Quota&ons

1.
You may be a king ... even ... a deity—but you are s5ll a monkey.

Celes&al gatekeeper, Chapter 1

Certain that he'll be allowed entrance to the banquet in Heaven, the Monkey King is blindsided
when the celes&al gatekeeper turns him away. Despite his skills and &tle, outsiders always view
him as nothing more than a monkey. This is the same type of struggle Jin Wang has with his
racial and ethnic iden&ty in the main story line of the book.

2.
Something made me want to beat him up.

Jin Wang, Chapter 2

Jin has no interest in befriending Wei-Chen when the laHer arrives at Jin's school. In fact, the
mere presence of Wei-Chen seems to make Jin angry. All Jin wants is to be just like the white
kids in his class—at best popular, at worst unremarkable. Wei-Chen is a visual reminder of
everything Jin dislikes about himself.

3.
Rong 5me no see!

Chin-Kee, Chapter 3
Chin-Kee has a firm grasp on the structure of the English language. He just can't pronounce it
well. His repeated switching of the R and L sounds is reminiscent of the stereotype that these
sounds are impossible for all people of Asian descent to pronounce. Chin-Kee represents the
myth of the Asian non-na&ve English speaker, whereas the reality is exemplified by Wei-Chen,
who grew up in Taiwan speaking Mandarin Chinese.
English is Wei-Chen's second language. There are words he s&ll doesn't quite understand and he
some&mes has difficulty with English grammar. His experiences are common to people who
aren't na&ve English speakers.

4.
I am not a monkey.

Monkey King, Chapter 4

The Monkey King has gone to enormous lengths to prove that he isn't "just" a monkey. He has
mastered kung fu, he can change size, and he can't be killed. Having not yet realized that it's
possible to be a monkey and be awesome, he bristles every &me someone dares call him a
monkey. To him, being called a monkey is an insult on par with any tradi&onal racial slur. When
people call him that word, he feels small and unimportant.
5.
Stop ac5ng like such an F.O.B.!

Jin Wang, Chapter 5

Wei-Chen can't believe that Jin has a crush on Amelia. At home in Taiwan, teenagers just don't
admit those things. Jin responds with an insult. F.O.B. is short for "fresh off the boat." It's a
derogatory phrase used to describe recent immigrants who do not understand the intricacies of
American culture. Wei-Chen doesn't take Jin's comment as an insult here, but he does later in
the book when they fight about Suzy.

6.
I never no5ced it before, but your teeth kind of buck out a liEle.

Melanie, Chapter 6
Danny does everything he can to show people that he's nothing like his cousin Chin-Kee. He's
especially clear about that with Melanie when she tells him she just wants to be friends.
Danny's worst fears come true when Melanie men&ons his teeth. Having buckteeth would only
emphasize his connec&on to his cousin.

7.
What, so I can pee in it?

Danny, Chapter 6
Danny's conversa&on with Steve in the gym suggests that Danny's problems fi\ng in at school
aren't just because of Chin-Kee. Earlier in the day, Chin-Kee urinated in Steve's can of Coke.
Steve doesn't know that, but Danny does. When Steve later offers to buy Danny a Coke, Danny
automa&cally assumes Steve is making fun of him. Danny's insecuri&es are the reason he has
trouble making friends.

8.
Return to your true form and you shall be freed.

Wong Lai-Tsao, Chapter 7

The Monkey King has been imprisoned under a mountain of rubble for 500 years by the &me
Wong Lai-Tsao finds him. He says he can't help the traveling monk because the seal affixed on
the mountain prevents him from prac&cing kung fu. Lai-Tsao insists that's not true—the Monkey
King just needs to go back to his true form, that of a small monkey, to be freed. Lai-Tsao is right.
When the Monkey King shrinks, he can easily wiggle out from underneath the mountain. He
could have been freed long ago had he only let go of his ego.
9. Deep down inside ... I kind of feel like that all the 5me.

Suzy Nakamura, Chapter 8

Suzy cries as she tells Jin that when Tommy called her a "chink" she realized that she always
feels like an outsider, even with her friends. Like Jin, Suzy has internalized the nega&ve words
her peers use to describe her, which ul&mately affects her rela&onships and self-image. Words
may not do physical damage, but they can wreak emo&onal havoc.

10.
I would have saved myself ... had I ... realized how good it is to be a monkey.

Monkey King, Chapter 9

Jin's not sure what to do once he learns the truth about Chin-Kee and Wei-Chen. When Jin asks
for advice, the Monkey King comments about how he lost 500 years underneath "a mountain of
rock" because he didn't want to be a monkey. He helps Jin understand the main message
of American Born Chinese: happiness and contentment are possible only when people accept
themselves exactly as they are.

American Born Chinese | Symbols

Transformer Toy
Back in his family's Chinatown apartment, Jin Wang and his friends loved to play with
Transformers and watch them on television. Developed by toy company Hasbro, Transformers
are plas&c toy robots that can be reconfigured into another form, such as a car, truck, or
airplane. Incredibly popular in the 1980s, the toys even had their own line of comics, an
animated TV series, and an animated movie. Readers of American Born Chinese see Jin clutching
a red Transformer on the way to his family's new home. When Jin first talks to Wei-Chen, Wei-
Chen is holding a Transformer that turns into a monkey. Wei-Chen's toy represents his own
transforma&on from monkey to mortal—his father, the Monkey King, gave it to him as a
reminder of who he really is. Jin's love of Transformers has a different meaning. It symbolizes his
desire to change himself from an insecure Asian American outcast to a popular, purely American
kid.

Monkey King's Shoes

Unlike his primate subjects, the Monkey King wears human clothes—a leotard topped by a
&ger-striped loincloth and a red bandana. Shoes are the one ar&cle of human clothing he
doesn't wear. His lack of footwear is a problem for the celes&al gatekeeper who refuses the
Monkey King entrance to the banquet. No maHer his powers or strength, the Monkey King is
s&ll just a monkey if he's not wearing shoes. Upon returning home, the Monkey King insists that
all the monkeys—not just him—wear shoes at all &mes. This symbolizes the Monkey King's
desire to leave his monkey-hood behind and become an equal to the gods, goddesses, dei&es,
and demons of heaven and the underworld. Taking off his shoes before embarking on his
journey West is a signal that the Monkey King has accepted himself for what he truly is: a
monkey.
American Born Chinese | Themes

IdenHty and Acceptance

The struggle to find—and accept—one's personal iden&ty is at the core of American Born
Chinese. The Monkey King, for example, insists that he is not a monkey but a king, a deity, a
kung fu master, and the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven. To demonstrate his power and strength,
he even does bodily harm to gods and demons and picks a fight with Tze-Yo-Tzuh, the
embodiment of God. However, no maHer what he does to prove that he is more than a lowly
primate, others s&ll insist on calling him a monkey. "I say that you are a monkey, therefore, you
are a monkey," Tze-Yo-Tzuh tells the Monkey King on the stone bridge. Tze-Yo-Tzuh made all the
creatures in the world and "do[es] not make mistakes." As the Monkey King tells Jin Wang, it
took him 500 years underneath a mountain of rubble to "realiz[e] how good it is to be a
monkey." One good aspect is being small. Giving up his ego shrank him back to his regular size,
which allowed him to slip out of his rocky confines. He remains as intelligent and powerful as
ever and the only thing his self-acceptance cost him was his anger.
Jin is also burdened by overwhelming feelings of anger. He dislikes being Asian American
because it makes him a target for the racist bullies at his school. Even though Wei-Chen is his
best friend, Jin frequently reminds Wei-Chen—and himself—that they're nothing alike. "You and
I are not alike. We're nothing alike," he tells Wei-Chen aker kissing Suzy Nakamura. To Jin,
there's a big difference between being an immigrant—like Wei-Chen—and being the American-
born son of immigrants, as he is. Jin clings to his American iden&ty as if it were a life jacket
keeping him afloat in the unforgiving sea of adolescence. Aker his fight with Wei-Chen at the
end of seventh grade, Jin completely abandons the Asian side of himself and turns into Danny,
an average white teenager. Yet when the Monkey King arrives in the form of Chin-Kee four years
later, Jin s&ll isn't comfortable with his public persona. A loner who has difficulty making friends,
he has the same insecuri&es he did as when he considered himself Asian American. Moreover,
denying his true iden&ty made Jin very unhappy. It isn't un&l he reconnects with Wei-Chen in
the Chinese restaurant that he starts to look and feel like himself again. His talk with the
Monkey King helps him accept who he really is. His willingness to sit in a Chinese diner every
day for a month while looking for his former best friend is a sign of that acceptance.

Cultural AssimilaHon
Cultural assimila&on occurs when new members of a group become indis&nguishable from
other members of the group. It's basically a grand term for what is known as "fi\ng in."
In American Born Chinese, iden&ty and cultural assimila&on go hand in hand. Both Jin and
the Monkey King have trouble accep&ng themselves as they are because they want to fit in with
another group. The Monkey King wants to be considered the equal of the gods, goddesses,
dei&es, and demons that populate the underworld and heaven. Jin simply doesn't want his
appearance and heritage to make him a target for racist bullies.
As a young boy, Jin liked his life in Chinatown. He and his friends all looked the same and shared
the same language and customs. However, Jin's parents wanted him to assimilate into
mainstream American life more fully than they had as immigrants. Jin's mother indicates this
through the story about the liHle boy who mimicked the behaviors of those who lived in each of
the pair's new neighborhoods. Like many immigrant families, Jin's parents want their child to
have a beHer and more prosperous life than they would have had in their na&ve country. To
achieve that, they try to give him the quintessen&al (white) American childhood by moving to a
mostly white, suburban neighborhood. Once in school, Jin goes ever farther by perming his hair
to look like Greg's naturally curly hair. However, as Wei-Chen puts it, Jin's perm makes him "look
like a broccoli." By trying to fit in, Jin only makes himself stand out even more.
Jin's experiences in American Born Chinese show that assimila&on can be difficult and perhaps
not always appropriate. When Jin fully commits himself to assimila&on, he becomes Danny—a
prototypical white teen—and refuses to associate with his Chinese cousin while also cu\ng off
his Asian and Asian American friends. However, he's s&ll just as insecure and lonely as ever. It
takes a visit from the Monkey King to remind him that he did fit in once—when he was s&ll
hanging out with Wei-Chen and Suzy. Even his short-lived rela&onship with Amelia was a sign
that Jin could fit in with his white classmates without completely reinven&ng himself and
denying his true iden&ty. It's a fine balance that takes Jin a long &me to figure out.

Racism and Stereotyping

Jin, Suzy, and Wei-Chen endure a lot of racist taunts from their white classmates in American
Born Chinese. However, they also have to deal with more subtle forms of racism. When Jin
moves to the suburbs, his teacher, Mrs. Greeder, automa&cally assumes that Jin and his family
"moved to [the] neighborhood all the way from China." The same thing happens to Wei-Chen
when he joins Jin's class in fikh grade. There are two forms of racism exhibited here. One is that
all people of Chinese descent were born in China. The other is that Asian countries and cultures
are interchangeable. Wei-Chen is from Taiwan, which is an island off the coast of mainland
China. Likewise, Suzy Nakamura is Japanese, but her classmates assume that she and Jin should
date because they're "the same." Timmy exhibits overt racism in his declara&on that, "My
momma says Chinese people eat dogs." Mrs. Greeder is more subtly racist when she observes
that Jin's family "probably stopped that sort of thing" once they moved to the United States.
Even though she thinks she's suppor&ng Jin, she's reinforcing a racist stereotype.
Author Gene Luen Yang also addresses racism through the character of Chin-Kee. According to
Yang, Chin-Kee is an amalgama&on of every stereotype Westerners have about Asians. Chin-Kee
is drawn with exaggerated features and an outdated hairstyle and clothing. He uses Chinese
takeout cartons as luggage, has difficulty pronouncing certain consonants, and lusts aker Jin's
white female classmates. He eats cats, sings badly, and urinates in someone's can of Coke. Each
of Chin-Kee's outlandish ac&ons is designed to startle readers—making them reconsider
stereotypes they may hold and how stereotypes affect their view of Asians and Asian
Americans. Yang's goal isn't to end racism and discrimina&on against people of Asian descent—
although that would be nice. He instead acknowledges stereotypes held by Westerners and asks
readers to examine their role in perpetua&ng them. That is the first step in comba\ng racial
inequality.