At the beginning of
the novel, Jin and the Monkey King both reject their true identities and conform
to their environments. The Monkey King and Jin aspire to be a respected god and
a true American, respectively. Their identities are based off of others’
perceptions of them, which has shaped their perceptions of themselves. The
Monkey King rules Flower-Fruit Mountain and is “a deity in his own right” (Yang
8); however, he requires the approval of the gods to legitimize his power. He
is prohibited from entering the gods’ dinner party because he was not wearing
shoes. Instead of accepting this prejudice against monkeys, the Monkey King
decides to make shoes a requirement in his kingdom, even though they make it
difficult for the monkeys to use their climbing skill.
Jin’s environment
also shapes his idea of who he should be and causes him to seek the approval of
his American peers. Like the Monkey King who can tree climb but only because of
the identity he ignores, Jin is bilingual. Instead of taking advantage of his
ability, Jin hides it. When Wei-Chen speaks to him in Chinese, Jin says,
“You’re in America. Speak English” (37). Jin encourages Wei-Chen to embrace his
new environment and forget his roots.
The Monkey King and
Jin’s development allows them to embrace their true identity. After the dinner
party, the Monkey King masters kung-fu and transforms from a monkey into the
Great Sage. His transformation and new sense of identity cause him to spend 500
years living under a mountain. Only after Wong Lai-Tsao’s offers him his
freedom does the Monkey King shift back to his true self. Wong says, “The form
you have taken is no truly your own. Return to your true form and you shall be
freed” (145). At this point, the Monkey King wants physical freedom and
interprets “form” as his physical form, since his giant form prevents him from
escaping the mountain; however, Wong refers to the Monkey King’s form,
physically and psychologically. After returning to his true physical form, the
Monkey King is able to also return to his true psychological form. His
transformation back allows him to fulfill his duty acting as a faithful servant
to Wong and later, guide Jin back to his true identity.
The Monkey King’s
development is mirrored in Jin who also makes various attempts to conform
before finally accepting himself. Similar to the Monkey King’s symbolic
physical transformation, Jin gets a perm to look more like popular all-American
Greg. Eventually, Jin transforms more than just his hair but also his face,
name, and completely identity. Jin lives a whole new life as Danny who is
constantly embarrassed by his Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee, until he meets the real
Chin-Kee, the Monkey King. Jin transforms back physically and begins his
psychological transformation after the Monkey King encourages him to embrace
his true self. Yang shows how he embraces his identity when Jin goes to a
Chinese restaurant where he drinks milk tea.
The characters’ perceptions of their own identities are reflected in physical changes throughout the book. Each character gradually changes themselves physically to match the ideal they are striving for. The Monkey King first ordered, “All monkeys must wear shoes” and wore them himself (55). Next through kung-fu he shape shifts to be taller and more human in appearance, causing another monkey to remark, “Your majesty looks different somehow” (59). Jin starts by perming his hair on page 98 to look more like a white classmate. The herbalists wife told him he could “become anything you wish...so long as you-re willing to forfeit your soul” and when he does so he physically transforms into the white, sandy-haired Danny. Even Wei-Chen, already a monkey in disguise, changes the way he dresses after his falling-out with Jin. However, both the Monkey King and Jin are able to instantly revert to their true form when they choose to. They do not need to reverse the gradual process it took to suppress their true identities. Their true selves were already waiting just below the surface. Wei-Chen also briefly shows his monkey form in some capacity after Jin talks to him on page 229. His transformation apart from that is subtler, but he does remove his sunglasses to talk to Danny and stops smoking on pages 232 and 233, showing that he too is quickly reverting to the person he used to be.
ReplyDelete