Parallels Between Life Sucks & American Born Chinese

                    The graphic novel, Life Sucks, is a very interesting story that will cause one to be inquisitive about the complete meaning of it. Honestly, I did not particularly like this story when I read it. It was not until we talked about the novel as a class that I started to appreciate the author for this novel and for what I think was its purpose. This story contains a huge amount of elements that are open for discussion, but I think I have come to my explanation for the plot and characters. Every word that was said, every event that took place, and every character in this story was deliberately used to show what the author’s conception is of the stereotype that is young adulthood.
                   First, the largest similarity between the graphic novels that we have covered as a class so far is the broadcasting of stereotypes. Life Sucks, as a whole, is a monumental symbol of what people in the generations before us think the younger generation is like. The entire story was a huge cliché, but I decided to display this scene in my blog where Rosa realizes that she has made a huge mistake by falling for a dishonest guy who played her and neglecting the sincere guy who genuinely cared. American Born Chinese took exposing racial stereotyping to a higher level with the character Chin-Kee: “She bang! She bang! Yeah baby! She move! She move! I go clazy! ‘Cause she rook rike frower but she sting rike bee rike evely girl in histoly!” (Yang 203). This scene is by far the most hilarious thing I have ever seen in my life hands down.

              

                       Second, the main character in both stories seems to let outside forces control how they feel about themselves and others. Dave is a literal slave to his master Radu: “Geez…Hel-LO, Master, what is your bidding?” (Abel 30). Jin allows the typical stereotypes for his race to dictate how he carries himself. He starts destroying his real friendships because of the opinion of one of Amelia’s friends: “It’s just that she’s a good friend and I want to make sure she makes good choices, you know? We’re almost in high school. She has got to start paying attention to who she hangs out with.” (Yang 179).

             
                   Lastly, the relationship between Dave and Rosa was very similar to that of Jin Wang and Amelia’s relationship in the story American Born Chinese. This situation where the most unpopular guy seems to be overlooked by an awesome girl is a stereotypical occurrence in movies, stories, and real life. Dave feels like he is unworthy and is not the type of person that a girl like Rosa will go for: “You’re psyched. You’re totally psyched. You are not a loser. Who the hell am I kidding?” (Abel 63). Jin feels like his ethnicity, awkwardness, and insecurity deems him undeserving of Amelia’s attention because he sends his friend to ask her if she had a good time on their date: “So…How was the date with Jin?” (Yang 175).

                In conclusion, there are various scenarios in both of the graphic novels that we have covered in class that are parallel. Dave and Jin experience some of the same thoughts, feelings, and emotions that show the similarities in their stories. I value the discussions that we share as a class so much because I love to hear other people’s views on the literature. I realized a lot of connections between these stories, and the new outlook that I have on both of them are largely attributed to the awesome conversations that our class has.