Transcript The Monkey and Monk

American Born Chinese
and Dragon Ball
Adam Johnson and Hannah Trumm
American Born Chinese

Three separate stories: Monkey,
Jin and Chin-Kee

Together the stories show the
complexity of being an
American born Chinese


finding identity and culture

finding a balance

fitting in
Audience is young Americans,
but the author makes references
that only Chinese born
Americans would understand
Monkey

The story of the Monkey King
in ABC is quite different from
The Monkey and the Monk

Focuses on Monkey

Monkey’s struggle to find
self-expectance

Far fewer characters

Monkey’s goals aren’t to
become a Buddhist but
instead just to find
immortality
Religious Elements

A main focus in The Monkey
and the Monk is on religion,
mainly Buddhist and Taoist
ideas

The religious focus in ABC is on
Christian ideas
 God/Jesus/Moses
characteristics can be found
in the characters
 The Lion, the Ox, the
Human and the Eagle are
Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John.
 Etc.
Jin Wang

The main character in ABC who
brings together all three of the
stories

Fitting in is extremely important
to Jin after he moves from China
town, to an almost completely
white school

Seen as foreign although he
was born in America

Wants to make friends but
most of his classmates are
racist
Jin Wang and Wei-Chen

Although there is a common
theme of friendship in ABC, Jin
doesn’t notice how important his
friendship is with Wei-Chen
until he excepted his own
identity as Chinese

Transformer theme

Jin wants to become a white
American

Wei-Chen turns from monkey
to human

Monkey transforms from
animal to civilized being
Chin-Kee


Chin-Kee represents the white
American stereotype of Asians

Buck-toothed

Squinty eyes

Chinese clothes

Slippers

Fighting style

Eats cats and dogs
Chin-Kee is Monkey in disguise
and is important to the book
because it over exaggerates the
perception of oneself for Jin of
his classmates
Chin-Kee

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=VrO87ItXoNg

Sixteen Candles

http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=K3aJ0FVnGzQ&feature=rel
ated
Dragon Ball

Comparing Dragon Ball
and The Monkey and the
Monk:
 Character development
 Same character attributes
 Target audience is kids
for Dragon Ball
 Story line is different
Dragon Ball

The seven magic balls are
symbolic of the scriptures in The
Monkey and the Monk

Emphasis is on the journey,
every step is important just as in
the novel

Technology is a hindrance to the
journey

Makes the story of The
Monkey and Monk modern

Akihabara – technology
district of Tokyo
Dragon Ball vs. ABC

Reoccurring theme of race for
Jin in ABC for Goku in Dragon
Ball

Jin wants to be recognized as an
American but Goku doesn’t care
what other people think


Goku follows his animal
instincts and acts barbaric

Goku doesn’t want to fit in,
Jin does
Homeland
Team Spirit

An important theme in The
Monkey and the Monk is
team spirit, which isn’t a
theme in ABC, but is a
prominent theme in Dragon
Ball
 All characters until under
a common goal despite
drastic differences