Finding Identity In Fish Cheeks, By Amy Tan

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). , Amy is embarrassed at the thought of the boy she likes seeing this food. Generally, people are nervous when others try their cultural food because they might find it

Amy is so preoccupied that she does not realize her mom made all of her favourite foods. The way others see Amy’s cultural food changes the way she sees it. Amy being ashamed of her culture nullified her love for it. After everyone left, Amy’s mom talked to Amy about the way she feels, telling her “You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame” (Tan 2). Many years after this Christmas, Amy began to fully appreciate her culture and have no shame in her culture. Another compelling story of finding identity is Mmamachi Dimoriaku’s “Don’t Violate My People.” At the start of sixth grade, Mmachi declares “I am not African. I am just American. I am black. That is all I am”(Dimoriaku 1). Mmachi did not like her -typical Igbo Nigerian- name, due to the difficulty people have pronouncing it. She starts to use alternate aliases such as Victoria, Veronica, and Vanessa. Up until ninth 9th grade, everyone knew her as American. One day a boy says, “You African booty scratchers, go back to your country”(Dimoraku 1). Mmachi felt an obligation to confront him, saying “Don’t violate my people!” She felt embarrassed when people found out she was African, as if

Accept it and love who you are.” (Dimoriaku 2). After that conversation, Mmachi began to accept her culture and the name she has been given. Accepting her name is a small step in accepting the beautiful culture she comes from. Likewise, Roddy Doyle’s story “New Boy'' is about an African boy solidifying his identity after moving schools. A boy named Christian is irritating Joseph by asking “Hey, live-aid?”(New Boy 1:39) Joseph is called “live-aid”, due to the stigma around African people and aids. Rather than saying he is not African, Joseph is quiet and visibly irritated. This demonstrates Joseph’s love for the culture he grew up in. Additionally, Joseph does not change throughout the story in an attempt to fit in and seem “normal”. Instead of using violence, Joseph grabs grabbed Christian’s finger as a calming mechanism willingly over violence. While in Africa, Joseph watches his father get taken away and shot. Joseph hasd the chance of avoiding his culture after moving to a new country, but he did not. After what he experienced it would be an easy decision to forget his past and culture. Joseph bonds over humour with the other boys.This illustrates that skin colour and culture