The theme of American Born Chinese is identity. The book was broken into three different parts and each part focused on the consequences of the three characters losing their identity and trying to be someone they are not. First, the Monkey King who was rejected by all of the other deities because he was not human. This rejection made him master twelve major disciples of kung-Fu, which enabled him to change his form to be more human-like. One day he argued with Tze-yotzuh, the creator about whether he is a monkey or not. He quickly learns that he was destined to be a monkey, but he didn’t accept it. So, the creator buries him under a pile of rock, and he stayed there for 500 years.
The monkey king realized he could easily escape just by turning himself back into his true form. Jin Wang is exposed to two different cultures, Chinese and American. He struggles finding the balance between both because he was surrounded by people who were different from him. In order to fit in, he sacrificed who he really was and lost his best friend. Overall, the author’s moral of the story is that when you try to be someone you are not, you will lose valuable things in your life and eventually yourself.
The artwork shows so many stereotypes toward Chinese people. For example, the main characters name, the characteristics such as small eyes, yellow skin and a heavy accent from a non-English speaker. Since the story is about identity, I think the artist used the style they did because it correlates to the theme. The book reminded me of my experiences when I moved to the U.S. I had a hard time in middle school because I had a quick transition from being in a small refugee camp school in SE Asia to coming to an American school. I did experience a lot of negative comments towards me because I didn’t understand English and I was different and back then I didn’t know what a stereotype was.
The superhero comic I chose is Miles Morals: Spider-Man, Vol.1: Straight Out of Brooklyn. The plot line is similar to a typical spider man comic, but in this particular comic the main character is portrayed by a person of color. Saladin Ahmed, the author of the comic book was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in an Arab and American culture. He is a science fiction, fantasy, novels, poetry and comics writer. He is an activist and advocates for Arab and Muslim communities. America is struggling to showcase people of color in the film industry, books, and fashion. Superhero comic books or films are popular among the younger generation. I believe it is important to represent a different range of superheroes because those are the people the audience will look up to. We need inclusive diversity so we can all grow together.
Paw Klu's Blog 