In the graphic novel, American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang, the author uses irony, for the readers, to interpret the moral of the story. In my opinion, the moral of the story is, to be humble and appreciative of our talents. Many college students can relate to the Monkey King in this graphic novel because sometimes we may become overly confident, and let that hinder our judgement. Young adults can also be very humble, and believe that their ways are the only correct ways to carry out certain situations.
The Monkey King first started off by discovering his kingdom. He eventually discovered that he was capable of ruling the land, and he started to focus and better himself. After feeling highly about his position he attempted to attend a dinner party. The denial caused him to become physically violent because he was furious. This spontaneous decision caused him to build an even better version of himself. The Monkey King thought he was the all knowing, powerful, almost God-like animal in all of the land. He tried so hard to prove himself to strangers. In my opinion, this is a sign of weakness because if someone knows their true worth, they will not bring others down in order to make themselves feel better. After building up his self-esteem, a God representation figure appeared in front of the Monkey King in order to remind him where he came from. Wanting to prove the God figure wrong, the Monkey King tried to outrun him, but the reality of it is that he was with him all along because he is his creator.
This graphic novel reminded me a lot of a modern philosophy course I took during my first semester in college. The "God debate" surfaced in many philosophical arguments. This story touches the topic as well, but not very directly. In my opinion, this is a genius way in getting people to converse based off of several pictures and words.
Estefhany it was interesting to me to see what you believed was the moral of the story because I did not see it that way. I believed the moral was to accept who you are. I believed it because the Monkey King tried to change who he was. He created a different appearance and gained new skills. He wanted to prove to people he was not a monkey, but something more. Unfortunately, God didn't see it that way and proved to him that he was the creator and had indeed made him a monkey. You can't change who you were born to be, that's why you were created that way. However, I do see why you could also think the moral is to appreciate your talents. In addition, I agree with your statement that it is weakness to bring others down, that's why bullies do it.
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