The American Born Chinese: Book Summary, Analysis and Themes are related to identity and prejudice.

In American Born Chinese, the desire to change form and therefore identity is the trait that unite the Monkey King and Jin and shows how their stories work as parallels.The Monkey King trains himself in kung-fu and Taoist disciplines in order to become a supreme being who can rival the creator of the universe.Jin learns as a child that he can grow up to be a transformer.If he sacrificed his soul, the shape-shifting toy he likes to play with would be gone.He makes good on this advice when he escapes his Chinese identity and adopts the Danny alter-ego.The two storylines collide when Chin-Kee reveals his true form as the Monkey King and teaches Jin that he could have saved himself five hundred years under a pile of rocks if only he accepted that it is good to live as a monkey.Jin accepts his true form with this lesson.

The Monkey King's story is a remake of the Chinese folktale of Sun Wukong, which plays an important role in American Born Chinese.In the 16th-century Chinese epic novel Journey to the West, Sun Wukong was prominently featured, though the character can be traced back as far as the Song Dynasty.A parallel to Jin's journey through adolescent self-loathing toward a mature acceptance of his true identity can be found in this folklore source material.

One of the novel's major themes is the unhappiness that comes from being frustrated.The Monkey King is dissatisfied when he isn't seen as a supreme being.The Monkey King is trapped under a pile of rubble for five hundred years as a punishment by the creator of the universe.The Monkey King eventually frees himself from the rocks by releasing his discontent and accepting himself.Jin feels excluded from the mainstream white majority at his school.Jin fantasizes about becoming Danny, a popular white boy.Jin loses touch with his true identity when he adopts an idealized identity.The Monkey King learned at the end of the book that it is good to be a monkey.Jin meets with Wei-Chen as a symbolic means of connecting with Chinese culture and true friendship after overcoming his discontent.Jin is like the Monkey King in that he overcomes discontent and finds peace through acceptance.

There is a consistent theme of racial discrimination in the novel.Discrimination is usually practiced in the form of casually racist comments directed toward Jin, Wei-Chen, or Suzy.Chin-Kee embodies every anti-Chinese caricature America has conjured since the late 1800s, and therefore embodies discrimination in an absurd package.Discrimination is used in the novel to keep Jin from dating Amelia, as Greg believes they aren't suited for each other.He tells Amelia that Jin is a bit of a nerd because he is Chinese.

One of the novel's major themes is identity.Several people are struggling with their identities.The Monkey King isn't satisfied with his identity as a monkey, and so does everything he can to transform into a being who is bigger and stronger and more invulnerable to attack.Jin struggles with identity as a Chinese American and wants to escape this identity by refusing his Chinese heritage and trying to act like a mainstream white American, a struggle that is metaphorically represented in his alter-ego Danny.The person is also struggling with identity.Though he is the Monkey King's son and has been tasked with the challenge of living a mortal life while avoiding human vice, he loses faith in humanity and devotes himself to a life of pleasure-seeking.

The pressure to integrate into and absorb mainstream American culture is worse than the casual racism Jin experiences.Jin wants to be a part of the popular mainstream culture of his school.He tried to look like Greg by curling his hair.Jin's desire to blend into his social surroundings leads him to disengage from his Chinese identity through Danny, a white American teenager.

The theme of social pressure is depicted in the novel through the sometimes–overt, sometimes-unconscious pressure characters feel from their social spheres.The Monkey King feels a social pressure to wear shoes and not be a monkey, while Jin feels the same, unless he is comfortable being made an object of humiliation.Jin tells Wei-Chen to act less like he is "fresh off the boat" in response to the way people make Jin feel like an outsider.

The question and answer section is a great place to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

The humiliation the Monkey King experiences in the first section causes him to become self-conscious.His unhappiness with his identity is captured in the way he notices the scent of his own fur.