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
Jin’s mother once said she married Jin’s father because he had the thickest glasses. His thick glasses, to her, meant that he spent hours studying and therefore had a strong work ethic. This, in turn, corresponded to a high salary and to him being a good husband. She counsels Jin to focus on his studies so that in the future, he can have whatever girl he wants—but only after he has a master’s degree.
Once again, Jin’s mother shows that she values education above everything else, especially romance, when it comes to Jin’s future. Importantly, this signals for the reader that in order to go on a date with Amelia, Jin is going to have to go against his parents’ wishes.
Themes
As Jin explains this to the reader, he pleads with Wei-Chen to tell Jin’s parents that they’re together so that Jin’s parents will let Jin go out. Wei-Chen insists he can’t lie, but Jin tries to say that it’s not really a lie, but a “delayed truth.” He points out that Wei-Chen was the one who said this was the chance of a lifetime and if he doesn’t help now, Jin will never get this chance. With a sigh, Wei-Chen agrees.
Wei-Chen likely agrees to go along with Jin’s scheme because he still believes that Jin is a good, kind, generous person—and therefore, it’s worth it to lie for him. Wei-Chen likely sees doing so as a way for him to help someone he cares about, though it’s unclear at this point how the plan will pan out.
Themes
Jin tells the reader that he has a cousin named Charlie. Charlie is a few years older and once warned Jin to not bother dating until he could drive. Since Charlie smelled like old rice, had a bad haircut, and had extremely strict parents, Jin always thought that Charlie was just being cynical. But as Jin bikes up a hill, huffing and puffing due to Amelia on the handlebars, he’s not so sure. Jin tries to look cool and strong in front of Amelia, but by the time they reach the theater, Jin’s armpits are so smelly that he knows he can’t put an arm around her.
To Jin, Charlie is somewhat akin to a real version of Chin-Kee (who’s also an embarrassing Chinese cousin), and therefore, didn’t register with Jin as something he should take seriously. The fact that Jin wants to look cool in front of Amelia and possibly put his arm around her again shows that he is a normal teenage boy who wants to have a nice date with a girl—he’s not a walking stereotype.
Themes
Jin and Amelia sit awkwardly in the theater until Amelia remarks that the movie is about to start. Jin quips that it’s because they “lurned off the tights” and then winces. Despite this, Jin spends the whole movie drooling, watching Amelia, and listening to her breathe. She giggles and clutches his shoulder during the dramatic parts. With 20 minutes left, Jin’s hair appears to crackle with a kind of electric energy. He feels suddenly confident and begins to stretch so he can put an arm around her. When he remembers that he stinks, he excuses himself. His parents have never heard of deodorant and never bought him any, but Charlie once mentioned that he could use powdered soap from a public restroom. Jin scrubs powder into his armpits until a theater employee walks into the restroom.
Given Jin’s speech patterns throughout the novel, his mispronunciation of “turned” here is likely just a genuine nervous mistake. However, it’s impossible to ignore that mixing up l’s and t’s is part of the stereotype regarding how Chinese people talk. Because of this, Jin is probably scared that Amelia is going to start to treat him differently, now that he’s (possibly) revealed that in his case, this stereotype holds true. However, when Jin’s curly hair gives him courage, it shows that his confidence is dependent on appearing white.
Themes
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Jin races back to the auditorium and retakes his seat next to Amelia. As she sighs over the romantic ending, Jin experiences another jolt of confidence from his hair and puts his arm around Amelia. She’s shocked at first, but leans into Jin, much to his surprise. Jin is ecstatic. As they leave the theater a bit later, Amelia talks about the movie and Jin notices suds on Amelia’s bare shoulder. He realizes that the powdered soap bubbled up and is now bubbling through his shirt. Amelia invites Jin to get a milkshake with her and doesn’t seem to notice his odd behavior—or the bubbles on either of them. Jin clamps his arms down to his sides and follows her. Greg and his date leave the theater right behind Jin and Amelia, and Greg looks at them with concern. Jin and Amelia drink their milkshakes happily.
The way that Amelia behaves with Jin and accepts his affections again shows that she’s the lone white character in the novel who treats Jin and Wei-Chen like real, full people worthy of her attention (and potentially affection). While this likely has as much to do with Amelia’s natural kindness than anything in particular about Jin, it’s worth considering that Jin may feel as though he’s receiving this attention now because he’s changed his hair into a hairstyle worn by his white peers. In other words, Amelia might be naturally kind, but Jin is still liable to misinterpret why because he so desperately wants to believe that being white is better than being Chinese.
Themes
That night, Jin feels haunted by the possibility that Amelia was just too polite to say anything about the bubbles. He wonders if Amelia thinks he’s a freak whose armpits bubble. At school the next day, Jin desperately confides in Wei-Chen. Wei-Chen insists that Amelia probably didn’t notice, but he offers to sneakily find out if she did. He adds that Jin’s mother called while Jin was out, and Wei-Chen spent two hours trying to make her forget why she called. It worked, but Wei-Chen had to agree to go shopping with her on Saturday. She’s going to buy Wei-Chen shoes and an electric wok. Glumly, Wei-Chen says that Jin owes him.
Jin’s fears are still those of a normal teenager—any person would be concerned about having an embarrassing moment on a date with someone they really like. This continues to humanize Jin and show that he is a real, feeling person, not just a walking stereotype. The promise of shoes from Jin’s mom foreshadows Wei-Chen becoming someone he’s not, just as Jin’s hairstyle does to him and the shoes do to the monkeys in the Monkey King’s story.
Themes
During a class that Wei-Chen has with Amelia, Wei-Chen approaches her and asks how the date was. Greg, who’s horsing around with other boys, watches curiously. Amelia says she had lots of fun. Wei-Chen asks if Jin was nice and funny. Amelia answers affirmatively, but is confused when Wei-Chen asks if Jin was bubbly and motions to his armpits. With a laugh, Wei-Chen tells her to forget he asked and then gives Jin, who’s watching through the window in the classroom door, a thumbs up.
Wei-Chen’s willingness to go along with deducing whether Amelia noticed the bubbles again speaks to how kind and generous of a friend he is. Asking about bubbles in a person’s armpits seemingly without cause could come off as extremely odd, and could possibly damage Wei-Chen’s reputation at school, so it’s easy to see this as a potential sacrifice on Wei-Chen’s part.
Themes
For the entire morning, Jin dreams of his future with Amelia. In his daydreams, Amelia quickly says she loves Jin. They get married, have sex, and have a baby with curly hair just like Jin’s permed hair. He knows he’s getting ahead of himself, but he’s blissfully in love. During lunch, Jin excuses himself to go buy the custodian an orange freeze. He catches sight of Amelia walking with one of her friends and feels a jolt of confidence, but before he can follow her, Greg calls to him. Greg asks Jin for a favor: to not ask Amelia out again. Jin asks if Greg likes Amelia. Greg says that he likes Amelia like a sister, but she’s a good friend and he wants her to make good choices. They’re almost in high school, and Amelia needs to pay attention to who she’s spending time with.
That Jin and Amelia’s imaginary baby has curly hair speaks to just how intent Jin is on taking on characteristics he perceives as white. It’s not enough, in his mind, to get the girl—he has to entirely change who he is as he does so, and consequently imagines his future children as visibly less Chinese. Meanwhile, Greg’s request is extremely racist, even if he tries to hide his true intentions. He’s essentially suggesting that having a relationship with a Chinese student is going to make Amelia less popular, speaking to the fact that at Jin’s school, the Asian students aren’t accepted.
Themes
Jin stares at Greg, dumbfounded. Greg apologizes for his request sounding so harsh, but says he just doesn’t know if Jin is the right match for Amelia. He asks if they’re “cool” and Jin says that they are. Greg asks if Jin will do him the favor, and Jin grudgingly agrees. Greg happily leaves with a wave and a smile. Jin looks back one last time at Amelia and then stands near Wei-Chen and Suzy, staring off into space as he eats his sandwich. In class, he imagines angrily refusing to follow through with Greg’s favor and feels a jolt of confidence, especially as he imagines punching Greg in the face.
Up until this point, Greg showed potential to be a kind defender of targets of bullying. By becoming the bully, however, Greg shows that he cares far more about upholding the current social hierarchy (that likely places him on top) than he does about behaving in a way that makes his school a safer, happier place for kids like Jin.
Themes
When the bell rings, Jin’s hair seems to crackle as he marches through the hallways to where Amelia chats with a friend and Greg. Jin calls to Amelia, but Greg answers first. His hair crackles with even more power than Jin’s. Jin’s confidence fades and he stands awkwardly for a moment before turning and walking away. Greg says to Amelia that Jin is nice, but that he’s a bit of a geek and has weird hair.
Greg’s quips that Jin has weird hair is humorous given that Jin modeled the hairstyle after Greg’s in the first place, but it still serves its purpose: it makes Jin look as though he’s trying in a very uncool way to make himself fit in, and it’s apparent to everyone else that he’s failing miserably.
Themes
Outside the school, Jin finds Suzy sitting on a low wall, waiting for Wei-Chen to get out of his math group. He sits down with her and asks if she’s okay. Suzy says that Timmy said something mean to her. When Jin doesn’t ask any more questions, Suzy says that over the weekend, she went to a birthday party for her best friend from second grade. They’d gone to Japanese school together but hadn’t seen each other in a while, and Suzy was thrilled to see her when Suzy’s mom said they were going. Suzy says she realized quickly, however, that her friend didn’t want to see her at all—their moms just wanted to hang out, so Suzy’s mom brought her along. Suzy spent the party watching TV alone.
That Timmy said something mean isn’t a surprise by now, but it’s worth keeping in mind that in moments Jin doesn’t choose to share with the reader, Timmy probably says all sorts of horrible things to his classmates. Essentially, it’s crucial to realize that the bullying that Jin, Suzy, and Wei-Chen experience is omnipresent; the instances Jin shares with the reader are likely only the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, Suzy’s rejection at the party is similar to Greg’s rejection of Jin, as the Japanese friend likely saw Suzy as a threat to her status in her group.
Themes
Suzy recounts that she was so embarrassed. As her eyes fill with tears, she turns to Jin and says that earlier, Timmy called her a “chink.” She realized that she kind of feels embarrassed like she did at the party all the time. Suzy cries and Jin experiences a burst of confidence from his hair again. He leans in and kisses Suzy. Suzy angrily punches Jin in the face and asks what’s wrong with him before striding away.
Here, it’s telling that being called “chink” (a racist slur against Asian people) brings about Suzy’s revelation, given that it’s so close to Chin-Kee’s name. In essence, Suzy realizes that she’s embarrassed because in so many situations, her classmates see her as a female version of Chin-Kee: nothing but negative stereotypes. Meanwhile, Jin’s betrayal of Wei-Chen here shows that he is no longer the kind person and loyal friend he used to be—it seems that in distancing himself from his true identity, he has also lost sight of his true friends.
Themes
Jin sits at home with an ice pack on his cheek when the doorbell rings. It’s Wei-Chen. The boys stare at each other, and then Wei-Chen confusedly asks how Jin could even think of kissing Suzy. Wei-Chen says Jin could’ve told him if he had a crush on Suzy; he wouldn’t have abandoned Jin. Sadly, Wei-Chen says that Jin has completely broken his heart. He continues that he and Jin are alike. They’re brothers. Jin is shocked and angry. He spits that he and Wei-Chen are nothing alike, since Wei-Chen only cares about his “stupid girlfriend” who isn’t Jin’s type anyway. Wei-Chen asks why he kissed Suzy then, and Jin replies that he doesn’t think Wei-Chen is worthy of or right for Suzy. He suggests that she could do better than a F.O.B. like Wei-Chen. Wei-Chen punches Jin on his other cheek and storms away.
The way that Wei-Chen frames his plea to Jin again shows that Wei-Chen is an honest, generous, and kind person—he believes that if he and Jin were able to talk about this, they could’ve come to some sort of agreement. However, it’s important to keep in mind that Jin didn’t kiss Suzy because he has a crush on her; he kissed her because it was something that made him feel more white or American, in the sense that he can take what he wants and feel powerful. This is the same reason why Jin says these horrible things to Wei-Chen: it makes him feel powerful and white, as he’s behaving just like Greg and Timmy.
Themes
Jin glumly ices his cheeks. That night, he struggles to fall asleep. He plays the day’s events over and over in his mind and comes to the conclusion that he told Wei-Chen the truth, and Wei-Chen needed to hear it. By three a.m., Jin believes this wholeheartedly. He falls asleep and dreams of the herbalist’s wife. She tells Jin that he’s finally “done it” and asks what Jin wants to become. As she clicks on her abacus, Jin transforms into a blond boy. He wakes up long before his alarm clock goes off. Jin’s head hurts, but his bruises are gone. He stumbles to the bathroom in the dark and turns on the light. Jin is now blond and tall. Amazed, Jin touches his face and decides he needs a new name: Danny. The laugh track claps at the bottom of the frame.
Jin falls asleep and dreams of the herbalist’s wife when he finally believes that Wei-Chen really needed to hear what Jin said. This implies, first of all, that Jin doesn’t actually believe what he said, deep down. Then, when the herbalist’s wife says that Jin has “done it”—that is, forfeited his soul—it shows that the way a person does this is by hurting their friends and ignoring what they know to be right and true. Meanwhile, the revelation that Jin and Danny are the same person sheds new light on Danny’s storyline up until this point. Now that Jin is Danny, his life takes on qualities of a sitcom: he’s viewing racist stereotypes as a white outsider, since he’s ignoring that he’s still Chinese.
Themes
