American Born Chinese Foreigness and "The Other" Quotes

We've got to admit it—even though the Monkey King is kind of an abusive arrogant jerk, we feel bad for him, especially when he returns home from the party he crashes. His house is lonely and dark, and as he enters, it's the first time he really notices his body odor. In other words, it's the first time he notices how foreign or Other he appears to the gods and goddesses… and it feels a lot like being picked last in gym class.

When Jin lives in Chinatown, he's anything but Other. All his friends look like him, plus they like the same Saturday morning cartoons and toys (clearly, the most important thing). These panels are a really strong contrast to the ones of Jin in his new suburban school. In his Chinatown home, all the kids play together harmoniously and there's none of the infighting and jockeying for power that Jin experiences at his suburban school.

Jin's first day at school is a total nightmare because his teacher and new classmates basically assume that he's from China even though he's from San Francisco. It's got to be frustrating when even the teacher can't get your background info right. This scene, by the way, makes Jin's defensive loner attitude completely understandable. Who can he trust when no one even recognizes that he's American too?