American Born Chinese Thesis

In American Born Chinese, the author fuses western and Chinese tales and motifs to establish and explain the unique self of American born Chinese, and in doing so commits to the idea that self-hood is ultimately determined by heritage and cannot be shaped or modified by time or one's will.

Opposition: the author does not argue that heritage is the determinant factor in establishing one's self hood; a person can develop an individual self-hood that is not dependent on his or her cultural background.