American Born Chinese

In “American Born Chinese”Yang takes three seemingly unrelated stories, the story of the Monkey King, the story of his own transition into American culture, and the story of Bobby and his cousin Chin-Kee and brings them all into one cohesive tale.

The book starts with a chapter in the life of the Chinese folk hero the Monkey King. The King wishes to be invited to a party with the other deities, but is not allowed in because he is a monkey and doesn't wear shoes. Because of this rejection the subsequent chapters with this character illustrate his attempts to conform to the other deities standards and how no matter how hard he tires he never really “fit's in.”

Next come the story of Gene Yang himself, though he is referred to as Jin Wang in the story. Jin is also trying to fit into a society that doesn't quite “get” him as he transfers from a school with a large Asian-American population to one where he is the only Chinese person in his class and is subsequently mocked on all fronts for cultural differences. Chapters on Jin show him attempting to assimilate into what he views as proper American society as he grows up and as two more Asian-American students join him at his school.

Bobby and his cousin Chin-Kee is an interesting story arc, and the one that seems to fit in least in the book initially as the other two, while perhaps not celebrating Chinese heritage do not outright insult it. The name Chin-Kee is just a thinly veiled version of chink, which is possibly the most insulting term that can be used for a Chinese person. Chin-Kee is also the stereotype of a Chinese person, uneducated, poorly spoken, drooly, and crass with buck-teeth and eyes so squinty he doesn't appear to have irises or pupils. Bobby on the other hand is the all-American teen, tall, muscular, plays on the football team, gets along with the girls. He is ashamed of Chin-Kee so much that he transfers schools every year after Chin-Kee visits.

As the novel progresses and each of theses tales unfold it is revealed that they are all reall just facets of one story. Bobby is really Jin and Chin-Kee is really the Monkey King, and the all must realize that they need to accept who they are for themselves and not try to conform to some kind of standard. Jin needs to accept his heritage and embrace his identity as a Chinese-American citizen.