American Born Chinese Analysis

Words: 895
Pages: 4

Does moving to America to China really mean that a Chinese person has to give up their former Chinese lifestyle in order to be accepted or part of American traditions? In American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, demonstrates 3 short stories about a Chinese student named Jin Wang who is trying to conform to being American, a retelling of the legend of the Monkey King who does not want to be a monkey and tries to change himself, and what appears to be a sitcom between an American boy named Danny and his cousin Chin-Lee, in which how Danny illustrates that he wants nothing to do with his stereotypical cousin. Yet, even though in this novel, there are 3 separate stories, in actuality these stories are all intertwined. So, this paper will argue about the racial American stereotypes of the Chinese and other East Asian ethnicities and the rejection …show more content…
Already in the first few days of school, Jin is teased at due to his appearance. A boy in his class has this presumption that Chinese people eat dogs and even the teacher has the same belief too because she even claimed “In fact, Jin’s family probably stopped that sort of thing as soon as they came to the United States.”(31) It makes Jin feel that he should give up his Chinese ethics and conform to the American culture. Nobody really wanted to be his friend because he is different and it is not until he makes a friend named Peter who is also seen as outcast that he sort of feels like he is fitting in. However after Peter left, Jin becomes friends with a new Asian student named WeiChen in which Jin no longer again feels like an outcast and has someone to relate to the stereotypical problems that Jin is facing. In this story Jin and WieChen are seen as outcasts and are being teased on due to their heritage. Moreover, it also shows the stereotypes that the American have toward the Chinese and Jin rejection of his former