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Themes in American Born Chinese

            The graphic novel, American Born Chinese, is an award as combination of all three protagonists dealing with same conflicts. As immigrants, he has to face a lot of problems in American society, which inspires Yang to describe all three main characters from different stories to bring out the themes. The protagonists all must struggle to racism first to learn the lesson of identity that they have to accept themselves before they expect others to accept their identities.
             All main characters in the American Born Chinese face the identity crises before they learn the identity lesson. "I am a deity I am a committed disciple of the arts of kung-fu and I have mastered the four major heavenly disciplines, prerequisites to immortality " (Yang 14). He desires to be more than monkey like a god. He wants to be called Great Sage. "You may be a king- you may be a deity-but you are still a monkey " (16). The response of the guard makes him feel that he is no more than a monkey and the guard rejects him to the party as a result of his identified monkey. The people in the line are teasing him, which embarrass him in front of the guard. As a result, he becomes bad-tempered and he causes destruction and punches those laughing people to release his anger and hatred. The image on page 16 shows his fierceness to the rejection to party and the refusal of identifying him as a god. The embarrassment is catalyst to make him think of himself to accept who he is. The uses of animal character as human being is ironically literary to emphasize the identity crisis of the monkey because monkeys look similar to human but they are accepted to be human, other than a type of animal. "I'd like us all to give a warm mayflower elementary welcome to our new friend and classmate Jin Jang "(30). The teacher embarrasses Jin Wang in front of his peers by missing his name. Afterward, she makes assumption he moved to here all the way from China.


Essays Related to Themes in American Born Chinese

1. Mothers and Daughters in A Pair of Tickets

Amy Tan is an author who often uses the theme of Chinese-American life, focusing mainly on mother-daughter relationships where the mother is an immigrant from China and the daughter is a thoroughly Americanized - yellow on the surface and white underneath. ... The theme of this story was effectively treated in that the reader could see the reunion of the sisters, but yet could feel pain and sorrow inside of themselves. Having the story take place in China, helped it to become more realistic for the reader. ... Although Jandale was not born and raised in China like her mother, she now has a gr...

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2. Theme in the Kitchen God's Wif

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3. Jing-Mei Woo: A Pair of Tickets by Amy Tan

Amy Tan, whose Chinese name, An-mei, means "blessing from America," was born in 1952, in Oakland, California. ... In A Pair of Tickets, the main character June May, like the author herself, was a Chinese born in the United States and grew up with an American background culture. ... The story's theme is related to the re-identification with the motherland China, but ironically the theme is weakened by Tan's focus on China's modernization. ... Moreover, Born and raised in America, it never occurred to June, to ask about the root and meaning of her Chinese name, " Jing Mei ". ... I...

  • Word Count: 1602
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4. Stereotype

Female Chinese actresses, who cross the pacific and come to America, are pictured as martial arts experts in the American media, such as television and film. ... There are many famous actresses in China. ... She thought she could have a good development of movie in Hollywood because she was born in United States and she speaks fluent English. ... Lucy Liu says because she is a Chinese. Because Chinese history and its background make all American think Chinese know Kung Fu, therefore when a director wants to film an action movie, Michelle Yeoh and Lucy Liu are the first choice. ...

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5. Asian Music in American Culture

Theme For this concert, I want to focus on Asian music in American culture. ... This group will show how Chinese or Asians first broke the stereotype and became known in America when Chinese population was less than 1% of the population in US. ... Then some deep-sound wind instruments and saxophones joined those Chinese traditional instruments and generated brand new style- Asian America Jazz style. Fred Ho is a Chinese-American jazz saxophonist, composer, and writer who devoted his life to the revolution for Asian American music. ... The lead singer, Helen Feng, is American-born Chinese. ...

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6. A Pair of Tickets

These and other examples from Amy Tan's personal life lead the reader to experience the Chinese-American culture of mothers and daughters. Tan's straightforward manner as well as her skill in which she talks about Chinese culture, mother and daughter relationships in her use of a realist style, theme and imagery to relate her story, "A Pair of Tickets". ... The strong theme is portrays June relationship with her mother and the acceptance of her Chinese heritage. ... June was born in America and vigorously denied she was Chinese growing up. ... I am going to China. ...

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7. Thousand Pieces of Gold

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8. The Joy Luck Club

As she had hoped, the Chinese woman had a daughter, Jing-Mei Woo, who grew up in America and so learned to speak fluent English. ... As she sails to American, clutching her "lucky swan," the Chinese woman is filled with hope. ... Key themes are also established in this chapter. ... Jing-Mei, born and raised in America, does not understand or care about the old customs and is embarrassed by her mother's traditionalism and somber attitude. ... Suffering is another key theme of the novel. ...

  • Word Count: 6459
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9. Ancient China

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