Stereotypes In American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Yang

It is often hard to be yourself when other people make fun of certain things that relate towards oneself. In Gene Luen Yang’s book titled, “American Born Chinese,” it addresses the stereotypes that Asians living in America in the 2000s faced, as well as the unhappiness that stems from complete social conformity. “American Born Chinese,” is a graphic novel that contains three seemingly different stories about three distinct characters, the Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Danny, which ultimately connects at the end. Jin Wang struggles to navigate school while facing bullying by racist stereotypes that persist. The Monkey King struggles to make others accept his new identity. Danny Each abhor their true identity and constantly struggle to become something

In the beginning of the first chapter, where readers are introduced to the Monkey King, it can be seen that the Monkey King is living a content life. He is the ruler of Flower-Fruit Mountain, and all the monkeys under him are happy without worries everyday. However after going to a gods’ dinner party and being denied entry due to his identity as a monkey, he beats all the attendees up and leaves crestfallen. Prior to this encounter, he took pride in his identity as a ruler and a monkey, only becoming aware of other people’s perceptions of him after being discriminated against. From then on, he constantly tried to change himself and prove to everyone that he is more than just a monkey. When the Monkey King reveals that he is Chin-Kee’s real identity, he said to Jin, “You know Jin, I would have saved myself from five hundred years imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock had I only realized how good it is to be a monkey.” The Monkey King is only able to realize that he is fine just the way he is, when he is not surrounded by other’s perceptions of him. He was able to reflect on how good his life was and that it does not matter what others think of

Although Jin assumes his new identity as Danny, he is still not truly happy. FIX: MAKE FLOW GOOD he is now of a different race, his cousin Chin-Kees comes to visit from China to accompany him to school. Chin-kee is a walking Asian stereotype EVIDENCE?QUOTE that even he starts to ultimately dislike. Chin-kee was a way of trying to show Jin that even though he could change his identity he could not deny his true self. It also conveyed to Jin that it did not matter what was on the outside, since even though he changed his entire appearance, he was still unhappy. Rather it is his attitude towards how he faces those