American Born Chinese Character Analysis

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The graphic novel, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, explores many situations that immigrants and those who come from immigrant families face. From teachers in the novel automatically assuming that new students, Jin Wang and Wei-Chen Sun, are both from China, when in fact the former is from San Fransisco and the latter Taiwan, to the stereotypes placed on cousin Chin-Kee. In American Born Chinese, the aspects of being an immigrant or from a first generation family is shown through the characters Suzy Nakamura, Jin Wang, and Wei-Chen Sun. The graphic novel American Born Chinese shows the struggles of being someone who is an ethnic minority.
The character Suzy Nakamura provides the reader of the graphic novel with the insight into what …show more content…
Wei-Chen, much like Jin Wang, is presumed to be from China, when he is actually from Taiwan. Wei-Chen has broken English, and he tries to get away with not speaking English to Jin Wang, to which Jin replies by telling him, “You’re in America. Speak English.” (37). On page 40, Wei-Chen and Jin are seen siting at a long empty bench, again while the rest of their peers are playing in the school yard. Later on, Jin is talking about how he likes a girl, and Wei-Chen brings Taiwanese customs into the picture. Jin immediately reacts telling Wei-Chen not to act, “like such an F.O.B!” (89). Wei-Chen is an excellent example of how sometimes people expect immigrants to automatically except the culture of their new country, and leave the culture of their homes behind.
American Born Chinese allows readers to understand what immigrants, people who are first generation, and those who come from families that are not of the ethnic majority go through. This novel describes how it can be very hard for those who are not ethnic majority to fit in, and that they are sometimes left as outcasts and that the only people they can have as friends are the people who are ‘weird’ or the other outcasts. The concepts of these struggles and situations are shown through the characters Suzy Nakamura, Jin Wang, and Wei-Chen
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