Finding Yourself
Have you ever questioned your identity? Have you ever tried to change yourself to please others? If you have, stop. The instant gratification you get when you earn the approval of someone by changing yourself does not matter. Hiding who you really are is useless. This is a popular theme and message in books, movies, and short stories. In the short stories “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, and “Papa’s Parrot” by Cynthia Rylant, the characters discover their true identities through significant moments.
To begin, in “Fish Cheeks” Amy Tan learns about herself through the events of a holiday dinner and learns to embrace her identity. For example,when Amy’s crush, Robert, comes over with his family and Amy’s mother
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She later realizes that all her mother wanted was for her to try and do her best. Her mother gives the piano to her for her thirtieth birthday, and she tries to play again.
As shown above, Jing-mei realizes that she has the potential to be a genius, but she did not try when she was younger.
Finally, in “Papa’s Parrot”, Harry learns that his father misses him through an unlikely source. To begin, when Harry turns twelve, he stops visiting his father’s candy shop. Instead, he spends more time with his friends. His father, Mr. Tillian, buys himself a parrot to keep him company. After Mr. Tillian gets sick and goes to the hospital, Harry tells him that he will go help clean and manage the shop. When he enters, the parrot, Rocky, starts squawking, “Where’s Harry? Where’s Harry? Miss him.” (2)
When the bird says this, Harry suddenly realizes that someone has been repeating that statement for a long time. He then realizes that it was his father. His father misses him because he never visits the shop anymore. Harry feels guilty, and after cleaning the shop and unpacking all the boxes, he decides to visit his father in the hospital. In the end, Harry learns that even though he is growing up, he should still spend some time with his