what the hell is that?!" "Dumplings." "...Stay away from my dog...Bucktooth"). The monkey king has to do the same thing. Though he wants to "fit in" with the gods, maybe even be more than them, he is still a monkey on the inside, no matter what he tries to change on the outside(like Jin, trying to fit in at his school)("This monkey king you speak of no longer exists...I shall now be called the great sage! Equal of heaven!" "Would your majesty like a banana?").
Danny also is shaping his identity around other people. He has to cope when his status gets ruined by Chin- Kee every year("By the time he leaves, no one thinks of me as Danny anymore. I'm Chin-Kee's cousin... It becomes so bad I have to switch schools.").
Molly, Nekrosius
One of the themes emerging in "ABC" is the idea of harnessing who you are, whether you like it or not, and using it to make you a better person. For example the monkey king is not content with being a plain old monkey so he tries to make himself more godly by mastering the four major disciplines of invulnerability and the four major disciplines of bodily form. In the end the monkey kind has macho muscles and a spiffy new pair of shoes but he is still a monkey. He will not even listen to Tze-yo-tzuh, the man who created him, when he tells him that he is a monkey a not anything else. In then end the monkey king is stuck under a pile of rocks with no means of getting out. This all could have been avoided if he had grasped who he was and had not tried to be somebody he was not. Another example is when Wei Chen and Jin are sitting at lunch together. Jin is eating a standard sandwich on white bread while Wei Chen is eating something with chopsticks. Earlier in the story we saw Jin eating dumplings for lunch. Something changed Jin through out the years and he is now letting go of a little bit of his heritage and trying to be more "american". One last example is with Danny when he is talking to Steve. He tells Steve "it gets so bad that by the end of the school year that I have to switch schools" if Danny grasped the fact that he was Chin-kee's cousin and that as much as he hated it, he could never run away from it, Danny would not have switched schools so many times and felt like the new guy so many times. An emerging them of "ABC" is trying to be you while fitting in but not changing who you truly are inside.
Elizabeth, Nekrosius
I think that the three story lines’ theme is about differences, and how that can affect that person (or monkey’s) life. Every little tiny thing about yourself can be either a good thing, or a bad thing. Especially if you physically look different from other people, kids can make fun of you. Gene Luen Yang is teaching the people who read his book about the differences. Whether it’s your species, ethnicity/race, appearance, or your personality, you are different. Everyone is, it’s called being a human.
In the “Monkey King story” all of the gods are teasing Monkey King, saying “You may be a king-you may even be a deity-but you are still a monkey.”
In the “Jin story” Jin just wanted to be like all of the other guys and have friends, and be able to talk to a girl without dropping or crashing into things.
In the “Chin-kee story” Chin-kee is teased and laughed at because he is a different race and from a different continent than the other kids. Chin-kee pronounces words different (“Ah-so! What big, bootiful amellican school! Chin-kee rike! Chin-kee rike vely much! Heh! Heh!”), looks different, and eats different food than Danny or the other students, and he is made fun of for that. Chin-kee’s cousin Danny even is “forced” to switch schools because of Chin-kee.
Amanda, Nekrosius
One theme I have observed in American Born Chinese is shame, and coping with shame. First, the Monkey King is shamed at the dinner party when the other gods laugh at him for being a monkey. Unfortunately, he does not cope with the shame very well, and ends up decapitating a few deities. Then he goes on to change his body and mind into a more humanoid form, and denies that he is a monkey. This eventually comes back to bite the Monkey King, because when Tze-Yo-Tzuh tells him he was intended to be a monkey, he remembers the shame being a monkey brought to him and continues denying the fact. The constant denial ultimately ends up with the Monkey King getting buried under a pile of rocks.
Secondly, Jin is shamed at school when the teacher messes up his name and hometown. He is shamed again at school by the other students, who are convinced that he is some sort of Asian freak who eats dogs and has buck teeth. For better or for worse, Jin cannot decapitate the teacher or the other students, and therefore must cope with his shame in a calmer fashion. Like the Monkey King, Jin hides his true identity and the shame it brought by trying to become something different, in this case American; he eats American food and tries to avoid speaking Chinese as much as possible.
And lastly, Danny is shamed constantly when Chin-Kee is around, because Chin-Kee does lots of painfully stereotypical Chinese actions. His language is broken and mixed up to an extreme, and he eats foods that are basically fried innards of household pets. As if that wasn't bad enough, Chin-Kee also pees in other people's Cokes and answers every single question the teachers ask regardless of whether or not the teachers intended for a student to answer it. Sadly, Danny has not been able to withstand against the barrage of insults and ridicule being the cousin of Chin-Kee brings, and therefore transfers schools at the end of each year, ultimately ending up as always being "the new kid".
All three major characters must deal with some form of shame or another, and each character copes with it in very different ways, ranging from quietly changing identities to decapitating deities.
Jennifer, Nekrosius
I believe that the theme that the story is trying to get at is coping with sudden change. I say this because in the story all of these characters have lives that they are happy with until one thing sudden, kind of like a trigger changes their lives completely and for them kind of ruins the lives that they are trying to live. For the Monkey King (or The Great Sage Equal Of Heaven) he goes to the dinner party and then BAM, he will not be let in because he is a monkey "look you may be a king- you may even be a deity- but you are still a monkey"and when he does finally get into the party BAM, all of the other gods laugh and mock him because he is a monkey and so because of this he beats up the gods and is sentenced to execution. For Jin, he is happy with his life in Chinatown; he has friends he is happy and then all of the sudden he moves, he knows nobody and he is one of two asians in his class so clearly he is going to have to go through stereotypes and clearly people will treat Jin differently because he does not look like them and he does not eat the same food as them Dog tag kid:"What the HELL is THAT?!", Jin: "Dumplings.", Dog tag kid: "humph. stay away from my dog." (PG.32). And for Danny he is happy and then his cousin Chin-Kee visits and embarrasses Danny and no matter what Danny tries to do everything gets so bad that he has to switch schools "By the time he leaves I am no longer known as Danny anymore. i'm Chin-Kee's cousin." "It gets so bad by the end of the school year that I have to switch schools." and then to make matters worse the whole thing starts up again. as you can see all of the characters have to go through a sudden change that completely ruins them and they don't know how to cope with it so far.
-- Clemente Nekrosius
I think that one of the themes you can see is trying to find your yourself and who you are. Jin does not like being one of the only asian in his class people say to him " what the hell is that dumplings." and when Wei- Chen arrives Jin tries to avoid him. The monkey king hates that he is viewed as inferior to humans and gods.
he says " I shall now be called the great sage equal of heaven." Danny hates when his cousin comes to visit because everyone laughs at his cousin and himself. He is forced to leave school because everyone laughs at him.
Samy, Nekrosius
I think that one of the themes of ABC is you have try hard to get what you want. For example, Jin came from San Francisco, not knowing really anything about this new school, and he wanted to be with a girl in his class. And he fought for what he wanted. He got a new haircut, he tried to zone out his friend when he was being embarrassing, and he fought against bullies and people who told him to stop. I never saw Jin give up, and he tried to make the best of everything that happened. And Wei-Chen was there to support him sometimes, but Jin mainly did it on his own. He got jolts of confidence and did what he thought he had to. Overall, I think that Jin fought for what he wanted, and he was rewarding.
Georgia, Nekrosius
I think the theme of ABC is about trying to fit in. In each chapter there is one or two main characters. Each of them are trying to fit in, the first time we see Jin eating lunch on page 33 we see him using chopsticks, in later in the book on page 89 he eats a sandwich. The Great Sage Equal of Heaven tries to go to the dinner party, which the guards didn’t let him enter. He starts practicing Kung Fu and becomes stronger and starts uses his powers for violence. Danny tries to fit in by not having Chin-Kee behind his back; he shows up late to school because he doesn’t want anyone to see Chin-Kee. Danny also wants to be the cool Popular kid. These are all the different examples of why the characters are trying to fit in.
Tomas, Nekrosius
In the Chin-Kee story a theme that seems to be growing is that Danny wants to be a cool, popular kid and get the girls but Chin-Kee always ruins his reputation at school and it seems like Danny is getting angrier and angrier at Chin-Kee and I feel like at some point Danny is going to snap. For instance, when he is talking with Melanie and he randomly starts talking about how he's not like Chin-kee and how he doesn't know how their related. In Jin's story it seems like him and Wei Chen are growing farther and farther apart ever since Jin tells him to stop being a "fresh off the boat." And in The Monkey King's story it seems as if The Monkey King is slowly becoming less of a hero. So in all stories it seems as if the characters are becoming less like themselves.
Miles Nekrosius
I think the theme of the story(s) is identity. In the monkey kings chapter the monkey king is trying not to be monkey and wants to be human. In Jin's chapters he is trying to be american and not chinese. In danny's chapters he is trying to get away from who he is and his family.
David, Nekrosius
I think a theme is getting used to your identity and trying to live with that. Jin he is always not very happy to be one of Three Asians in his class, and the Monkey King also doesn't cope with the Fact that Tze Created him, and Danny also doesn't like the fact that he is related to Chin-kee.
Taylor, Nekrosius
The monkey king is trying to come to terms with the fact that he is not human, and is looked down upon because of that. Jin has his problem with being looked down upon, because of his being chinese.
("He just moved to our neighborhood all the way from CHINA! "San Francisco." "San Francisco!") Danny is trying to cope with the fact that Chin-Kee is ruining his life. He had said that Chin-Kee always ruined his school life at tha same time during the year, and by the end of the year, he has had to switch schools. All of them have the same problem; they are all trying ot fit in, but with little or no success.
I think the theme is finding who you really are (both for the monkey king and for Jin). For Jin its knowing and being different and being ok with it. When Jin say "The only other Asian kid in my class was Suzy Nakamura" it shows how he thinks of him self as different, but at the end of the chapter another Asian kid comes and they become best friends. For the monkey king its knowing that he is and always will be a monkey. Even though people may not treat you the way you would like to be treated you can't really change who you are.
kyle, Nekrosius
The theme of American Born Chinese is identity or being comfortable in one’s own skin. The Monkey King is feeling great until he goes to a party where a guard says to him, “Look. You may be a king-you may even be a deity- but you are still a monkey” (Yang 15). Then, the Monkey King feels bad about himself, so he studies kung fu and tries to make everyone worship him. When Jin lived in San Francisco, he felt fine because Jin had friends that he thought accepted him. But, when he moves, everyone makes fun of Jin because he is Chinese, even his teacher, “I’m sure Jin doesn’t do that [eat dogs]! In fact, Jin’s family probably stopped that sort of thing as soon as they came to the United States” (Yang 31). Eventually, Jin makes a friend and gets more comfortable with being Chinese around his classmates. Lastly, Danny is comfortable at his new school until his cousin, Chin Kee, comes to visit. This make Danny very self-conscious, “I’m not like him, Melanie. I’m nothing like him! I don’t even know how we’re related” (Yang 123). In all three stories, the main characters are struggling with their identities.
Ali, Nekrosius
One of the major themes between the two story lines is identity. All of the characters in the three story lines are trying to change how they look on the outside. All they want to do is fit in. At Jin's new school he is made fun of for the way he looks on the outside and the stuff that he eats. "What the hell is that?!" "Dumplings" "Stay away from my dog." Later in the story you see Wei-Chen eating something with chopsticks and Jin is eating a normal sandwich. This a result of changing himself to fit in with the other People at his school. In other words he is trying to be more "American".
The Monkey wants to fit in with the other Dietys. 'He stayed awake for the rest of the night thinking of ways to get rid of it". He wants to change the way he looks on the outside to the way he acts like on the inside. He wants to be big, strong, and intimidating. The next chapter the Monkey King is much bigger, stronger, and more intimidating. "This MONKEY KING you speak of no longer exists, for I have mastered twelve major disciplines of Kung-Fu and transcended my former title! I shall now be call- The Great Sage, Equal of heaven." The Monkey King looks a lot more human than he did before.
Danny talks to a guy from his school named Steve. "You know I transferred here form Hughes Academy at the beginning of the year? Well, the year before that I transferred form Rohmer High." "He comes for a week or two and follows me to school, talking his stupid talk, and eating his stupid food. Embarrassing the crap out of me" If Danny just accepted the fact that Chinkee was his cousin no matter what he did to cover it up.
--Kelsey Nekrosius
I think one of the themes in ABC is shame. all of the main characters are ashamed of something. Jin is ashamed of being Chinese. Danny is ashamed of being Chin-Kee's cousin("By the time he leaves, no one thinks of me as Danny anymore. I'm Chin-Kee's cousin... It becomes so bad I have to switch schools."). the monkey king is ashamed of being a monkey so he attempts to tern into a human.
David, Nekrosius
I think that one of the themes emerging in “American Born Chinese” is accepting who you are and taking what you are given. For example on page 145 Wong Lai-Tsao says to the Monkey King “The form you have taken is not truly your own. Return to your true form and you shall be freed.” The Monkey King does so and indeed is freed. In doing that he accepts that he is a monkey and the fact that a monkey is what he was always meant to be. He becomes happier after he is freed. Not just because he is no longer imprisoned beneath a mountain but also because now he doesn’t have to worry about trying to be something that he isn’t. He is happy to be alive, happy to be a monkey. Jin wants to be like Danny: totally American with no Chinese heritage whatsoever. In wanting this he forgets how lucky he is to be able to go to a school and have loving parents, or how lucky he is to have a good friend like Wei-Chen, or that it is cool to have an interesting heritage. If he just accepts that it is good to be Chinese then maybe Jin will be happier. He won’t have to try to be someone he is not, just like the Monkey King. Danny accepts and enjoys the fact that he is American. However, he is not willing to accept that Chin-Kee has become a part of his life and is his cousin. Chin-Kee is family so Danny should try to take care of him and maybe even try to become friends with him. Perhaps if Danny just talked to Chin-Kee and explained to him what he could do to help Danny, Chin-Kee might comply. Maybe Chin-Kee doesn’t understand that what he is doing is unacceptable and obnoxious. I think that Danny is handling Chin-Kee stupidly and he should try to help himself and Chin-Kee. Then he might have a nice family member who could be a cool person to bring to school once a year. But it is most likely that it won’t happen. Danny needs to accept that Chin-Kee is a part of his life and maybe then Danny can help himself with his predicament. Or maybe he could then figure out another way to handle the situation. Danny is also forgetting how much he has. Other then Chin-Kee Danny has a great life. Danny is trying to not be Chin-Kee’s cousin. What if Danny tries to be Chin-Kee’s cousin? What will happen then? Maybe Danny’s problems will be solved. All these characters show a problem of needing to accept who they are and what they are given. They are all trying to be something they are not. If they accept who they are then maybe they will be happier. One of the themes emerging in “American Born Chinese” is needing to accept who you are and what you are given.
Harrison, Nekrosius 1-2
In the story about the Monkey King, there is one theme that I noticed. One of the important is that one’s ideas about oneself might be wrong. During the entire Monkey King story, the Monkey King acts because of the idea that just because he has mastered a lot of "disciplines" of Kung Fu, he is better than everyone else. That is why he beats up everyone who laughs at him - because he cannot accept that they are right and he is just a monkey and is not "equal to heaven". On p. 80 and 81, I think that the Monkey King starts to realize that Tze-Yo-Tzuh and all the other gods are right and the Monkey King is just the same as any of the other gods, but he is too proud to admit it. That pride costs him five hundred years under a mountain of rock.
In the story about Jin, Jin is concerned about appearing Chinese, and being subject to racist comments. The dilemma he has is that he is not comfortable being viewed as Chinese, and wants to be seen as American (for instance, when he gets his hair curled when trying to impress Amelia, when he tells Wei-Chen not to speak Chinese because he is in America now, and when he makes fun of the Chinese assumptions of his friend Wei-Chen about when to start dating).
The moral of his story is, like the Monkey King, also related to accepting who you are. And Jin, like the Monkey King, is frustrated by people who denigrate him. The stories are different because the Monkey King has too much confidence (that he is better than everyone) and Jin has not enough. The story of Jin therefore takes a different course from the Monkey King, because Jin needs to learn confidence, and because he succeeds (and the Monkey King is not as able to learn). Jin is eventually able to do what he most wants to do: he is finally able to negotiate a date with Amelia. This is only possible because of Jin’s development as a character: on page 92, Wei-Chen tells Jin to raise his hand and ask to be in the same extra-credit class as Amelia. But on pp. 104-105, Wei-Chen again urges him to take action, and this time, Jin is able to be brave enough to ask her out. He finally realizes that Amelia might actually like him, even if he is one of the only three Asians in the school.
David, Nekrosius
I think that theme of the story(s) is identity. In all of the stories there is a character that is being laughed at for his appearance. They are all struggling to fit in. I also think they only want to be different when other people have been mean to them so it is not about their identity it is what people think of it.
The monkey king has been rejected by the gods, that is when he wants to become something new. Jin wanted to become somebody knew when Wei-Chen came to the school and Jin thought that it would emphasize the fact that he is asian and that people would be mean to him. Danny wants to become a new person when Chin-kee comes and he thinks he is going to be associated with him.
They all want a new look when they do not fit in. I think they want to change who they are to be like everyone else.
--zoe nekrosius
I think that the theme of the book American Born Chinese has to do with your identity. Jin is trying to find out who he really is. Jin wants to be more American, but he cant help that he is Chinese. Jin is best friends with Wei-Chen, who is not afraid to be who he is. In some ways JIn is hiding in the shadows when Wei-Chen is in the light. Jin does things that are american to try and fit in. When people make fun of Jin, he seems to take it very personally, and tries to change the way he is. For example, early in the book, Jin eats dumplings. Later in the book he eats a sandwich. Little details like this show the way that Jin changes his identity through out the book.
Nora, Nekrosius 1/2
I think the theme of the all the story's are excepting yourself and that things are changing about yourself and what's around you, your identity. the monkey king needs to except that he is a monkey and he should be one not a human. Danny needs to except that chin-kee is his cousin and should not be ashamed no matter what he does to make you feel like he is screwing up your life. Jin needs to except he is chinese and maybe try to show that like what he eats for lunch. the theme is you should except yourself. (the theme for now)
- Cole, Nekrosuis
One of the themes in "American Born Chinese" is not to be afraid of who you are. Jin tries to convince himself and the other kids at school that he is American more than he is Chinese. He is afraid that they will be mean to him because on the first day of school the boys call Jin "bucktooth" and tell him "Stay away from my dog". With the Monkey King, he is afraid that the other deities will make him feel less important because he is just a monkey. To help him feel less afraid of them, he tries to become more human and when Tze-Yo-Tzuh forces the Monkey King to face his true identity, he literally tries to fight because he is afraid of feeling unimportant again. Danny is in a similar situation to Jin. Danny is afraid that the other kids at his school will be mean to him because of the way Chin-Kee acts and speaks. When ever Chin-Kee comes to visit, he is shocked like on page 51 through the bottom panels. Danny is looks suddenly very nervous when he finds out that he will be going to school with Chin-Kee.
-Maya, Nekrosius
Anonymous said...
One of the emerging themes are that in each story everyone is new to somewhere. Such as Monkey King was new to the world, then Jin is new to his school as long with Wei-Chen, and Danny moves to many schools and meeting new people. Each of the main characters in each of the stories have a person who is embarrassed (on the bottom of page 15, on page 36, and on page 111) or someone who wants to fit in with the group and with everyone around them. They all have a moment when they are surprised for instance on page 11 where Jin is left there alone and surprised about what just happened. On page 47 Danny is looking worried and surprised that his cousin Chin-Kee is going to his school to go visit. Lastly Monkey King is surprised on page 13 where he surprised that no one knows him and he is just a nobody. I think the main theme is trying to fit in with everyone around you, making friends and not feeling left out.
Victoria, Nekrosious
One of the themes in "American Born Chinese" is distancing yourself from your identity. In all three story lines the theme is consistent. The Monkey King tries to become a human and exile his true identity. The Monkey King only gets punished for trying to exile his identity. Instead of getting happiness he ends up under a pile of rock for 500 years. In the Jin chapters, Jin tries to change himself to win over his crush. Jin changes his hair and his personality because he wants Amelia to go out with him. Amelia goes out with Jin, but he loses his best friend. Danny is constantly trying to get rid of the Chinese part of his identity. It doesn't show on the out side, but on the inside he has a small part of Chin-Kee. Danny also tries to distance himself from Chin-Kee. Danny is always embarrassed by Chin-Kee and Danny is always trying to get away from him. All of the story lines have one thing in common. The characters are all trapped in a box of their own identity. The characters are all trying to break out of the box and they do not relise that you can not change your identity you can only cover it up.
Jeremy, Nekrosius
the theme is about trying to fit in and yet be ordinary all of the character what to be someone and if we share this burden with are friends and family how this will become easy. JIn has to deal with this first class bulling but shelters Wei-chen from this bullying. Danny want to just be left alone to live a normal life with out Chin-kee. When Wei-chen never had to deal with timmy saying racist and terrible things to him. Danny is just starting to fit in on the basketball team likes a girl and then Chin-kee shows up danny starts hearing racism is maybe he is trying to escape himself. evan times friend has buck teeth and the boy does not get made fun at. These kids try to find a person like Danny, Jin, Wei-chen evan if they are fellow americans and strive to be some one different . At first jin whats to be part of the group their is a quote on page 36 "something made me want to beat him up." and then he comes back and helps this new and confused boy by coming back and saying"over the next few weeks Wei-chen became my best friend." This shows to stick out help your friends and be yourself.
----George, Nekrosius
I think that one of the themes that is emerging from the story is dealing with who you are. In all of the story lines all of the characters are trying to change who they are in some way. The Monkey King is trying to change how he looks so that he can "fit in with the other gods". Jin is trying to change who he is so that he can fit in with the rest of his classmates. Danny tries to avoid Chin-kee so that he dose not have to keep switch schools again and again. At Jins new school all of the kids make fun of him for being different than them. The with the dog tags says "What the Hell is that" and Jin just says Dumplings. Then the kid with the dog tags says "Stay away from my dog". Later when Wei Chen arrives he tries to make friends with Jin but Jin ignores him until Wei Chen shows him his Transformers. Later in the book you see that Jin is eating a normal sandwich and Wei Chen is eating Chinese food with chopsticks. That means that Jin is trying to change who he is and Wei Chen isn't as much.
Danny wants to change who he is by trying to exclude Chin-kee from all the things that he does. Danny dose not want Chin-Kee to visit anymore because all Chin-Kee does is embarrass Danny that is why Danny he has had to switch schools so many times. Later on in the chapter you see that Steve is still by Danny's side for the most part. He says that the people at his school are not like that, but he is already wrong because on p.121 you see a kid making fun of Chin-Kee.
The Monkey King is trying to change who he is by mastering all the Kung-Fu techniques and using them to his advantage. The Monkey King wants his subjects to think of him as a god. The Monkey King already thinks tat he is a god. When the Monkey King emerges from his cave he tells his subjects to call him Great Sage Equal to Heaven. A way that you can see that the Monkey King is changing is that he dose not even fit in the panels of the page anymore.
Marc, Nekrosius
I believe one of the themes in American Born Chinese (ABC) is shame. Danny is ashamed of Chin-Kee because, he makes everyone at Oliphant High School make fun of Chin-Kee and Danny for being related to Chin-Kee. The Monkey King is ashamed of himself being a monkey and not a Human or anything else. Jin is ashamed of himself for being unpopular, Chinese, and a "geek". It is unfair to all of them, Danny is Danny no matter who he is related to, the Monkey King is a monkey but he is a diety so he should be respected even if he is a monkey, and Jin is American and Chinese but he is still human like everyone else.
~~Terrance, Nekrosius
On of the many themes is don’t let what other people say change who you are in the inside or the out side. In the monkey kings story he acts as if he where not a monkey but a human. The monkey king acts as if he was equal to a god and not a monkey witch is what he is. In Jins story he changes his hear to impress a girl his hear was a part of him and he changed it. In the story of chin-kee, Danny try’s to forget that he came from another school but that is just a part of who he is. All of these are examples of other people saying or doing some thing that makes you change who you are or what you look like.
-Janie Nekrosius
One theme of American Born Chinese is identity. For example, on page 150, the Monkey King realizes his true identity, and allows himself to return to it. He is rewarded by being allowed to escape his rocky prison. The monk, Wong Lai-Tsao, cared for beggars, or so he thought. But then on page 138, they reveal their true identity as sacred immortal beings. Both the beggars and the Monkey King had changed their true identity, and in this chapter, they both changed back.
-Sophia, Nekrosuis
One of the themes very visible in American Born Chinese right now is identity. The theme is about accepting and being content with who you really are. All of the charterers in the story are dealing with different types of identity problems but all the character still have a connections to each other. All the characters try to change their physical features; the characters do this because they are trying to fit in.
An example to show how Jin is trying to fit in is on page 89, Jin is eating a regular sandwich, but earlier on page 32 Jin is eating Dumplings. The reason why Jin is eating the sandwich later on is because Jin has been teased about eating his cultures food and just doesn’t want to be teased.
An example how the Monkey King tries to fit in is on page 56 the monkey king has shoes on. Except on page 14 when the guard tells the Monkey King can’t come in because he has no shoes on, and then the guest laugh and the Monkey King doesn’t want to humiliated again so he wears shoes. The Monkey King does this because he does not want to be humiliated again.
For Danny he has a different situation, Danny is dealing with a real situation in his life. But Danny does a reaction and personality change when Chin-Kee comes. Before Chin-Kee comes to visit Danny is neutral and calm. But on page 47 after Danny’s mom says your cousin Chin-Kee is coming Danny is shocked and somewhat hesitant. Danny is very hesitant because he doesn’t want to change schools once again. Danny is scared that the kids are going to make fun of him like the students did at his old school.
All of the different stories do have different types of identity problems, but while those problems are going on the characters are trying to stay true to themselves but still not be humiliated by all the rude and mean comments people have. Even thought you can change all you physical features, you will still be the same person you were before that.
Jackie, Nekrosius
The theme for American Born Chinese is to fit in . The Monkey King just wants to be a god-like creature so he can go to parties and so everyone will treat him like an equal, but instead all of the creatures in heaven laugh at the Monkey King and kick him out of the party. Jin just wants to be friends with the other kids in school, but they don’t include him because he is a different race. Danny really wants to have a normal life, and whenever he starts off at a new school, everything goes great, Danny makes tons of friends and plays on the basketball team, but when Chin-Kee comes for one of his visits, everything is ruined and people think of him as “Chin-Kee’s cousin”. All of the people Danny was friends with don’t want anything to do with him anymore, and his life is turned upside down once again. Even though the characters are so different they are very much alike because they all have the same goal: to fit in.
--Bailey, Nekrosius, Period 5-6
I think that one of the emerging themes of these three stories is learning to accept your identity.
Jin always wants to fit in and be like everyone else. On page 32, the bullies make fun of Jin's noodles, and suspect that Jin eats dogs. After that,Jin stops eating dumplings, and starts eating sandwiches like everyone else. (page 34,38, and 89)Even with little things like that, Jin keeps denying his identity, and not learning to accept it.
After the Monkey King goes to the dinner party and is rejected from the party on pages 13-20, he is determined to become more human-like, so he can be like everyone else. He masters the disciplines of invulnerability on page 57 and also masters the four major disciplines of bodily form on page 58. He tries so hard to be more human-like, even changing how he looks on the outside in hopes to reflect what he hopes to be like on the inside. But when Tze-Yo-Tzuh tells him the truth on page 80, the Monkey King completely denies it and does not want to believe the truth and accept his identity.
Danny also has a somewhat similar conflict. Danny has to embrace the fact that he is cousins with Chin Kee. He arrives late to school on page 110, so no one will know that Chin Kee and Danny are associated with each other. Danny also never even makes an attempt to talk to Chin Kee in a nice, conversational way at all during this chapter. Danny also has to learn to accept his identity as an average boy who has a loud, strange, attention- drawing cousin.
Florence, Nekrosius
One theme in american born chinese is embarrassment and shame. Danny is ashamed to have Chin-Kee as a cousin and does everything to avoid him. The Monkey King is very ashamed of being just a monkey, and is always striving to be something more. They deal with their shame in v different ways. Danny admits that Chin-Kee is his cousin, but choses to lay low and try not to draw attention to himself. The Monkey King will not even admit that he is a monkey and makes sure that everyone knows that he is not a monkey by force. Shame is a big theme in american born chinese and the Characters each show it differently.
--Sam P, Nekrosius
The theme in American Born Chinese in acceptance. Jin does not accept his ethnicity and how he looks because everyone teases him about it constantly. Jin seems to be deeply ashamed by the fact that he is Chinese and only wants to fit it, but he needs to learn to accept his Chinese heritage and embrace it. Jin alienates his culture even more by bringing sandwiches in for lunch after people bullied him because of his Chinese food. The Monkey King is ashamed by his species and how the other gods treat him differently because of it. The Monkey King does not try to accept himself but instead, conform to how all the other gods look (very humanoid). Danny cannot accept his cousin Chin-Kee and all the racial stereotypes he brings to the table. Danny is ashamed of his Chinese culture because of how Chin-Kee tarnishes it in the eyes of his peers by being so stereotypical. Throughout the story, all the main characters have trouble accepting who/what they are, what they look like, and even their relatives, but they all must learn to accept who they are because acceptance is the first step on the road to happiness.
-- Michael, Nekrosius
The theme of "American Born Chinese" by Jene Luen Yang is finding your identity. The Monkey King is striving to turn himself from a monkey to a human. He does not realize how great it really is to be a monkey. Jin wants to turn himself from Chinese to American. I noticed that Danny is who Jin wants to be, but Chin-Kee is who many people see Jin as. Jin needs to find a middle between Chin-Kee and Danny. Once these three characters find out who they are they will be able to stop wanting to be someone else.
Luis Xavier, Nekrosius
The main theme in American Born Chinese is identity. In all three of the story lines identity is a big problem. The Monkey King is trying to change his identity at the deepest level and change what he is because he likes another identity (Non-monkey Immortal) better. Danny is also struggling to keep his identity as a regular kid in his school instead of becoming Chin-kee’s cousin. Jin is trying to change his identity from “That Asian boy with the afro…” (p.101) to one of “them” (p.38). He wants to be American. In all of these plots we see an emerging theme of identity and how to deal with it. I also see an emerging moral of “Just be yourself”.
--Jacob C, Nekrosius Period 5-6
I think that the Monkey King is having trouble dealing with who he is. He has trouble with the fact that he is a monkey. "you don't understand! I, too, am a diety! I am a committed discipline of the arts of Kung Fu and i have mastered the four major heavenly disciplines, prerequisites to immortality." Also, Jin has trouble at school at first because of his race. Danny has trouble when Chin-Kee visits because people don't think of him the same anymore. Instead of being Danny, after Chin-Kee visits he is just thought of as Chin-Kee's cousin. All three characters have trouble dealing with their identity.
--Lillian Nekrosius
I think that one of the themes is dealing with who you are, even if society does not except you. All the characters have problems with certain parts of their life. The Monkey King is not excepted as a god because he is a monkey, Jin at school is bullied because he is asian, and Danny is made fun of because of his cousin Chin-Kee. And all try to escape their problems.
Fionn, Nekrosius
I believe the theme of these three story lines is identity, not only that but never forgetting who you are. The Monkey King tries to be like a god. He acts as if he is in a higher position than all of the other monkeys. He was born of rock,so that's how he sees himself, like he is a rock. Because he was born of that, he thinks he is better than every one else. Finally when Tze-Yo-Tzuh told the Monkey King that Tze-Yo-Tzuh created that rock he was made from., the Monkey Kings rock shattered...at last. It was getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger until it exploded.
Danny is also changing his identity. After Chin-Kee came to visit, Danny changed, because he didn't want people making fun of him. Danny changed because of Chin-Kee.
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