Response on American Born Chinese

The first thing I noticed while reading "American Born Chinese" is that the design language is very graphic and easy to read. It is very interesting to read the monkey king's story with this visual style. The version of the "Monkey King" that I used to read as a kid was something like this:

The format is called "小人书", which basically is comic strips printed in a palm-sized book.

After I read further into "American Born Chinese", I felt like a lot of connections were made between the protagonist's experiences and my own. I was born in China and had my education in a Chinese local school until elementary third grade. Afterward, I was transferred to an international school in which all the teachers and curriculum are in English. A a few years later, I moved to the US.

I always had the feeling that I was stuck between the two cultures, In the US, I am unable to understand many aspects of the American pop culture, and In China, I have a more "westernized" way of thinking and communicating, it is sometimes hard for people to understand my thoughts and feelings. I have been through the same experience as the protagonist of not finding the proper identity. First, we all started by imitating the American dress code and habits. The chapter where he talks about deodorant reminds me of my own story. In middle school, my classmates were surprised that I was not using deodorant, so I started using it to fit in. Only later did I realize that scientifically East Asians are less prone to body odor so that using deodorant is not in many people's daily habit.

The ending of the graphic novel delivers a message of accepting who you are by having the traditional Chinese tale of Monkey king merged into the real-life story of the protagonist. I relate to it a lot because I feel like I went through the same emotional stages that the protagonist went through during the story arch. First, imitating the west, then question and be angry at self, and finally accepting the true identity. In the end, I started to learn and appreciate Chinese history and philosophy. I accept my identity and I feel like two cultures mixed inside me is what makes me more unique. I want more people to put down their assumptions and get to know the beauty of Chinese culture.

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