American Born Chinese: Monkey King Contribution
Jin Wang, the
protagonist in the story, yearns to fit in with everyone else at his school. Although
he is Chinese, he desperately wishes to be just like the white boys. To get the
attention of a girl he likes, he goes so far as to get the same hairstyle as
one of the popular boys in his class. In his search to be like everyone else,
he ends up not only losing his best friend, but losing his own identity. It
takes a visit from his cousin (who is actually the Monkey King) to set him
straight.
The monkey king
story sets the stage for Jin’s story as their identity crisis seem to parallel.
The Monkey King wants to go to a party
given by the gods but he is refused entrance because he is only a monkey. He
argues that he “is a committed disciple of the arts of kung-fu…mastered the
four major heavenly disciplines…” (14). The guard tells him that he hasn’t any
shoes and since he is still only a monkey, he cannot enter. This makes the
Monkey King furious!
Upon returning
to his mountain (Flower-Fruit Mountain) he orders all of his monkey subjects to
wear shoes. He meditates and learns more powers, all of which gave him the
ability to change his form in some way. He tried to be something other than
what he truly was…a monkey. He became arrogant and unruly, which gained the
attention of Tze-Yo-Tzuh, the creator of all things. Tze-Yo-Tzuh tried to
convince the Monkey King that even with all that he had; he was still what he
was created to be…a monkey. Still rebelling, the creator sentenced the Monkey
King to be imprisoned under a mountain for 500 years.
At the end of
his imprisonment, he is released by a monk sent by Tze-Yo-Tzuh. The Monkey King
let go of his former kung-fu power and agreed to serve the monk to the end. He
was finally at peace with himself.
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