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Cultural Identity In Fish Cheeks, By Amy Tan

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Culture is a complex and multifaceted concept that shapes a person's beliefs, values, and behaviors. It can be defined as the shared patterns of beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that characterize a group or society. Culture can be national, organizational, or subcultural, and it can have a profound impact on an individual's identity and worldview. The impact of culture on an individual's self-perception and behavior is a topic that has been widely studied and debated. While some argue that culture is a fundamental aspect of a person's identity and should be embraced and celebrated, others argue that cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts between people from different backgrounds. In the story of "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan, the author narrates the life of a Chinese girl named Amy and how she felt throughout the story by having her American crush over for dinner. The author describes how embarrassed she felt because Amy was afraid that her crush would not like the food and leave since her parents made some traditional Chinese dishes that Americans might find unusual. This highlights the impact of cultural differences on an individual's self-perception and behavior. …show more content…

While cultural identity is an important aspect of a person's identity, it should not be the sole determinant of their self-perception and behavior. If a person is embarrassed about their culture, they may begin to act differently and even alienate themselves. However, embracing cultural differences is what makes us unique as humans, and we should celebrate and appreciate the diversity of our

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In amy tan’s “ fish cheeks “, Tan’s uses a motif to express her main message. The motif that is carried throughout the story is culture and a message she ties into that is that always keep culture close to who you are. In the short story tan tells us something she learned from her mom was if you are “want[ing] to be the same as american on the outside… but [on the] inside you must always be chinese.” ( tan 7 ) tan tells us this because she wants us to realize that it doesn't matter who or what we are; meaning if we are wanting to be american great but keep your culture close to and apart of you.

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Sometimes being from a different heritage than everyone else can be hard. This is shown in Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan and Names/Nombres by Julia Alvarez. In Fish Cheeks Amy is embarrassed when the ministers family comes over for a traditional Chinese Christmas dinner. Amy is embarrassed by her family's unique customs and foods. In Names/Nombres Julia moves to America from the Dominican Republic and faces issues with her name.

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The short essay “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan is an autobiographical short essay describing the experience of Amy, a fourteen-year-old American-Chinese girl, at an embarrassing dinner party her family hosted. One of the people invited was her crush, an American pastor’s son, and, because of the cultural difference, he did not understand the table manners or the food choices of the Chinese diners. Through this embarrassing experience- showing how different her culture and, by extension, she was to her crush- she learned to accept her native Chinese culture, even if she did want to assimilate into the new, American culture.

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People love to label themselves. From personality quizzes to AA meetings, many long for acceptance within a group filled with people like themselves. Yet, arguably, the most important label for many is their heritage. In her essay “Cultural Baggage,” author Barbara Ehrenreich discusses her relation to her identity and society's obsession with culture, questioning why people find clearly defined culture as so important and crucial to the human experience. Beginning in her childhood, Ehrenreich details her desire to understand and find meaning in her life, which largely stems from the absence of any distinct and unique culture .

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Lessons from the Culture Every year we see family emigrate to other countries, and they face many challenges. The stories “Sweet, Sour, and Resentful”, by Firoozeh Dumas, and from “Fish Cheeks”, by Amy Tan, share similar cultures and really interesting stories. Also, both families from the essay share several challenges that they are face when they move to the United States of America. The two families share many similarities; however, they differ in to keeping their culture, showing openness, and teaching a lesson from their culture to others.

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Cultural Identity Literature Review Cultural identity is not only how one views themselves, but a large part of how society views them. Two major aspects of one’s own identity are the aspects of one’s reputations and also their ethnic background. I believe that is the combination of both of these (customs and traditions and ethnic backround) that truly effect how society treats a person. One huge aspect of how people are viewed is their own reputation.

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Anzaldúa concerns herself with the effects that a cultural identity crisis can have on a person’s life. We wonder about why some people suffer from internal crises, such as low self-esteem and self-disdain. These people were rejected from something as simple as a culture, so they are self-conscious and feel they aren’t good enough for anything else. The feeling of self-worthlessness hurts them in all aspects of their life and these experiences as a child have the possibility of leading to serious mental health issues in the future. Without the foresight for what could possibly happen in the future, those who reject others from their culture can serious harm those who they reject with one small action that may mean nothing to them.

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Another fictional story that documents a young Asian American girl is Fish Cheeks written by Amy Tan. In the short narrative the author writes about the white minister’s family attending their Christmas Eve dinner. The main character becomes embarrassed over the minster’s son judging their traditional chinese foods and develops a dislike for her chinese culture (Tan). Instances where Asian Americans are judged for their culture happens frequently and it causes Asian American youth to leave behind their culture in order to fit in with mainstream American culture as soon as they get a chance, causing their history and tradition to be lost with

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Another example of cultural identity being a common problem is in story, “Two Kinds” the author stated how she believed that she could not do anything because her mom pressured her too much (Tan, 1989). The author did not believe in herself, she did not know what she was capable of, she was pressured into being someone she was not and that led her to disobeying her mother, since she could not find what she was good at. On the other hand in the poem, “Where I’m From” the author is very proud of her culture, so much that she describes it in a joyful tone. The author says “I am from” several times to emphasize that she loves her culture (Lyon, 1999).

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Culture is the building block for life. It sets society's standards, it sets our own standards, and everything we know is all because of our culture. Culture is a way of thinking, a way of behaving and learning. We express our opinions based upon our beliefs, and define ourselves by what aspects of our culture we choose to show. Culture's impact on someone's perspective of others and the world is greater than its other influencers because it can change how you interact with people, your ability to change, and your opinions of the world.

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Cultures teach us attitudes and behaviors by which we learn to understand over time. Culture is defined by life as the rule book of learned traditions, beliefs, and principles that have members of a particular group. Particularly, culture is the path of the people used by people of a specific group to interact with the world. Therefore, the body of knowledge and attitudes that we have in everyday life On a timely basis, culture becomes an aspect of teaching what we believe in, what we prefer, and exactly where we come from. Culture becomes an important teaching mechanism by teaching us new ways of thinking, values, and morals.

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So, in looking at my cultural identity, I am examining both my own labels and what they mean to me and layering on top of that cultural influencers that operate within my life and how the interplay between these layers works. In looking at all of the groups I listed as being important parts of my cultural identity, I think the one aspect of internalized or deep culture seen as an undertone throughout all of them is the theme of independence. I was raised to believe that as long as what I was doing was not hurting anyone else, it was okay. I was also taught early on that I am the only one who can make me happy, and that has to happen before I will be able to help others.

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