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Amelia Harris
A blond boy with curly hair in Jin’s class. When Jin first moves to the suburbs, Greg stands up for Jin when Timmy taunts and harasses him, and though Greg seems potentially interested in getting to know Jin, he also puts a lot of stock into maintaining his social status. This is why, in seventh grade, Greg stands up for Amelia when Timmy sexually harasses her, but later tells Greg to stay away from Amelia to preserve Amelia’s popularity. In this way, Greg shows himself to be someone who may know how to behave kindly, but he allows social pressure—much of it racist—to dictate how he chooses to act. Greg’s hair is the inspiration for Jin to perm his own hair, and it’s likely that Greg is the basis for Jin’s white persona as Danny later in the novel.
Greg Quotes in American Born Chinese
The American Born Chinese quotes below are all either spoken by Greg or refer to Greg. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 8 Quotes
“It’s just that she’s a good friend and I want to make sure she makes good choices, you know? We’re almost in high school. She has to start paying attention to who she hangs out with.
Aw, geez. Look, Jin. I’m sorry. That sounded way harsher than I meant it to. I just don’t know if you’re right for her, okay? That’s all.”
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The day after Jin’s successful movie date with Amelia, Greg pulls Jin aside and asks him to not ask Amelia out again, citing Amelia’s reputation as they enter high school as his reasoning. In reality, what Greg is saying is that it’ll be damaging to Amelia’s reputation to be romantically involved with an unpopular Chinese American boy, no matter how many qualities Jin might have that would make him a good romantic partner. Importantly, Greg doesn’t seem to fully recognize how unkind and racist he’s being here—he’s doing this, supposedly, in service of his friend and is certain that Jin Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commo
I replayed the day’s events over and over again in my mind. Each time I reached the same conclusion: Wei-Chen needed to hear what I had to say. It was, after all, the truth. And at around three in the morning, I finally believed myself.
I dreamt of the herbalist’s wife.
“So, little friend. You’ve done it. Now what would you like to become?”
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The night after telling Wei-Chen that Wei-Chen isn’t good enough for Suzy because he’s too much of a new immigrant, Jin convinces himself that he was correct in his assessment and then dreams of the herbalist’s wife. The herbalist’s wife turns Jin into Danny. When considering what happened before this moment, it’s easy to see how Jin got to the point where he has, as the herbalist said in Jin’s first chapter, “forfeited his soul.” Jin kissed Suzy, a friend, against her will, and then insulted Wei-Chen, Suzy’s boyfriend, in an attempt to deal with his own conflicting emotions about Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Volupt
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Greg Character Timeline in American Born Chinese
The timeline below shows where the character Greg appears in American Born Chinese. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...warns Jin to stay away from his dog. A blond boy with curly hair named Greg tells Timmy to be cool, but Timmy calls Greg a “pansy-boy.” Greg intimidates Timmy into...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...the animals after school and offers extra credit to volunteers. Amelia, who sits next to Greg, volunteers. Behind her, Timmy offers to let her “pet his lizard” any time, but Greg...
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Jin stares across the room at Greg and Amelia, who are chatting happily, and later asks Wei-Chen and Suzy if they think...
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...with shame. Jin walks home alone and thinks of Amelia. He pictures Amelia next to Greg, and then thinks of Greg only. As he gets home, he thinks only of Greg’s...
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Chapter 8
...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...
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...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....
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...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....
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Jin stares at Greg, dumbfounded. Greg apologizes for his request sounding so harsh, but says he just doesn’t know...
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...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...
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