Graphic Novel
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang TIEA Character Identity and Relationships
In “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang, Wong Lai-Tsao’s relationship with the Monkey King provoked a change in the Monkey King’s attitude towards its own identity. When Wong Lai-Tsao encountered the Monkey King under the mountain of rock, their conversation motivated the Monkey King to live up to its true identity. “To find your true identity…within the will of Tze-Yo-Zhe…that is the highest of all freedoms.” “So is your ‘true identity’ the supper of two demons?” “Perhaps… is yours the eternal prisoner… of a mountain of rock?” “Hmph. Gaaa!” (149) Even though Wong Lai-Tsao played a short role in the story, his words to the Monkey King was significant in conveying the idea of accepting one’s identity throughout the book. In the beginning, the Monkey King was unable to welcome the fact that he was indeed a monkey, which caused internal struggles as well as external struggles among the other characters. Wong Lai-Tsao’s short words inspired the Monkey King to become willing to face who he is, and live up to his true identity by assisting Wong Lai-Tsao’s Journey to the West. This positive change in character sparked a positive relationship between Wong Lai-Tsao and the Monkey King, leading to the following chain of events in the main character Jin Wang’s life. As the Monkey King decides to follow Wong Lai-Tsao during the Journey to the West, it symbolizes the Monkey King’s willingness to let go of its previous struggles about his identity. It is also important to note that the positive relationship between the Monkey King and Wong Lai-Tsao can be considered as a redemption for the Monkey King to become freed from his struggle of identity. Everyone is part of the universe, while each person has a different identity. Perhaps there are people we admire whom we try to live up to their identity, but it will be our true identity in the end that we feel most comfortable with.
Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. First Second Books, 2006.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang TIEA Graphic Illustrator
In “American Born Chinese”, Gene Luen Yang portrays racial discriminations through prejudicial actions that hurts the character’s feelings. Thoroughly embarrassed by Chin-kee’s behavior at school, Danny felt ashamed at having an Asian cousin. That day after school, when Danny was walking across the hallway at school, he saw two American teenagers having fun while trying to imitate the looks of Asian people. (121) Yang portrays the serious situation of racial discrimination through these simple actions that every person might come across in daily life. It could’ve been viewed as regular teenagers having fun by making faces at each other, but it was clear that the faces they were trying to imitate resembles with common features of Asian looks. Instead of giving respect to every person despite their race and looks, the two teenagers had viewed it as a joke, completely unaware of how much it could hurt one’s feelings. Danny, on the other hand, was deeply offended by the American’s discrimination towards Asians as well; he was revealed to be Jin Wang all along. Through this illustration, Yang demonstrates how damaging racial discrimination can be as well as how they are detrimental to relationships. Readers also see the injustice Asians face when seeing themselves segregated among the others. With that in mind, this scene was significant for the plot development because it demonstrated the theme of “American Born Chinese”, that a single prejudicial action and a single discriminating laugh, has the power to damage a person’s self-esteem and view towards their identity.
Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. First Second Books, 2006.
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