Revealing One's True Form

After reading American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang, I became more aware of the struggles that Chinese-Americans endure in today’s society. I have always known the typical stereotypes about Chinese-Americans, but I never truly understood how emotionally challenging it is for them to feel accepted in America until I read this graphic novel. 

I realize now that most Chinese-Americans, especially young students, feel the need to shed their cultural backgrounds in order to fit in amongst their American peers. Yang portrays this attitude within the stories of the Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Chin-Kee. The Monkey King changes himself in order to be accepted by the deities, Jin Wang changes himself in order to be accepted by his classmates, and Danny tries to change Chin-Kee so that he won’t be embarrassed in front of his classmates. All three stories are based on the attitude of changing yourself to feel accepted by others, but they all eventually learn to feel comfortable with their true selves. 

I find the Monkey King’s statement, “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,” to be the most illuminating statement within the novel, because it encompasses the main theme of the novel: be accepting of who you are (Yang, 223). The Monkey King alludes to his past mistakes to tell Jin how he will never lead an enjoyable life if he is constantly trying to be someone he is not. 

Yang creatively demonstrates the characters returning to who they really are by revealing their “true form” towards the end of the novel (213). Lai-Tsao tells the Monkey King, “return to your true form and you shall be freed,” the Monkey King reveals Danny’s true form as Jin Wang, and the Monkey King gives his son a transformer as a symbol for him to remember who he truly is (Yang, 145). Even before Jin met the Monkey King, the herbalist gave him some wise words of wisdom while he was playing with his own transformer: “it is easy to become anything you wish…so long as you’re willing to forfeit your soul” (Yang, 29). The herbalist’s lesson was one Jin learned the hard way.

The reoccurring theme of the characters coming into their true being is an important message throughout this graphic novel and has given me a better understanding of what Chinese-Americans go through on a daily basis. Yang is successful in giving his audience deeper insight into the lives of Chinese-Americans, and I can say that I really enjoyed reading American Born Chinese.