Lit. Analysis paragraph

A Bildungsroman is a coming of age story; a novel that deals with the development and growth of a character and further develops his or her identity. Two novels we read, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang and American Son by Brian Ascalon Roley, both deal with the issue of developing an Asian American identity. In American Born Chinese, the protagonist Jin Wang just wants be accepted in a community where he is the only Chinese American. The novel grapples with many of the stereotypes associated with being Asian American, and Jin eventually comes to deal with those issues in a well adapted manner. In American Son, the narrator Gabe is a quiet and reserved kid who tries to survive in a family of Filipino immigrants; with a brother who has adopted a gangster lifestyle and a mother pressuring him to be good and get good grades. Because he is ashamed of his mother’s Asian identity and he has feelings of defeat from getting beaten up by his brother, he leaves home on a journey that will eventually lead him to deal with his situation in a more violent manner. Though the protagonists of both novels have different ways of dealing with their dilemmas, both novels could be considered Bildungsromans because both protagonists grow and gain newfound meaning and a clearer identity within society.