(I am unclear on whether we are supposed to have read the whole book, so I am going to, for purposes of this blog, only respond to the first half so as not to spoil anyone.)

It may be a little obvious, but all of the main characters are basically looking for a place to belong. Jin is mostly lost in his quest for Amelia. The Monkey King is looking to be ‘the great sage,’ when he is quite plainly a monkey. “Danny” is pretty much fully integrated into where he feels he belongs, but is thwarted in that attempt by his cousin; and even “Chin-kee” is trying to fit in, even if it doesn’t mean changing who he is at all (That may be a stretch. I get uncomfortable even trying to think about how to address Chin-kee, to tell you the truth).
The real catch is that none of them are very good at it. Which I suppose is the very catalyst for the story, the thing for them to overcome. An important lesson early on, for the Monkey king, is when he flies beyond the veil of reality, and relieves himself on a golden pillar, only to discover that he has peed on the hand of his creator. What the Monkey King wants is impossible, because there is simply a way things are; and he is not the great sage, he is just a monkey. Maybe a monkey that is an awesome martial artist, but, really, he’s basically just a monkey.

…

Don’t tell him I said that.