CR #3: American Born Chinese

The first tale told in Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese is about the Monkey King. He thinks very highly of himself as the king and a deity but when he goes to the dinner party for deities, he is turned away from the door and reminded that despite everything, he is still a monkey. When he returns home,  “the thick smell of monkey fur greet[s] him” and he stays awake all night “thinking of ways to get rid of it”. It is clear that faced with the blatant reminder of his species, that he becomes ashamed of it. It is reminiscent of later in the novel when Jin is transformed into a blond haired, blue eyed, white boy named Danny. He is ashamed of his cousin Chin-kee who comes to visit and is the epitome of every Chinese stereotype. Faced with the image of his cousin, he is reminded of his race and who he still is despite being so “Americanized”. Chin-kee is equivalent to the doorman and the elevated stench of the monkeys, all of which play the role of opening Danny and the Monkey Kings eyes, respectively, to their “true” selves and how they might be seen by the outside world. Once reminded that despite being a deity and king, he is still a monkey, the stench of the monkeys, which he had never noticed before bother him because they remind him of where he comes from. Despite being Americanized to the point of appearing white, blond, and blue eyed, Chin-kee also reminds Danny that he is still Chinese no matter how he appears.