An Analysis of American Born Chinese Book - Essay Example

American Born Chinese Living in a social environment should be considered to be an important prerequisite for the development of the inner potential of a human being. However, there might be situations when a person may face different obstacles on the way of the personal development. For example, one might belong to an ethnic minority and become a target of the criticism that is generated by the majority. This particular situation is examined in the graphic novel that is titled American Born Chinese. This paper will argue that all the three stories which are told within the book deal with different aspects of racial inequality and prejudices, urging the readers to develop a tolerant opinion towards a different culture. The first story of the novel largely mimes the story of the Monkey King. It would not be an exaggeration to point out that the author deliberately chose this figure since in the original text the Monkey King also was a victim of ethnic discrimination. Indeed, being a monkey for no particular reason he was refused to join the gathering of other deities. Later he is explained that his entrance was denied because he is a monkey and no match to deities. No matter how absurd it may see, but in the fairytales there is also a hierarchy of the spices which may not be properly justified, just like in a real life society. Another interesting point that should be noted is the rejection from the group of gods actually served as an important impulse for the Monkey King to explore his abilities and live his life to its fullest. One might suggest that just like him, those people who were not able to incorporate in the society because of racial prejudices end up to be much more developed individuals than they could have been if they did not turn their attention to their identity. Quite ironically, throughout the story the Monkey King is the person who develops the most accurate understanding of his identity as well the state of affair in the society, featuring the perception of the world which is not distorted by any biases – something that the majority of the population both in the book or in the real life is not able to boast. The next story, the implications of which should be explored in order to prove the thesis deals with life of Jin Wang. Thus, it is quite important since it presents a rather peculiar description of the most hostile environment for the people of a different race that one can image: the white suburb of a town. It is quite obvious that the author deliberately made his Chinese character to move them in order to show how negatively people can treat other people, in spite of the fact that the latter did not do anything wrong. What is more important is that characters that appear in the story of Jin Wang feature another common feature of the people who adhere to different racist views: they believe in some kind of a super ethnicity that all the people with a similar color of skin are a part of. For example, Jin Wang is not perceived as a Chinese, but as an Asian, so he is groups with other Asian children who come from Taiwan, Japan and so on. There is one more point why this particular part of the book is important: it shows that sometimes prejudices might take a rather absurd form, but the people who adhere to them do not mind that. For example, some children genuinely thought that Jin Want eats dogs almost every day. In addition to that, they spotted another Asian student in class and had no doubt that they would have an arranged marriage. In spite of the fact that such views were expressed by the children, they still reflect the opinion of some part of the population with regard to people who come from a different cultural background. Finally, the last story that the book engaged is extremely important when it comes to analyzing the issue of racism. To begin with, one should point out that unlike the stories which were discussed previously, this one features another kind of stereotypes – the positive one. Indeed, some people find it difficult to understand that in spite of the fact that positive stereotypes might praise a particular ability of a person, it still does not encourage others to treat one with open heart. Thus, Chin-Kee, one of the main characters, presents great academic performance and this is largely attributed to his ethnic background, namely being a Chinese. Moreover, the story introduces another character that is extremely important for the development of the correct perspective on the racially biased views on other people. Thus, Danny, the cousin of the above mentioned Chin-Kee serves as almost iconic representation of an “average white” boy who can never become a target of public criticism. However, this simple claim becomes rather absurd when a person examines this claim in detail, the very notion of being “average” or “white” becomes too vague. What is more interesting is that the relationship between Danny and his Chinese brother Chin-Kee seems to have a negative effect on the former since he becomes unpopular among his fellow “average white” friends. This particular situation suggests that the minority, in this case the white part of the population, tries to maintain its exclusiveness by rejecting not only the people who come from a different cultural background, but also those tend to have any connection to them. As one can easily see on the examples that were discussed in the previous paragraphs, the book which is titled American Born Chinese is an interesting story that highlights all the peculiarities of modern day racism and shows the readers the absurdity of such claims. That is why it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that this book should be read by anyone who is interested in overcoming the racial issues and see the situation from a different point of view. References Yang, G. (2006). American born Chinese. New York: First Second. Read More