The three stories all discussed the feeling of being outcast. The monkey was not allowed to enter the heavens, not simply because he wasn't wearing shoes, but because he was a monkey. Jin Wang felt outcast in his new school, not only because he was different from the rest of the students, but also because none of the "normal" kids would play with him for a long time. And Dan, well, it turns out that Dan is Jin Wang. Both the Monkey King and Jin try to convert themselves to fit into the mainstream. Even Wei-chen does this in the end. However, each of them realize that they cannot simply give up their identity to feel accepted.
My favorite section is the one in which the Monkey King tries to avoid his creator by flying past the universe. He "runs into" 5 golden pillars. He writes onto one of them and urinates on it as well. When he returns to earth his creator shows him his hand, which was represented by the pillars. So we see the creator's ring finger with writing and urine on it. I like this section especially, because it was funny as well as symbolic. It showed that one cannot run away from one's heritage or personal identity easily. It will be a long trip to get away from oneself and in the end one never truly gets away from one's past anyway.
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