Progression Through Symbols

Throughout Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese, the use of < > is interspersed. In the beginning of the novel, it is seen quite often: when Jin’s mother tells him a parable, as he plays with the neighbor boys, as he speaks with the herbalist’s wife, and so on. However, they are not used while his classmates and teacher speak. Conversely, they are used when Wei-Chen first approaches Jin, yet not when Jin firmly instructs that they’re “in America” and to “speak English” (Yang, 37). It becomes clear by this point that these symbols are used to indicate that Chinese is being spoken. Wei-Chen obeys, struggling to convey what he wants to say through broken English. It is only when Jin notices Wei-Chen’s robot action figure that the symbols reappear- this is the first time Jin is shown speaking in Chinese since speaking with the herbalist’s wife. Jin’s willingness to speak Chinese demonstrates the bond that is forming between the two boys because they relate to one another in a way that none of their other classmates can.

This bond forming, however, does not mean that they speak Chinese frequently. Rather, it is not until many years, and pages, later that these important symbols surface once more. Like before, it is during an emotional experience. When Wei-Chen discovers that Jin has kissed his girlfriend, Suzy, he feels utterly betrayed, so much so that he cannot fully express his hurt in English, instead switching to Chinese. Even then, Jin responds in English, insulting him even further. In fact, Wei-Chen says that they’re “brothers…[they’re] blood,” to which Jin says that he “has got to be kidding” (190). After their fight, Jin and Wei-Chen do not encounter each other again until the very end of the book, when Wei-Chen has had a complete transformation that is not for the better. Jin waits to see him for over a month, sitting in a bakery from “right after school…until closing,” when Wei-Chen finally drives past (227). Jin greets him in English, but Wei-Chen answers angrily in Chinese. Despite still choosing to speak in English by the end of the novel, Jin has slowly begun to accept his identity, agreeing to try “a little hole-in-the-wall place just down the street…[that has the] best pearl milk tea” as suggested by Wei-Chen (232). The use of < > does more than simply indicate when Chinese is being spoken: it guides the development of Jin’s acceptance of his identity.