Jin Wang's Identity In American Born Chinese

According to Forbes, 147 million people worry about their identities but one billion people don’t have an identity. In the novel American Born Chinese there are many different cultures within one community which causes a collision between the people. Jin Wang moved from a San Francisco Chinatown to a more Americanized neighborhood where he finds himself immediately getting bullied for being Asian. Jin Wang's interaction with the American culture had a significant impact on his development, so he tried to change himself physically and was willing to throw away his identity, showing that most people have this ongoing desire to change to be accepted.

Jin Wang was so adamant about fitting in that changing himself physically after getting bullied at school. On page 97, Jin got a perm. He saw Danny interacting with Amelia and thought she was into Danny. So Jin takes it to himself and perms his hair to look like Danny’s. In addition to getting a perm, Jin changes what he eats. Jin was eating dumplings for lunch and got bullied by Timmy and his friends. Timmy says. “Hmph. Stay away from my dog.”(Yang 32). So the next day Jin brings a sandwich for lunch.

Jin wouldn’t talk to the only other Asian at school. It says, “The only other Asian in my class was Suzy Nakamura. When the class finally figured out we weren’t related, rumors began to circulate that Suzy and I were arranged to be married on her thirteenth birthday. We avoided each other as much as possible.”(Yang 31). Instead of Jin and Suzy bonding over the stereotypes they are categorized into by the American kids at school they avoid each other and experience it alone. Jin tells the new student, Wei Chen, “You’re in America. Speak English.” (Yang 37). So instead of making Wei Chen feel welcomed he was a jerk and made him feel singled out too just as Jin Wang