The novel has two primary, interconnected themes: coming of age and the importance of cultural and ethnic heritage. The title character is a Chinese American boy on the edge of adolescence. As he grows, he not only matures in his overall attitudes and abilities, he also learns to appreciate the Chinese culture. A large part of Donald Duk’s growth is learning to contextualize his own problems within those of his family and thus become less self-centered. This involves learning to understand motivations for certain behaviors, such as responses to racism and discrimination.

The novel has two primary, interconnected themes: coming of age and the importance of cultural and ethnic heritage. The title character is a Chinese American boy on the edge of adolescence. As he grows, he not only matures in his overall attitudes and abilities, he also learns to appreciate the Chinese culture. A related theme is the changes in the American immigrant experience over several generations, as a distinctive culture is established in the United States. This involves learning to understand motivations for certain behaviors, such as responses to racism and discrimination.

The author has deliberately given Donald and other family members names from the Disney franchise to emphasize Donald’s feelings of self-consciousness and his use of humor to deflect verbal and physical attacks. But as Donald exaggerates the connotations of the name for humor, he comes to see he was not challenging the bullies’s belief in their right to intimidate him. Looking into his family tree, the boy learns that his relative’s use of the English first name "Donald" precedes Disney’s invention and that he actually has a different Chinese name. His Uncle Donald had been an immigrant worker on the railroad. As the boy dreams of being one of those laborers, he gains insight into their physical and emotional travails and the accompanying assertion of their rights through the strike. Moreover, by taking those insights into his school classroom, he helps others understand Chinese contributions.

Along with sharing his people’s historical economic roles, Donald begins to take part in contemporary cultural and religious customs. Initially, he saw the model airplanes as just toys and enjoyed trying to fool his father. As he learns what they symbolize and then participates in a New Year’s ritual, the dragon dance, he becomes part of the larger community from which he had felt isolated and even ashamed.