Influence A Person's Identity In American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Wang

967 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How does society shape identity

A person shouldn’t let anyone or anything other than themselves change who they are. However, many allow themselves to constantly be changed and molded by the world around them. This world contains many factors that can influence one’s identity. This shows that identity isn’t something that remains the same over time, in reality, it’s always changing. A few things that could influence a person’s identity may be society, family, and life experiences. A person’s identity can be influenced a lot by society if they allow it to. People are always changing due to society because a lot of people care about what others think of them and want to fit in. Some will even try to change themselves completely like the characters in American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. In the book, both the Monkey King and Jin Wang struggled to realize who they really are due to the pressure of the world around them trying to make them change. The monkey king changed his form and started acting differently in order to try to earn people’s respect. Jin did something similar to try to get people to treat him like …show more content…

Society can play a major role in one’s identity because most people would do anything to be accepted in society, even somewhat change who they are. In addition to that, a person’s family and close relationships play a major role in their identity. You family can influence things like who you want to be and the reasoning behind it. Lastly, a person’s life experiences are constantly forming their identity. These are just some of the things that make up someone’s identity. They only show a small portion of how one’s identity is always changing. Even though one’s identity is always changing they can greatly control how it does. For example, a person can choose how they are going to let certain things impact them. They could either grow from it or they could do the

Show More
Related

  • Friendship In Melvin In The Sixth Grade By Dana Johnson

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    The search for one’s identity can be a constant process and battle, especially for teenagers and young adults. Many people have a natural tendency to want to fit in and be accepted by others, whether it be with family, friends or even strangers. They may try to change who they are, how they act, or how they dress in order to fit in. As one gets older, society can influence one’s view on what they should look like, how they should act, or how they should think. If society tells us that a certain body type or hair color is beautiful, that is what some people strive for and want to become in order to be more liked. This was especially true with Avery as she longed for the proper clothes to fit into a social group and began to change the way she spoke to match those around her. As a young and impressionable sixth grader, she allowed herself to become somewhat whitewashed in an attempt to fit in with the other girls. However, Avery did not really become friends with any of those girls; her only real friend was

    Read More

  • Personal Identity In John Knowles A Separate Peace

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beyond the basic need for a sense of control, people are driven by their sense of identity, of who they are. Each person lives in their own universes, which are centered upon their feelings of self-purpose. There are multiple types of identities, such as individual and group identities. Each person's identity is formed differently because of the unique experiences every individual encounters. The formation can be affected by many things such as their home environment, social interactions, and physiological health.

    Read More

  • American Born Chinese Character Analysis

    436 Words  | 1 Pages

    To that end, in the book “ABC”, pages 55-58 the Monkey King rejects his identity as much as possible by studying kung-fu and trying to get away of the fact that he is a monkey. Also the Monkey King dismisses his identity by wearing shoes and proclaims that the other fellow monkey’s should do the same after being denied from the deity party. Similarly Jin turns down his identity by changing his hair just to be with a girl he really admired. Jin wanted to be more seen as the most surpassing group of people. With a twisting end to the book we see character symbolism.

    Read More

  • Merton's Identity

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    What influences a person’s identity? Does one get an identity when they are able to differentiate right from wrong, or are they born with it? There is not one thing that gives a person their identity, there are however, many different factors that contribute to one’s identity. From Contemplation in a World of Action written by Thomas Merton, Merton advocates identity by stating that “A person does not simply “receive” his or her identity. Identity is much more than the name or features one is born with. True identity is something people must create for themselves by making choices that are significant and that require a courageous commitment in the face of challenges. Identity means having ideas and values that one lives by” (Merton). Concurring with Merton a person is not given their identity at birth or while developing as an embryo, rather it is something that you create for yourselves over the course of life through decisions and actions made by the individual. Although identity is something that one may not be fully aware of or discover until last breaths. Identity can

    Read More

  • F Word by Firoozeh Dumas

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before beginning the explanation of how an identity is formed, one must understand what an identity is. So, what is identity? To answer this, one might think of what gives him individuality; what makes him unique; what makes up his personality. Identity is who one is. Identity is a factor that tells what one wants out of life and how he is set to get it. It tells what kind of a person one is by the attitude and persona he has. And it depends upon the mixture of all parts of one’s life including personal choices and cultural and societal influences, but personal choices affect the identity of one more than the others.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Identity In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    At birth, every person is given a name, a birth certificate and a social security number. However, labels and documents do not identify who one is or who he will be. Family, environment, and circumstances shape an individual. At any one point in time, an individual may have one identity but at another given point, they may have another. What causes one’s identity to change? At birth, identity begins to form, shaping an individual; and while personal choice slightly influences a person’s identity, environmental factors weigh most heavily in molding a person’s permanent identity.

    Read More

  • Synthesis Essay On Identity

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    Our lives are defined by our experiences of growing up and of who people are when people are developing. Both, in their respective regards, are something that can be difficult to alter to the individual. Gender, race, classes, and other building blocks of our identity are always shifting to who anyone is and while a person can’t affect themselves, society can, and often does change their perspective towards their own identity and how they interact with the stimulation outside of their psyche.

    Read More

  • Experience In Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian?

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone struggles with identity at one point in their life. It will eventually happen to everyone. Identity is how people see one another, it is one of the most important things about someone. Identity goes hand in hand with experience. One’s experiences can impact one’s identity.

    Read More

  • The Role of External Forces on Personal Development

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone forms their own identity in life. Of course there are external environmental factors like, community and family that affect development of values, but beyond the external factors that only shape us a little, there are even more important factors. Looking at the development of Huck throughout the novel, I see that everything that truly molds us is already inside. The changes that my adopted siblings made show me that our identities are up to us as individuals to form. Our external environments do impact our beliefs and values as we start out in life, but everyone is capable of forming an identity that is all their own, with little to no help from external forces.

    Read More

  • Critical Thinking By Gary Colombo: A Summary

    1254 Words  | 3 Pages

    They help us to connect to others or help us find a better us. An identity helps other connect to you by creating a bond. This bond can be anything that is in common and in some cases not in common. The bonds help you as person to feel like you belong to a group or can be a way to help you on the journey of life. As stated by Colombo, “Our identities – who we are and how we relate to others – are deeply entangled with the cultural values we have internalized since infancy” (pg. 7). Ever since we are born we are “entangled” to theses identities. When you are born your identity is a piece of paper that states who you are as a person. For example, if you are born into a family of a Mexican ethnicity then you are considered Mexican but if you born in the United States of America. Then you are an American with Mexican being your race. That is only part of your identity because your identity can grow and expand to include anything about you. Rose states, “You’ll see a handful of student far excel you in courses that sound exotic and that are only in the curriculum of the elite: French, physics, trigonometry. And all this is happening while you’re trying to shape an identity, your body is changing, and your emotions are running wild. If you’re a working-class kid in the vocational track, the options you’ll have to deal with this will be constrained in certain ways: you’re defined by your school as “slow”; you’re placed into a curriculum that isn’t designed to liberate you but to occupy you” (pg. 128). Your identity has a lot to do with every aspect of your life. In school, he was seen as “slow” because his test scores were accidentally switched with another person with the same last name. While in school we felt as he was slow because that is the way they treated him. The curriculum did not liberate him but occupied him, meaning

    Read More

  • Lucy Grealy's Influence On Identity

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    Identity The identity of people can be influenced by appearance, faith, and race. Who a person is can change due to numerous factors in his or her life. People often play an important role in influencing the identity of a person. Although one can not change the color of their skin or who they were born to, one does not have to let that define oneself or identify who one is.

    Read More

  • Shaping Identity

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today's world, society creates an impact on human life. More of an impact can be seen among family and peers. They can be found at home, work, and school. At home with family, identity can be created on the difference of having one parent, divorced or separated parents, no parents, abusive parents, or even negligent parents. For example, children who grow up without a father or mother figure tend to become more independent at an early stage. Another example is where certain experiences within the family such as constantly witnessing parents argue can cause one's identity to be confined and distant. But, some people shape their identity similar to their parents. Such as a son became a soldier in the army because his father was in the army. Siblings, if any, are also an influence on the social identity of a person. They either become your friend, mentor, or you...

    Read More

  • Defining Identity

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Webster's dictionary describes identity as sameness of essential character, individuality, or the fact of being the same person as one claims to be. So your identity can include your name, your age, your job title, or simply characteristics of your body. These things are facts, facts you don't care to share with the world. Just as the word suggests your identity is something by which you can be identified. These are things that describe a person in terms a stranger would understand. This area of identity is proof of who you are. However, your identity is also composed of what you are. They mark your role in society. Who you are and what you do make up your identity. This is essential in the human life span because people are always searching to find where they truly belong in the world.

    Read More

  • Chan Asian American Identity

    561 Words  | 2 Pages

    For example, Steve suggests that Chan is a simple man with no sense of humor who must be taught how to live in America, but Jo sees him as an intelligent man for inventing a word processing machine. Jo explains it as “Steve thinks that Chan Hung is slow with it, but sly when it comes to money. Jenny thinks that her father is honest and trustworthy. Mrs. Chan thinks her husband is a failure because he isn't rich. Amy thinks he's a hardheaded political activist. Presco thinks he's an eccentric who likes mariachi music.” (Wang, Chan is Missing) If we take it as Chan embodying all Asian Americans we can say that Asian Americans can personify many things, but also none of them. By having Chan’s identity be defined by those around him we can see the impact of assumptions and stereotyping. Taking away from this we can then see how Asian Americans in our society often get their identities defined by those around them as well. The audience never gets a real idea of whom Chan is, so in a way never gets to pigeonhole what the Asian American identity is

    Read More

  • My Personal Identity

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects. Family, culture, friends, personal interests and surrounding environments are all factors that tend to help shape a person’s identity. Some factors may have more of an influence than others and some may not have any influence at all. As a person grows up in a family, they are influenced by many aspects of their life. Family and culture may influence a person’s sense of responsibilities, ethics and morals, tastes in music, humor and sports, and many other aspects of life. Friends and surrounding environments may influence a person’s taste in clothing, music, speech, and social activities. Personal interests are what truly set individuals apart. An individual is not a puppet on the string of their puppet-master, nor a chess piece on their master’s game board, individuals choose their own paths in life. They accomplish, or strive to accomplish, goals that they have set for themselves throughout their lifetime. Individuals are different from any other individual in the world because they live their own life rather than following a crowd of puppets. A person’s identity is defined by what shaped it in the first place, why they chose to be who they are, and what makes them different from everybody else in the world. I feel that I have developed most of my identity from my own dreams, fantasies, friends, and idols.

    Read More

More about Influence A Person's Identity In American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Wang

Open Document