American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Yang

One of the biggest problems in America today is creating equal opportunities for people of foreign descent. Most people that come from other countries around the world to live in America struggle with fitting in and mixing cultures. American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang, is a book that displays what it is like to have trouble fitting in and choosing between two different identities. The format of the book revolves around pictures and vignettes that show stereotypes and assimilation towards Asian people. The visual representation of these themes give us a better understanding of the stress and troubles that come with trying to fit in physically and mentally. The main character in the book, Jin-Wang, has trouble sticking to his own culture

He is bullied and stereotyped by his classmates for being “different” in a sense that he isn’t fully American, but rather Asian-American. For instance, his teacher introduces him as “Jin Jang” and says that “he is all the way from China” (Yang 30). Jin feels annoyed and has to reassure everyone that he is from San-Francisco. He sees that he does not fit in with this group of people and does not make friends at first. Eventually, he meets his first Asian friend with a rocky start. When his new friend, Wei-Chen, comes up to him, he is fazed by the fact that he is speaking in a traditional language. Jin feels the need to say “You’re in America, speak English”(Yang 27). Clearly, Jin feels that he has more power than Wei-Chen by showing his “American side”. When Wei-Chen shows his toy to Jin, however, Jin immediately shows his interest in being friends with

After a couple of years, Jin begins going through puberty and starts to crush on a girl named Amelia Harris. “I would lie awake at night analyzing my feelings for her” (Yang 89). He was only focused on her, for the most part, and problems began to arise. He was afraid that the boy sitting next to her, Greg, interested her more. Because of this, Jin changes his whole personality and his look so that she could notice him. He begins with getting his hair permed, and later changes his body physically from that of an Asian to an American. From that night on, he became recognized as a fully American boy. He transitions into a new school with this new identity. His cousin, Chin-Kee, however, changes his life at high school. Chin grabs everyone's attention and prevents Danny from staying popular. He explains that when Chin visits and leaves, “No one thinks of me as Danny anymore, I’m Chin-Kee’s cousin” (Yang 127). He loses his identity and has a miserable school life after Chin Kee visits and “ruins his life at school”. He knows deep down that he will most likely not find his true identity and stick with