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Character Analysis: American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Yang

1418 Words6 Pages

“The grass is always greener on the other side”, is a commonly used metaphor. People are never satisfied with their own situations and think that others have it better. From childhood, stories and fables illustrate that this is never true. Characters always yearn for the better side of things but later realize they were on the best side all along. Throughout American Born Chinese, the main character, Jin, has problems finding his place growing up and struggles with his Asian identity. When author Gene Luen Yang portrays Jin’s transformation into Danny it allows Jin to see the “greener” side. After seeing the other half, he learns to love and accept his ethnicity. Yang uses Jin as an example that when someone experiences other identities, they …show more content…

It is a traditional Chinese fable that tells the story of a monkey that was crowned King of all the Monkeys. He is a happy leader but when it came time to meet the other kings that were human, the Monkey King struggles with his identity. He does not feel worthy of his title, because others thought he wasn't, just because he is a monkey. He tries to change himself and all the other monkeys emotionally and physically so he can be taken seriously by all the other kings. The Monkey King not accepting himself causes him to live imprisoned under a pile of rocks in for five hundred years’. Luckily, he learns to accept himself and is able to make it out from under the …show more content…

“You misunderstand my intentions, Jin. I did not come here to punish you...I came here to serve as your conscience-as a signpost to your soul”. (221)
Jin accepting himself is a pleasing conclusion to the story. He finally realizes that “the grass isn't greener on the other side”. Jin never overtly says that he loves himself, but the reader can tell Jin’s self-acceptance when he sits in silence and asks the monkey king what he is “supposed to do now.” The monkey king responds, “You know Jin, I would have saved myself from five hundred years’ of imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock had I only realized how good it is to be a monkey.” (223) Jin doesn’t verbally respond, but his facial expression demonstrates all his feelings of acceptance.
The Monkey King parable in this story teaches Jin a lesson not uncommon in other cultural literature. Yang uses Jin as an example to show that one has to experience other identities in order to love their own. Sometimes one has to see the other side to appreciate the side they have lived in all

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