Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in American Born Chinese, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Prejudice
Racism and Popular Culture
Pride, Stubbornness, and Humility
Storytelling and Universality
Summary
Analysis
One bright night, the gods, goddesses, demons, and spirits gather in Heaven for a dinner party. The various guests try to show each other up by bragging about their achievements, while some make bad jokes. The sounds and smells of the party drift down until they reach Flower-Fruit Mountain, where the magical Monkey King oversees his kingdom of monkeys. The Monkey King is a powerful deity. According to legend, he was born of a rock and when his eyes opened, rays of light beamed into the sky. As a young deity, he did away with the tiger-spirit that haunted Flower-Fruit Mountain and established his kingdom, where monkeys from all over the world came to live. The Monkey King rules gently but firmly.
This passage’s description of the Monkey King suggests that the he is a generous individual who looks out for others—he gets rid of evil spirits and benevolently oversees a kingdom where all monkeys choose to live happily. By contrast, the party guests brag about their achievements, which implies that they might not all be as good and benevolent as the Monkey King is.
Themes
The Monkey King spends all his time studying the arts of kung-fu. He has mastered thousands of minor disciplines, as well as the prerequisites to immortality: the four major heavenly disciplines. These are fist-like-lightning, or strong fists; thunderous foot, or the ability to deal major kicks; heavenly senses; and cloud-as-steed, or the ability to ride on clouds. On the night of the party, the Monkey King uses his senses to detect the dinner party. Since he loves parties, he summons a cloud to take him up to Heaven.
At this point, the Monkey King’s grasp of kung-fu is portrayed as relatively neutral. While there are some violent aspects to the kung-fu, it’s portrayed more as a tool that allows the Monkey King to both effectively defend Flower-Fruit Mountain and to navigate Heaven and deduce when there might be fun events going on.
Themes
The line to get into the party is impossibly long. The Monkey King fidgets, excited to join the other deities. By the time he reaches the front of the line, he’s beside himself. The guard announces the arrival of the Dragon King of the Western Sea and then pulls the Monkey King aside. The Monkey King tells the guard that he’d like to be announced as the Monkey King of Flower-Fruit Mountain, but with a laugh, the guard says the Monkey King can’t enter, as he has no shoes. The Monkey King insists that there must be a mistake since thousands of subjects pledge loyalty to him, but the guard tries to drag the Monkey King out.
Here, saying that the Monkey King can’t enter because he doesn’t have shoes reads as something that’s meant to mask the real reason why the partygoers don’t want the Monkey King to join them. Regardless, the Monkey King’s response to this treatment shows that he makes it clear that he’s little different from any of the other guests and can sees that what’s happening here is just prejudicial nonsense.
Themes
The Monkey King loudly insists that he’s a deity like everyone else, as well as a disciple of kung-fu and a master of the four major heavenly disciplines. The guard compliments the Monkey King on his achievements, but insists he still cannot enter. When the Monkey King argues again, the guard points out that even if the Monkey is a king and a deity, he’s still a monkey. Everyone else at the party laughs. The Monkey King is extremely embarrassed. He almost leaves without saying anything, but decides that shouting “Die!” as he throws the guard at the other guests will make him feel better. He only leaves when everyone at the party is in a pile, injured and bruised. When he returns to Flower-Fruit Mountain, he feels acutely aware of the smell of monkey fur. He spends the night wondering how to get rid of the smell.
Finally, the guard is forced to say outright why the Monkey King can’t enter: the guard and those he serves are prejudiced. It’s important, then, that the Monkey King’s first emotional response is embarrassment—that is, he fears that there’s something wrong with him, rather than recognizing that the partygoers are rude and judgmental individuals whom he probably doesn’t want to spend time with, anyway. This incident shows that this kind of prejudice can make a person feel embarrassed about who they are and then seek to change themselves, as when the Monkey King considers how to get rid his fur of its natural smell.
Themes
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