American Born Chinese Essay

American Born Chinese is a graphic novel that follows the stories of three seemingly unrelated characters; Jin Wang, Danny, and the Monkey King. Jin Wang is a Chinese-American boy who moves from a Chinese community to a place where he is one of two Asian students in his class. He desperately wants to fit in and be an all-American boy like his classmates. When a boy from Taiwan named Wei-Chen moves to his class, Jin Wang instantly dislikes him. He does not want to be Wei-Chen’s friend. However, the two have a lot in common and end up forming a close friendship. Jin Wang still doesn’t fit in with his American classmates, no matter how hard he tries. He changes himself in order to be more like the boys in his class, but loses his identity in the process. The Monkey King is the ruler of all the Flower-Fruit Mountain who is adored by
American Born Chinese is an entertaining and moving story about the struggle between fitting in and being yourself. High school is a time where students struggle with figuring out who they are and how they fit in with everyone else, and I think this story will resonate with a lot of students who are dealing with these issues. I also think this story gives a really good perspective of what it’s like to feel isolated and lonely and different from everyone else. Even students who don’t struggle with these feelings can learn empathy for their fellow students by reading this story. I have no real warnings about the content of this graphic novel. It is fairly appropriate, with the only tasteless points coming when it shows a character urinating on a pillar or mentions someone urinating in someone else’s soda can. However, this is nothing worse than what any student would see or hear in the hallways at school. I love graphic novels, and I think that this one is a great example of the medium. It’s a quick, easy, and enjoyable to read. American Born Chinese would be a great addition to any classroom