American Born Chinese

  I'm interested in what the title had to do with the story. Perhaps it's supposed to convey that the monkey is a Chinese person born in America trying to make themselves more "American" to be accepted and included. The Scene where the monkey king was not allowed into the dinner party regardless of his status as a king or even a deity reminded me a lot of how many times African Americans, even notable and decorated and accomplished and educated ones were often kept out of different functions and institutions simply because of their race and the same thing goes for women especially in fields such as different parts of the church and, unfortunately, the sciences. I realize the story was fictional and therefore didn't need to abide by any laws of physics or nature or science, but if they were going to incorporate his abilities to grow and multiply and do all of those things, I'm sure that at the end of the story he would have been able to escape from under all of those rocks. I want to know if the moral of this story was about staying humble or if it was about staying true to who you are.
  I liked the conclusion that William Bradley came to which was that different writings do not always aim to accomplish the same task, even if they are written by the same author and especially when they are memoirs. I appreciate that he understands that reflecting on one's life, even in an artistic way such as in a graphic novel, doesn't necessitate for the account to be one of a sensationalized experience. I also appreciate that he doesn't feel the need to choose between the two pieces of work and rather can appreciate each for its own qualities that impressed him.