American Son and Bildungsroman

The novel American Son, by Brian Ascalon Roley, fits the Bildungsroman, or coming of age, archetype because it is a story of Gabe’s, the main character’s, progress in coping with the many issues he faces. Gabe is a young mestizo, half American and half Filipino, living with his mother and older brother in the slums of L.A. His older brother, Tomas, is involved with a local Mexican gang and supports himself by selling attack dogs he trains and stolen stereos. Gabe’s Mother is a quiet older woman who works hard to support her two sons and is uncomfortable in many social situations due to being Filipino. The novel tells Gabe’s story of personal growth and development in the face of society’s prejudice and hate.
Gabe makes significant moral and psychological progress during the course of the book as is expected in any Bildungsroman story. He slowly becomes more confident in social situations about himself and his identity. Along with Gabe’s increased confidence, he also begins to stand up for himself and his family in situations where he feels he needs to oppose the unjust society he lives in. This progress become manifest when Gabe first stands up for his mother at the make-up counter in the mall. Gabe sees that his mother is being ignored by the young woman working the counter and is angered by this prejudice and inconsideration towards his mother. After working up the courage Gabe finally intervenes on his mother’s behalf and brings the issue to the manager of the counter’s attention. Although his mother shies away and does not want the help, this shows how Gabe no longer will stand for society’s ignorance and has developed enough confidence and courage to act.
Another aspect present in coming of age novels is a loss or disconnection that separates the character from home and family. In American Son this disconnection occurs when Gabe steals and sells Buster, and then takes Tomas’ car to drive away and leave home. This action isolates Gabe and Tomas and severs the brotherly bond between them. Gabe loses Tomas’ trust and gives Tomas’ power over him because Gabe is now in debt to Tomas and must repay him. Gabe’s actions while away from home also separate him from his mother. Gabe goes along with Stone’s impression of him as a ‘regular’ white kid because that is what he wants to be. By doing this he alienates not only his mother but every other minority group in the country by making and agreeing with Stone’s racist comments. The final act that separates Gabe from his mother is when he tells Stone that she is their family’s maid and Gabe’s mother learns of this from her sister-in-law. Gabe’s mother is crushed by this action because it shows her that her son is not only ashamed of his identity but even more ashamed of his mother.
The ending of American Son seems to be contrary to other Bildungsroman literature that should have “ …an assessment by the protagonist of himself/herself and his/her new place in that society” at the end of the novel because I was left confused about Gabe’s fate and ultimate place in society. I was felt with the question: Is Gabe better off now than he was at the beginning of the novel? Gabe appears to be following in the footsteps of his older brother Tomas. He grew up in a society that views him as a second class citizen, eventually became fed up and angry with this system and now appears to be fighting it by rebelling and using violence, like Tomas. The author does leave us with the possibility that Gabe could go to the Philippines to live with his Uncle Betino in Forbes Park, but is this best for Gabe? This move has some positive outcomes: Gabe will be separated from the influence of Tomas, he will have a new beginning at a new school and neighborhood, and will be under the watchful and guiding eye of his Uncle Betino. On the other hand, Gabe would also face many difficulties as a result of this move. He will have trouble fitting in at school and making new friends because he will be viewed as an outsider, an American. The language barrier will be a problem for Gabe at first but one he can overcome easily. The biggest problem will be separating Gabe from his Mother. Gabe loves his mother very much and sending him to the Philippines without her could make his situation even worse as he copes with being away from his mother and being in a new country. It seems like the best option for the entire family is for Gabe and his mother to move to either the Philippines together or to a new area in CA or the US where they can live in peace.

Literary Analysis Possible Paper Topics

1. How does Gene Yang use symbolism in American Born Chinese?
2. Compare and contrast the symbol of 'ghosts' in The Woman Warrior with the 'oracles' in The Oracles
3. What does America symbolize/represent in The Woman Warrior and in The Oracles?
4. What literary techniques does Gene Yang use to enrich his graphic novel? How does this compare to techniques used in film?
5. Compare and contrast the Monkey King with the swordswoman from chapter 2 in The Woman Warrior.

Analysis of American Born Chinese by Gene Yang

Gene Yang employs several literary techniques to enrich his writing. The most obvious method used in his writing is the bold face type he uses within his text boxes. He choses to make some words bold within a sentence in order to put more emphasis on them and signify the importance they have to the story. He also utilizes several conventional techniques associated with the graphic novel/comic book genre. Yang places the text boxes in stragetic places on the page in order to prompt the reader's eyes to follow the correct order of the text boxes and move in the right direction as they read. Another traditional technique used in almost every graphic novel is the abundance of onomatopoeias in action sequences. I found it interesting that Yang chose to use chinese characters when the Monkey King is demonstrating the four heavenly discplines, "fist-like-lightning", "thunderous foot", and "cloud-as-stead". I think he did this to imply the eastern tradition of martial arts and to suggest that these chinese characters are more mystical and powerful than english words, and therefore must be used in order to conjure these ancient powers. Yang also incorporates symbolism in his work in order to give it a deeper meaning and make a comment on society and humanity. On the final page of the first chapter (p20) the symbol of the Monkey King is finaly made clear. The Monkey King symbolizes a chinese person in a new environment where they are obviously different than the other people living there. The Monkey King doesn't think there is anything wrong with him and is confident in who he is until he goes to the dinner party of the gods. It is only when the gods point out his differences and say that he is inferior because of these differences that the Monkey King begins to hate himself for being a monkey. The idea of the Monkey King dispising his own smell of monkey fur can relate to an Asian person hating the traits that make them different; be it their straight black hair, single eyelids or any other Asian physical characteristic.

Paragraph from My MyTurn Essay

Only when I considered the larger implications of my Grandmother’s prejudiced comments, did I understand why these racist remnants in the ideas of my Grandmother’s generation reflect a positive change in our society. The fact that my brother, sister and I knew the comments my Grandmother made were incorrect and prejudiced, shows that our generation has progressed in our ideas regarding race and equality. When confronted with the racist ideas of a previous generation, we are shocked by them because they are so different from our own. These differences between the racial ideas of our generations act as a scale that illustrates how far society has come in its struggle to truly believe that all men are created equal. I hope that when I have grandchildren one day, I will make comments that will shock them because it will show that society is continuing to make changes in the right direction.

Possible My Turn Topics

~The Mystery of Reverse Racism

~The Oldies of My Generation: Rap and Hip Hop in Pop Culture

~Receiving Racism: Racism as a Product of Upbringing

~Isn't Segregation Illegal?: Segregation in Today's Society

~America: A Cultural Melting Pot or a Stew That Needs Stirring

~Racism is a Product of Ignorance

~What is the Racial Hierarchy present in today's society?

~What does modern society's infatuation with exotic appearences tells us about our society?

~Will I be My Grandmother? Hopefully: How the differences between generations illustrates how society has changed regarding racism and prejudice.

~Casinos and Reservations: Reparations for Genocide

The Woman Warrior: Are we all ghosts?

After class, I asked Professor Talusen a question I had about the book The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston. The question I had was: what is the purpose/significance of the second chapter in the book? (The chapter about the swordswoman training in the mountains with the two old spirits) Now, after finishing the book, I feel like I can almost answer my own question. What stuck me about the chapter was exactly what Kingston anticipated, I questioned what was actually going on in this portion of the book; was it an allegory, an extended metaphor or something entirely different. This chapter corroborates both Kingston’s style of writing and the situations of her childhood. Her writing forces the reader to constantly question the realm of reality they are currently in; are we hearing her thoughts as a child, is this a imagined story, etc. This almost confused writing style reflects the confusion surrounding her upbringing. Growing up she hardly ever knew the significance behind her mother’s elaborate ceremonies or traditions because they were never explained. She didn’t fit neatly into one group; she wasn’t a ghost because her family was from China, but she wasn’t ‘real’ because she did not grow up in China and know all the ways of the Chinese. Kingston was forced to grow up in between these realities and her writing forces her readers to constantly which between these realities as she was forced to do growing up as “a kind of ghost” in her families eyes.

My Grandfather: The Bombardier

Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!!!
My grandfather flies high over Nazi Germany watching each bomb drop, fall and explode. Dust clouds the air and although he can't hear the screams above the droning of the planes engine, they still haunt his memory to this day.

Just two months ago Charles, my grandfather, arrived in the "European Theatre" as they called it. What kind of theatre was this??? A dirty theatre playing a non-stop tradegy with millions of characters and victims taking their cue each day. Chuck had no idea what to expect. He joined the air force voluntarily as his one opportunity to better himself and future by taking advantage of the new GI Bill, which paid college tutition for veterns. After his short 2 month basic training, Charles found himself in another world; a world where death was commonplace and mercy non-existent. Chuck flew with the bombs in the dropping bay and it was his job to make sure that everything went according to plan. He controlled the dropping of the bombs, their timing, dispersal and confirmation of detonation. He watched as each and every bomb fell to earth, wreaking havoc on the landscape below.

On an ordinary day flying high over the hills and valleys of Germany the horrors of war found my grandfather and refused to be forgotten. As he was flying back to base, Chuck got the feeling of deja vu. He looked at the land below and saw an image that would remain burned in his memory forever: buildings destroyed, homes ruined, families huddling together for warmth in the corner of a destroyed factory. He saw piles of bodies but when he looked hard he could see that these were not "bodies", but people; a young mother and her infant son, an old man white who's white hair matched his pale dead flesh and a young man no older than himself. As he was observing this horrific scene, the pilot turned to him and said "Doesn't even look like the same town anymore" with a mathed sense of disbelief and repulsion. That was the moment my grandfather realized that this horrific nightmare in front of him was the busy town he had bombed just three days ago.

War is horrible. There is no way to forget it or leave it behind.
I grew up never knowing more about my grandfather's involvement in World War II than, he was a bombadier in the air force and he returned safely to his family. My grandfather never told us about the horrors he saw or the missions he went on. Maybe this was his way of leaving the war behind him, by keeping it's memories in his past and not allowing them to resurface.