American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Yang - Essay Example

American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Yang The book “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang represents a graphic novel that was released in 2006. In the novel, Jin Wang finds himself as the only Chinese-American student in his school. Therefore, Jin has to live with the everyday challenges of being such a student. However, this experience is short-lived as later a Taiwan boy joins his class. This, therefore, implies that Jin now has a partner who is also not an all-American student. However, Jin does not want to be associated with this new boy. On the contrary, he wants to be considered as an all-American student. This is partly informed by the fact that Jin is in love with an all-American girl. However, Yang’s depiction of the significance of race in the everyday lives of the students does not end with Jin story. Thus, Danny’s allusion offers the perfect illustration. Contrary to Jin, Danny is an all-American boy. Consequently, as the reader would guess, Danny enjoys all the privileges that accompany this prestige status. For instance, Danny is good at basketball. Therefore, his basketball prowess means that Danny gets to have his say with most of the girls. Thus, his popularity with the girls is unrivalled. However, one incidence happens that tarnishes Danny reputation in a flash. Yes, you guessed it right! It has everything to do with race. Danny’s reputation is ruined by an annual visit by his obnoxious Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee. The impact is so bad that Danny has to transfer to another school so as to have a second chance. Yang finally wraps his theme on segregation through the story of the Monkey King. This Monkey King has lived for thousands of years and mastered numerous kung fu and heavenly disciplines. Consequently, the King is ready to join the heavenly ranks. However, at this point a problem arises because there is no space in heaven for a monkey. This, therefore, implies that the Monkey King cannot join the heavenly ranks. Consequently, it is clear that these characters cannot obtain a solution to their problems individually. However, it is imperative that they find a solution to their problems collectively so as to coexist in harmony in the society. Thus, Yang’s book is a continuous depiction of the theme of segregation. Therefore, Yang’s work can be compared to other numerous types of work that tend to tackle the issue of segregation from certain angles (Barry, 22). However, motion pictures stirring Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Jet Li come closest to bringing out a similar depiction. For instance, “Karate Kid” stirring Jackie Chan provides a perfect platform for the furthering of the theme of segregation. In “Karate Kid”, a 12-year-old kid and his mother move to Beijing when the mother gets a job transfer. Believe it or not, the kid develops a crush on a young violinist in Beijing. However, being in a foreign land, Dre, the kid, was never going to have his way. Mei, the young violinist is closely watched and guarded by his family and interaction with foreigners is prohibited. Therefore, Dre and Mei only get minimal time to express their affection for each other. In addition, their relationship is also complicated by the fact that an all-Chinese kid named Cheng is also interested in Mei and enjoys an upper hand for purely racial reasons. Moreover, Cheng also bullies Mei in school. Therefore, constant beating from Cheng and his friends prompts Dre to seek Mr. Han’s assistance with kung fu lessons for protection. Finally Dre becomes an expert at kung fu and gets his revenge against Cheng and his gang. Therefore, it is evident that “Karate Kid” primarily outlines the theme of racial segregation and the struggle that teenagers face in their daily lives in an attempt to blend into their societies. For instance, Dre had to endure humiliating gang beatings from Cheng and his gang. Consequently, the only way he can curve a place for himself is by mastering the kung fu skill and taking on his enemies. Similar to “Karate Kid” and “American born Chinese”, “Fist of Fury” stirring Bruce Lee also reads from a similar script. In this motion picture, Bruce Lee has to endure insults and taunting from Japanese students from a neighboring district at a funeral. Later, Bruce Lee visits the neighboring school and beats all the Japanese students. Bruce Lee is also denied entry into a stroll park on racial grounds. He is advised to act like a dog so as to be allowed gain entry into the park. Angered by the statement, Bruce Lee also beats up this Japanese man. Consequently, this sparks of a series of revenge missions pitting Bruce Lee and the Japanese gangs. Therefore, it is evident that “Fist of Fury” also depicts the racial segregation that different people have to face in different racial backgrounds. Bruce Lee is forced on numerous occasions to fight for his space in the predominantly Japanese society. Thus, his life is a constant struggle and fight for survival. Consequently, this can closely related to the previous cases as depicted above. Motion pictures by other renowned actors such as Jet Li also depict similar racial segregation environments. These motion pictures highlight the plight of marginalized communities on the society. Therefore, comparing the works outlined above, certain thematic consistencies can be established. However, the thematic focus across all the works outlined tackles the racial struggles and stereotypes associated with transformation and identity. The main characters in the works outlined have to undergo some form of racial segregation and constantly struggle with the circumstances that surround them. Consequently, these characters have to find out a way of blending into the societies in which they live in. For instance, in the book, Yang discuses to a great extent the theme of racial segregation and the accompanying stereotypes. Thus, unskilled Chinese workers residing in the US had to endure racial segregation from the locals. Such, stereotypes are generally aimed at victimizing the marginalized communities and making them inferior. Nevertheless, in most cases, the victimized parties always find a way of dealing with the trying circumstances that surround them. Therefore, this brings to light the thematic issue of identity and adaptability. The characters in the motion pictures outlined above have to find ways of identifying to and adapting to the environment surrounding them. In all the cases, the characters were forced to come up with means of adjusting to the difficult situations encountered in their daily lives. This further outlines the thematic development of segregation that is vividly captured by Yang in his story. The characters sometimes undergo physical bullying and torture from numerous opposition camps. This, in turn, called for survival tactics by the victims. As a result, themes such as rejection are also brought to light. Most of the characters had to endure rejection from certain opposing groups. For instance, in Karate Kid, Dre almost quits life in China to the rejection accorded to him by Cheng and his gang. Such is the case in almost all the other cases outlined above. Therefore, it is evident that the motion pictures discussed above auger well with Yang’s thematic development in the book American born Chinese. Therefore, in comparing the motion pictures above, clear similarities can be drawn in regards to the thematic development. Works Cited Barry, Lynda. The best American comics 2008. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Print. Fists of fury. Dir. Luo Wei. Perf. Bruce Lee, Nora Miao. 2000. GoodTimes DVD, 2000. DVD. Yang, Gene Luen, and Lark Pien. American born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006. Print. Read More