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By
Russell Erby
When first gazing at the graphic novel American Born Chinese, ones first instinct might
be to classify it as a graphic novel made for young adults to read. Although this predictable
reaction can be supported by the graphic novels content and structure, a closer evaluation of the
book allows the reader to see many mature and complex ideas emerging from under the surface.
One of the most obvious of the ideas is racism. Jin Wang, the protagonist who tells the story, has
to cope with life in America as an ethnic minority. Due to the fact that Jin is a Chinese American,
he witnesses bigotry firsthand on many occasions. This racial intolerance ultimately leads Jin to
sacrifice a sizeable part of who he is as a person in order to please others in the book. Although it
appears that Jin recognizes the error of his decisions by books end, the pressure to conform,
borne out of racism, causes Jin to experience many problems throughout the story.
Before discussing examples of the topic of racism in the graphic novel, it is important to
understand the struggles of the storys protagonist, Jin Wang. As a child, we see Jin consistently
clutching a red transformer toy in hands. The said toy makes its first appearance on page 23 of
the book. On the books 28
th
page, the herbalists wife, an ancient looking old woman with a
protruding chin asks Jin if he wants to be a transformer. (American Born Chinese 28.4) When he
responds by saying that he does but his mother says its silly, the old woman makes a very
important comment. On page 29, the old woman says, its easy to become anything you wish,
so long as youre willing to forfeit your soul. (American Born Chinese 29.1)
The old womans statement serves as a means to introduce an idea that directly relates to
racism. One interpretation of what the old woman said is that as people, we can transform to
please others; however, in order to this, it requires us to give up who we are and what we want
for ourselves as individuals. Racism relates to this in the story, because Jins Asian background
makes him feel alienated and unaccepted by his peers. This in turn makes Jin disenchanted,
which leads to the proverbial sacrificing of the soul, or Jin sacrificing his identity in order to
please others.
On page 31 whenever Jin begins at his new school, we can see that a substantial amount
of racism exists within the classroom. Despite her good intentions, the teacher, Mrs. Greeder
makes an error in stating Jins name to the class. Instead of calling him Jin Wang, she refers to
him as: Jing Jang. (American Born Chinese 30.1) She follows this mistake by stating that Jin
Wang and his family moved all the way from China, when in fact they moved from San
Francisco, California. Although the teacher exhibits benevolent tendencies toward Jin, her
consistent mistakes and assumptions about Chinese culture seem to suggest deep ignorance about
Jin and his culture. The situation becomes more uncomfortable for Jin when a classmate, a young
Caucasian sporting dog tags, named Timmy raises his hand. Timmy states his momma said that,
Chinese people eat dogs. Mrs. Greeder responds to this statement by saying, Now be nice,
Timmy! Im sure Jin doesnt do that! In fact, Jins family probably stopped that sort of thing as
soon as they came to the United States! (American Born Chinese 31.3)
Not only does her statement scream xenophobia towards the Chinese way of life, her
declaration also suggests ethnocentrism. By saying that Jins family probably stopped that sort
of thing as soon as they came to the United States Mrs. Greeder suggests that the United States
is a more civilized society than China and therefore a superior culture. Also, referring to eating
dogs as that sort of thing represents a brazen generalization and a clear ignorance of Jins
culture. This dismissive behavior is clearly illustrated on page 32, as well. On this page, Jin is
sitting alone at a picnic table eating dumplings. The panel that depicts Jins isolation is elongated,
probably deliberately in order to better illustration Jins loneliness. (American Born Chinese 32.4)
Timmy, the boy who previously made a sweeping generalization earlier asks Jin, What the hell
is that? Timmy then tells Jin to stay away from his dog. (American Born Chinese 32.7)
Jin does not make his first friend, Peter Garbinsky, until about three months later by his
own admission on page 34. However, the portrayal of the friendship illustrated on page 34 and
page 35 certainly suggests some facetiousness. According to Jin, the two play: games. These
games include: kill the pill, crack the whip and lets be Jews. In two out of the three games it
appears that Peter uses his larger stature to physically bully Peter. Peter abruptly leaves
following winter break of his fifth grade year, though, making Jin even more alienated. Here,
again, we see an elongated panel. Like before, this panel serves to illustrate Jins unhappiness
with his separation from the rest of his classmates. Additionally, the grey background is an
effective use of color; it creates a depressing mood that aids the reader in understanding the
significance of the loss of a friend, albeit a violent friend. (American Born Chinese 32.4)
In spite of the fact that Jin eventually becomes best friends with Wei-Chen Sun, a student
from Taiwan, the first interaction that the two characters share seems to suggest a lot about Jins
desire to assimilate to American culture. On page 37, Wei-Chen attempts to communicate with
Jin in Chinese. Jin responds to this by saying, Youre in America. Speak English. (American
Born Chinese 37.3) Here, we see the first signs of Jins desire to conform to please other people.
It is important to note that Jin is eating a sandwich, a traditional American foodhe is not eating
dumplings with chopsticks as her previously did. On the following page, Wei-Chen asks Jin if
they can be friends. Jin responds by this by saying, I have enough friends. (American Born
Chinese 38.2) He then proceeds to point to a crowd of kids playing football; in this crowd of
people is Timmy, the kid who previously made racially-charged comments directly to Jin.
(American Born Chinese 38.4) This passage is incredibly significant because it demonstrates
that Jin desires to be liked by his American peers. As a result of this, Jin attempts to change
himself to be liked.
Jin makes attempts to change by growing his hair out to make it appear curly. The reason
why he makes this decision is consistent with what was previously stated: Jin wants to be liked.
However, this time, he wants to appear attractive to a classmate named Amelia Harris. Since she
appears to be semi-smitten with a boy in Jins class named Gregg who has curly blonde hair, Jin
decides that he must grow his hair out in order for her to take an interest in him on page 97.
Largely due to the help of his friend Wei-Chen, Jin is finally able to work up the courage to ask
her on a date on page 105; however, he asks her a stilted question, Hang outWith
MeSometime? (American Born Chinese 105.2) As previously stated, she does accept his
offer; however, the date that the two go on reveals a lot about Jin.
Jins thirst for acceptance leads to many social problems that reveal themselves during
the course of his date with Amelia. First of all, little conversation goes on between the two
characters during the course of the date, and Jin seems hesitant to be himself for fear of being
considered unattractive. Additionally, he repeatedly smells his underarms because he is afraid
that he smells bad. Whenever the two enter the theatre, it is incredibly awkward. Few words are
exchanged before the movie and as the movie nears its end, Jin decides to get up and go to the
bathroom. He then proceeds to wash his underarms with soap from the bathroom. When he
returns he timidly puts his arm around her. (American Born Chinese 170.3)
Wei-Chen attempts proceeds to ask Amelia how the date went. Although she says the
date went well, we can see that her eyes are fixed on Gregg on the next to last panel of the page,
indicating that she has feelings for him. (American Born Chinese 175.4) On page 179, Gregg
asks Jin not ask Amelia out again, despite the fact that he says, Shes like a sister to me!
(American Born Chinese 179.4). Following this event, we see Amelia disappear from Jins life.
The primary reason he loses her seems to stem from his conformitysomething that he thought
would bring him happiness and acceptance. Also, despite his efforts to appear sympathetic
Greggs actions suggest that he, like many of Jins other classmates, is a racistto some degree
his actions prevented their relationship from progressing to another level. Even so, though, when
we see Gregg interacting with Amelia he humors her and he attempts to make conversation with
her (American Born Chinese 91.4), Jin does not do this. Instead, he doubts himself and never
really reveals who he truly is as a person to Amelia. As it turns out, growing his hair out did not
cause Amelia to see him as more than a friend. Perhaps if he had adopted a similar strategy to
Gregg, things would have turned out differently in this particular situation.
Whenever the book reaches its climax on page 214, we learn that Danny, a Caucasian kid
yearning for acceptance and Jin are actually the same person. This panel illustrates the gradual
transformation from Danny, back to Jin. (American Born Chinese 214.1) Danny represents Jins
attempt to assimilate. This attempted incorporation fails because it is not Jins true form,
according to the monkey king. (American Born Chinese 213.4) Earlier in the book Danny, or
Jins other persona also fails with a girl named Melanie. Unlike Amelia, however, Melanie
makes a comment that feeds into the mentality of ethnic pigeonholing. On page 124, she tells
Danny that his teeth, buck out a little, feeding the stereotype that Asians have buck teeth.
(American Born Chinese 124.1) This incredibly disturbing comment made by Melanie helps the
reader to understand the tremendous amount of racism and shallowness that exists in Dannys
world. After humiliating episodes like this, the reader becomes aware of why Jin struggles to
find an identity: he doubts himself.
In spite of the fact that Jin has to deal with prodigious amounts of intolerance during this
time period in his life, he finally realizes who he is. (American Born Chinese 214.1) Literally, he
once again recognizes that he is Jin Wang; however, this moment has a symbolic quality. It
seems to represent Jin coming to the realization that he has attempted to conform by giving up
his soul, as the old woman previously said in the story. He attempts to redeem himself by
speaking to Wei-Chen again, who earlier punched him for kissing his girlfriend. At this point in
the story, Jin truly begins to see how good of a friend Wei-Chen has been to him. The two finally
meet up on again, with Jin eventually apologizing to Wei-Chen on page 231. (American Born
Chinese 231.1)
While Jin does recognize the fact that he gave up who he was to please other people, one
cannot blame him for wanting to feel accepted. At the very least, the blame should not solely rest
on Jins shoulders. Instead, racism should be blamed for creating many of his problems. As a
story, American Born Chinese makes the reader aware of how it feels to witness racism.
Additionally, it serves to illustrate what can happen to people when the pressure to conform
becomes highand individual can ultimately lose who he/she is as a result of trying to please
others. At the very least, though, by books end Jin seems to realize what he can do to have a
better life going forward: be who he is, and stay friends with Wei-Chen.