American Born in Chinese
AmerOscar DeLeon American Born Chinese is a story filled with many different ethical conflicts that relate to one of the different themes in the book. The overall theme of the story is that one should not try to be someone their not for themselves or other people, you should be true to one’s self because you are better off that way. Both Jin Wang and The Monkey King were in situations where they change something about them because of what other people thought about them. In the end, these changes ended up hurting them. Gene Luen Yang uses some of the ethical decisions made in this story and changes some of the story line to relate to this overall theme. The ethical decisions made by these two characters all have to do with them changing something about them.
One of the many ethical conflicts The Monkey King encountered that corresponds to the overall theme of the story was when he decided to make all of the monkeys wear shoes. This new law was made after the king got ridiculed at the dinner for being a monkey. The person with the guest list made fun of the monkey and said “Yes, Yes. I apologize profusely but I cannot let you in you haven’t any shoes” (Yang 15), and “Look, you may be a king- you may even be a deity- but you are still a monkey” (Yang 15). After these comment were made The Monkey King was ashamed of who he was, therefore he mandated a law stating all monkeys had to wear shoes. This made all of the monkeys’ life extremely hard. They couldn’t perform everyday activities like walking or climbing trees. The Monkey King tries to change who he and his people really are, monkeys, more human like. He makes his colony suffer for his insecurities.
An ethical conflict Jin-Wang faced that also corresponds with the theme of the story was when he decides to treat the new exchange student Wei-Chen just as badly as he was treated when he first came to this country. When Jin-Wang first arrived to Mayflower Elementary, he was mocked for being Chinese. Various
One of the many ethical conflicts The Monkey King encountered that corresponds to the overall theme of the story was when he decided to make all of the monkeys wear shoes. This new law was made after the king got ridiculed at the dinner for being a monkey. The person with the guest list made fun of the monkey and said “Yes, Yes. I apologize profusely but I cannot let you in you haven’t any shoes” (Yang 15), and “Look, you may be a king- you may even be a deity- but you are still a monkey” (Yang 15). After these comment were made The Monkey King was ashamed of who he was, therefore he mandated a law stating all monkeys had to wear shoes. This made all of the monkeys’ life extremely hard. They couldn’t perform everyday activities like walking or climbing trees. The Monkey King tries to change who he and his people really are, monkeys, more human like. He makes his colony suffer for his insecurities.
An ethical conflict Jin-Wang faced that also corresponds with the theme of the story was when he decides to treat the new exchange student Wei-Chen just as badly as he was treated when he first came to this country. When Jin-Wang first arrived to Mayflower Elementary, he was mocked for being Chinese. Various
Cited: Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006. Print. “Monkey King.” Western Kentucky University. Western Kentucky University. 2004. Web. 20 March. 2004. H, Paul. “Quotes About Being A Role Model.” A Role Model. Web.