While
reading American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, I was reminded
of Romans 12:2. In the English Standard Version of the Bible, this verse says, “Do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.” Given the clear Christian influences present in this
graphic novel, I find that this verse conveys the message Yang hopes young
people will get from reading his novel. Yang wants young people to follow the
will of God, not the misguided will of oneself or the wills of others. Yang
accomplishes this through the parallel storylines of the Monkey King and Jin
Wang.
Initially,
both Jin Wang and the Monkey King want to be something they are not. Jin Wang
wants to be an all-American-boy, and the Monkey King wants to be The Great
Sage, Equal of Heaven. In fact, both characters insist that they have achieved
these goals and seek the acceptance of others. They create their own ideas of
what is good and acceptable. Both characters are following goals they have set
for themselves, are transformed into what they wish to be, and subsequently lose
their souls.
The moment Jin
Wang loses his soul is the moment he convinces himself that Wei-Chen is not “right”
or “worthy” of Suzy because he is too attached to his heritage (191). In contrast,
Jin Wang convinces himself he is worthy by refusing to speak Chinese and curling
his hair: attempts at conforming to American culture. Similarly, the Monkey King
turns his back on his people by insisting that they wear shoes after being
rejected from dinner with the gods, and he continues to train himself (55). At
these points, both characters give up their souls to be what they want to be,
but not what Tze-Yo-Tzuh, the God figure, intends them to be. When Jin Wang and
the Monkey King give up their souls, they are conforming to the world and
losing sight of what God intends for them.
Later in the
novel, the reader sees that the Monkey King recovers his soul after accepting Tze-Yo-Tzuh’s
path for him and becoming a disciple to Wong-Lai-Tsao. Similarly, Jin Wang
requires someone to help him discern the will of God. After being transformed
into Danny and experiencing the embarrassment of Chin Kee for years, the Monkey
King reveals himself to Jin Wang as his “conscience—a signpost to [his] soul”
(221). Chin Kee is the culmination of the taunts and stereotypes thrown at Jin
Wang throughout his life. He represents everything he hates about himself and
his heritage as a result of other people’s prejudices and his lack of self-acceptance.
Because of the Monkey
King’s guidance, Jin Wang realizes that being yourself, accepting yourself, and
accepting others without judgement is the will of his creator. When trying to
become who you want to be, you lose the very essence of yourself and transform
into a terrible person, the kind of person your old self would simultaneously
love and hate. The Monkey King could have saved himself from years of torture “had
[he] only realized how good it is to be a monkey (223). The same goes for all
who seek to be anyone but themselves.
Though I understand that Yang himself is a Christian, I think that you’re wrong in saying that this book encourages people to accept god’s will above all others, including their own. Overall, the novel reads as pretty non-religious, with the only gods that are referred to being ancient Chinese gods. I think it cheapens the complexity of the novel to correlate between these gods and all of their own individual meanings and the Christian god, who has cultural significance that varies greatly from the ancient Chinese gods. Yang chooses to refer to the specific gods he does, a polytheistic non-Christian group of gods, because they are a basis of Chinese culture. The story referenced throughout the story of the Monkey King is Journey to the West, a 16th century novel that holds a lot of significance in Chinese culture.
ReplyDeleteFor these reasons, it seems a non-sequitur to relate these gods to a Christian god, because not all god figures have the same meanings and connotations.
Beyond this, I would disagree that the story is about god’s will needing to be accepted. Though the Monkey King’s story does include Tze-Yo-Tzuh asking him to accept himself, I don’t read the story as one of god punishing you until you accept his will. I believe that American Born Chinese instead tells a story of self-acceptance in a culture which makes this difficult and demeans those who are different. Simply being reminded that ‘god made you that way’ is not a means of self-acceptance for most, and certainly not Jin. Jin and the Monkey King have to learn to accept themselves within their own terms, using their own strengths, and understanding that this comes with battles and struggles. It isn’t about being punished if you try to be something else and don’t follow god’s will, because Tze-Yo-Tzuh is a loving god, and his only wish is for his creations to accept themselves genuinely and fully.