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Amy Tan Fish Cheeks Analysis

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Journal #6, Tan In Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks,” she expounds her embarrassment at her Chinese Christmas family dinner with her crush, the Minister’s son. Tan realizes years later that her mother prepared that Christmas dinner because it was all of her favorite foods. Tan was facing conflicts between the two cultural differences and becomes aware that she should embrace her Chinese culture, while living in the American culture. Amy Tan catches the reader’s attention by beginning with a love interest. She utilizes a simile to compare Robert’s ethnicity: “as white as Mary in the manger,” (para. 1) it is an attempt at the imagery of Robert’s appearance without detail (with the exception that he is blond). The second paragraph is about her crying after hearing that the minister’s family is invited over for Christmas dinner. The tone through the three rhetorical questions are panic and embarrassment, and consequently shows why she cried: Tan was worried about Robert’s perception of her family. …show more content…

The kitchen was littered with appalling mounds of raw food: A slimy rock cod with bulging eyes that pleaded not to be thrown into a pan of hot oil. Tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges. A bowl soaking dried fungus back to life. A plate of squid, their backs crisscrossed with knife markings so they resembled bicycle tires (para.

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Amy in the autobiography “Fish Cheeks” is a dynamic character. This can be inferred because of evidence in the text. For example, in the beginning of the story she is nervous and worried about Robert and his family coming over for Christmas dinner. In addition to being nervous and worried, Amy is mortified that her relatives lack American manners. As a result, Amy becomes proud of her heritage and embraces her Chinese culture.

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The author Amy Tan, in her text she deals with living in the American society more than the other author because she gives the reader a clear idea of what she is going through at the moment. In the story “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, it says “What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked poor proper American manners?” Tan

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To begin with, both Tan and Crutcher utilize characterization to pursue the shared theme, that a strong sense of self is crucial when under the pressure of the expectation of others. In “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, Amy feels propelled to conform because she feels judged for not being “normal”. Tan states, “What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas” (2). Also, it’s obvious Amy was self-conscious about the Chinese style of cooking and in this sentence she’s self-conscious because she says, “For Christmas I prayed for this blond-haired boy, and a slim new American nose”(1). In the first quote, she was over thinking and doubting that Robert would not like “our shabby Chinese Christmas” though in the end she was correct about Robert

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For instance, her famous novel ‘The Joy Luck Club’ depicts the Chinese mother and her American daughter relationship where they go through various circumstances trying to understand each other including the evolvement that comes in their relationships as the daughters know more about their mother’s life stories. Secondly, Tan considers the theme of identity in terms of Chinese immigrants and their life experiences as an immigrant in the United States. She reveals how the children born to the immigrants strive in an environment which is a mixture of American and Chinese influence. Moreover, Tan is found to have explored identity issues through her fictive creations and tackled the issue of authorial identity (Becnel, 2010). Similarly, romantic love is another subject included in the literary artworks of Amy Tan which considers the relationships and romance an important aspect of human’s life.

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Famous fashion designer Alexander McQueen “came to terms with not fitting in a long time ago… [He] never really fitted in... [He doesn’t] want to fit in.” “Fish Cheeks”, a short story by Amy Tan, is a short memoir concerning Amy, an Asian American embarrassed by her family’s cultural antics. When her family invites the mayor’s family to a Christmas dinner, Amy is repulsed and disgusted by her family’s rude behavior until her mother tells her to embrace who she is.

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The theme that the white culture is superior to other cultures in America according to “Fish Cheeks”, an essay by Amy Tan and Sherman Alexie’s essay “Indian Education”. Alexie writes about a moment that he remembers from second grade, “‘indians, indians, indians.’ She said it without capitalization”(Alexie 2). This establishes that certain people of the white culture see themselves as superior towards others. Alexie’s teacher tries to degrade his culture by speaking about the Native American culture in a tone that makes them sound inferior the the white culture.

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In "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan, the author utilizes the symbolic beige tweed miniskirt to represent the main characters yearning to be the same as American girls. After her parents invited her crushes family over for dinner she is apprehensive as to what he will presume about her traditional relatives and culture. The text states,"What will he think of our Shabby Chinese Christmas"(2). Which reveals that she wants to be like traditional Americans and doesn 't appreciate the unique differences about her culture. She also spends too much time caring about what the boy will think of her relatives and the non-american food served, that she doesn 't fancy over the fact that all her favorite foods were served.

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Oh no Amy tan cried. The mister family is going to be here for dinner. I am totally secondhand embarrassed because what are they going to think of me?The theme is you should be proud of who you are and not change who you really are because the minister's family is coming to dinner . The story Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan demonstrates the theme which is you should be proud of who you are. In the text it states ‘’ The minster family is coming over for dinner i cried what would Robbert think of my shabby chinese christmas,’’ Another text evidence for the them you should be proud of who you are is what he would think about the food and not what they always see would they hate me she thought would he never speak to me again.

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The Acceptance of Culture There is always a search for identity in younger people and stories are an outstanding way to share experiences of people finding a sense of identity. Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks” is an excellent example of this, and the boy Amy likes is coming over. She sees the food and says to herself, “The kitchen was littered with appalling mounds of raw food: A slimy rock cod with bulging eyes that pleaded not to be thrown into a pan of hot oil. Tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges. A bowl soaking dried fungus back to life “ (Tan1).

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Amy Tan elaborates her feelings and struggles she faces being chinese in her short story, “Fish Cheeks”. In Tan’s story her family makes her feel trapped in the Chinese culture when they invite the ministers family over for Christmas Eve dinner. Tan has an epiphany at the end of the story when her mother embodies, “Your only shame is to have shame”. Throughout the story, Tan can be described as shameful.

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Traditional Chinese Cuisine Tradition is a very important part of Chinese culture. Chinese cuisine is one of the representations of tradition, and food has been a way of constituting the culture of China. In the story “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, this theme appears multiple times throughout the text. The Chinese culture has multiple foods that represent its tradition. Chinese meals have typical general components to them.

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1031 Words | 5 Pages

Amy Tan's experiences influence her books by bringing elements from her life into the characters, conflicts, and ideas in her stories. Amy Tan’s life is seen in many of her books which entail the relationship between Chinese generations and their struggle to balance two cultures. Tan's Chinese parents wanted American

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Amy Tan is a Chinese-American author who was born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California. In Tan’s early life she had many struggles because her parents desired for her “to hold onto Chinese traditions and her own longings to become more Americanized” (Encyclopedia). While she wanted to become a writer when she was still young, her parents wanted her to become a neurosurgeon. When she got older and went to college she majored in English then started her career in the 1970’s. She was a technical writer and then started writing fiction stories.

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Thesis Statement: In the short story, Two Kinds, Amy Tan develops a narrator who as a child seeks her mother’s approval of her, but develops into a child with her own mind, and by the end of the story embodies a woman who realizes that her mother has her own expression of love for her daughter. Thus, Amy Tan depicts a message about Jing-Mei, the narrator, accepting that everyone, especially her mother, has their own expressions of love. This will look different depending on who a person is and their background. Even though Jing-Mei does not always feel her mother loves her, she learns that her mother loves her by reflecting on her childhood and struggles.

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694 Words | 3 Pages

At the end of the dinner Amy's father burped loudly as it is a sign of respect towards the cook showing gratitude for the food. After everyone had left, Amy’s mother noticed her embarrassment all night and said “You want to be the same as American girls on the outside.” She the handed Amy an early gift, It was a beige tweed colored mini skirt. After she told Amy that she must always be Chinese on the inside and to be proud of who she was, because the only shame is to be ashamed. It took Amy years to truly figure out what her mother was trying to teach her, and after she figured it out she was proud of her ethnicity.

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