Shadow Hero-Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew
The Shadow Hero is about immigration, stereotypes and so much more but it reminded me a lot of Tan’s Arrival for many reasons. Both stories show a family’s long journey and struggles as they learned to assimilate into a completely new world However, this novel was about so much more like heritage, race, and courage. Hank was not really sure what he wanted to do when his mom introduced him to fighting and pushed him to be more courageous than his father. This was the first and one of the the most prominent stereotypes that was enforced. It was always up to the man to be stronger, wealthier, and more capable in all aspects. Hank’s father was never appreciated by his wife even though he worked hard for his grocery shop to be able to help support his family. There is also the stereotype of the grocery store, the mom pushing her child to do more, learning Kung Fu, working extra hard and other little things. The Shadow Hero really challenges many Asian American stereotypes in this book.
Another example of this stereotyping is when the detective used chauvinistic terms to describe Asians. However, I think it is important to note that Hank did not just play along and showed his true self and race without hiding under a mask. Hank showed much pride in where he was from and always embraced where he came from and I felt this was a reoccurring theme in the book. I felt that the culture and heritage of the characters was sacred and this was present with many of the characters. For example, the mother did this with the costume she created, the Asians in the underground bar did this with their battles and designs in the bar, and also the spirits contributed to this. The Spirits in the story were ensuring that the culture that they brought with them remained present. Even though the Spirits disagreed about who should be the emperor, they wanted to preserve some part of who they were. However, I do not think this book was about embracing stereotypes as much as as it was about breaking out of stereotypes. We see that the mom transforms from this uptight stereotypical Asian mom into a more complex character by the end of the novel. She begins in the novel by pushing Hank around and telling him what to do and what not to do but at the ned, she lets Hank do what he feels he needs to do without interfering.
