The subplots of the Monkey King and
Jin Wang in Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese explore an underlying
theme of internalized racism with the main characters rejecting aspects of
their identities after facing rejection because of their race. Internalized racism
is apparent in these narratives with characters seeing their race as inferior to
another and unfounded resentment towards other individuals like them based on race.
With all three of the convergent narratives, Yang explores how minority groups might
develop an internal resentment toward their identity and how this becomes harmful
to themselves and others.
The Monkey King and Jin Wang both
experience rejection early in their respective subplots with Jin Wang being
bullied based on Chinese stereotypes and the Monkey King being rejected from
the heavenly dinner party for being a monkey. These two plots parallel each
other with the similar responses of each of these characters to their experience
of racial discrimination. The Monkey King projects this racial discrimination on
the other monkeys he rules over by forcing them to wear shoes, while also rejecting
the label of monkey by anthropomorphizing himself and proclaiming, “The ‘Monkey
King’ it speaks of no longer exists” (60). Jin Wang responds similarly by projecting
the racist bullying he received as a new student on the new student from Taiwan,
Wei-Chen Sun, and internally vocalizing “something made me want to beat him up”
(36) upon first seeing Wei-Chen Sun. Of course, in both cases the racism
displayed by these characters is not a conscious action, but rather an unconscious
response originating from each character’s own resentment towards their identity.
The Chin-Kee subplot is a
representation of the internal struggles of Asian Americans, with Danny
representing how Asian Americans wish to be perceived, no different than their
peers, and Chin-Kee representing the prejudiced ways their peers may perceive
them. Since Danny and Chin-Kee are the metaphorical representations of two aspects
of an internal conflict, the internalized racism described above is displayed
as purely external. Danny, who the reader discovers is a white-presenting Jin
Wang, is continually embarrassed and ashamed by his cousin to such an extent
that Danny describes how “by the end of the school year… I have to switch
schools” (127). If we continue with the interpretation that Chin-Kee represents
prejudiced perceptions of Asian Americans, then perhaps this revelation by
Danny is a demonstration of how racial discrimination can follow Asian Americans
and become so bad it forces them to constantly move. This interpretation provides
an explanation of how characters like Jin Wang or the Monkey King become resentful
towards their own race because it is misplaced hatred of the discrimination
they face for being perceived as different.
I found the internalized racism in the novel really interesting. Like you mention, the resentment that comes from external sources becomes internal and these characters lose their sense of identity. My favorite example of this was the Chin-Kee subplot. I found it thought-provoking that when Danny is portrayed as a white teenager, Chinese characters have their stereotypes exaggerated. We can see this from Chin-Kee's wardrobe, his overbite, his long hair, and the mispronunciation of the letter “r” (112). We see Danny’s discomfort with Chin-Kee, and once it’s revealed that Danny and Jin are the same person, it becomes obvious that Danny is actually uncomfortable with Chin-Kee because he represents what Jin Wang tried to leave behind of his former life. When he was Jin Wang, his date with Amelia didn’t go as smoothly as he wanted, he wasn’t able to stand up to the kid who wanted to date Amelia, and he didn’t feel like he felt in anywhere. Chin-Kee brings all of those memories back to the surface for Jin/Danny. We see that resentment work its way to the surface when Danny finally fights Chin-Kee (204). If the racism that Jin Wang had not become so internalized, and if he had not felt such a strong resentment towards his heritage, he would have suffered a lot less.
ReplyDeleteI have taken various courses that focus on racial issues in America and received extensive training on the topics through my position as a Resident Assistant here at Indiana University, so Gene Luen Yang’s representation of internalized racism in American Born Chinese is one of my favorite aspects of the work. Preston’s response makes numerous great points in highlighting that Yang explores how minorities internalize racism in American Born Chinese. Personally, the Monkey King forcing other monkeys to wear shoes stands out to me the most; the symbolism of the shoe is incredibly powerful. Most obviously, the shoe represents some of the key things that human use to define the difference between humans and monkeys. The shoe is a foreign object to the monkeys that is completely unnecessary, but they use it to cover up their true nature. Moreover, the shoes are restrictive to monkeys and hurt them in addition to hide what they truly are. The Monkey King’s decision to harm his own species by forcing them to wear shoes shows how the internalized racism has changed his decision-making process to align with the racist ideologies. This parallels the struggles of minorities, and specifically Asian Americans, in real life. Asian Americans are likely to develop a hatred for their Asian roots and others within that racial group because it represents the racism they must endure in America.
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