American nationality is unlike the nationality of any other country because it encompasses such a diverse group. This is because American nationality is awarded to someone based on whether or not they possesses citizenship papers -- which anyone can apply for. Despite the diversity in this country, there is a clear white privileged majority who have never known the other side of the immigration story. For this reason, Gene Luen Yang strives to elicit a greater understanding of immigrant struggles for members of the white majority in his graphic novel American Born Chinese.
The setup of this graphic novel is different; it has three storylines going on at once. The story begins after the Monkey King is denied entry into a dinner party in Heaven …show more content…
He is portrayed as a short fellow dressed in in purple and yellow traditional Chinese clothes that appear to be from the 19th century. He has buck teeth, lines for eyes and yellow skin. The way he speaks is also true to the stereotype that Asian immigrants have trouble pronouncing english words with Rs and Ls. So instead of saying Hello America, he says “Harro Amellica” (Yang)! This is demonstrated again when he speaks to Danny’s tutor and remarks that she is “such pretty American girl with bountiful amellican bosom! Must bind feet and bear Chin Kee’s children” (Yang 50). This not only references the speech impediment but also the way women were treated in China at one time. By dramatizing the illustration and speech patterns, Yang hopes to educate readers by being comical or even satirical, making it more likely that people will pick up something from …show more content…
In an interview with The Comics Journal .Yang states that he consciously put the reference to the Pat Oliphant comic because he was so irritated by it, and wanted to draw attention to how horrible the comic was (The Comics Journal).
As a member of the white majority, this story really resonated with me because it showed me another side of the immigration story. After reading this novel, I thought about some of the people in my class who immigrated from Asian countries and how my friends and I figured that they came from some strange disheveled country and thought it was weird that they did not speak English very well.
There is a specific instance which stands out to me. Once there was a girl named Vy, who immigrated from Vietnam when I was in the fourth grade. I remember how my friends and I thought Vietnam was some sort of war zone because of the stories our grandfathers told us about serving in the Vietnam War. And how we thought it was really sad she could not understand us. As it turned out, she could actually speak English almost fluently, and could understand us, but she only talked to this one girl in my class named Amanda because everyone else scared
The setup of this graphic novel is different; it has three storylines going on at once. The story begins after the Monkey King is denied entry into a dinner party in Heaven …show more content…
He is portrayed as a short fellow dressed in in purple and yellow traditional Chinese clothes that appear to be from the 19th century. He has buck teeth, lines for eyes and yellow skin. The way he speaks is also true to the stereotype that Asian immigrants have trouble pronouncing english words with Rs and Ls. So instead of saying Hello America, he says “Harro Amellica” (Yang)! This is demonstrated again when he speaks to Danny’s tutor and remarks that she is “such pretty American girl with bountiful amellican bosom! Must bind feet and bear Chin Kee’s children” (Yang 50). This not only references the speech impediment but also the way women were treated in China at one time. By dramatizing the illustration and speech patterns, Yang hopes to educate readers by being comical or even satirical, making it more likely that people will pick up something from …show more content…
In an interview with The Comics Journal .Yang states that he consciously put the reference to the Pat Oliphant comic because he was so irritated by it, and wanted to draw attention to how horrible the comic was (The Comics Journal).
As a member of the white majority, this story really resonated with me because it showed me another side of the immigration story. After reading this novel, I thought about some of the people in my class who immigrated from Asian countries and how my friends and I figured that they came from some strange disheveled country and thought it was weird that they did not speak English very well.
There is a specific instance which stands out to me. Once there was a girl named Vy, who immigrated from Vietnam when I was in the fourth grade. I remember how my friends and I thought Vietnam was some sort of war zone because of the stories our grandfathers told us about serving in the Vietnam War. And how we thought it was really sad she could not understand us. As it turned out, she could actually speak English almost fluently, and could understand us, but she only talked to this one girl in my class named Amanda because everyone else scared