Fish Cheeks Analysis

In the essay “fish Cheeks”, the essayist Amy Tan conveys that the main character is worried and embarrassed. “What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners?...” (Tan). After Amy is informed that the Minister's family is coming over for Christmas dinner, she silently begins to debate how the night will go with a multitude of what if questions. She is worried how Robert, and his family will react to some of her family's customs. “... I knew that she understood how much I suffered during the evening’s dinner” (Tan). Amy says she suffered during Christmas dinner because she was embarrassed on how her family

Jin Wang is embarrassed to even be apart of his family by the way he acts and how he represents their culture. He now can see how hard it is to fit in.

Teenagers usually have a distorted perspective which differs from an adult’s causing teens to be self-centered rather than other-centered, this story explores that view and how the teen in the story was able to change. “Fish Cheeks,” by Amy Tan, is an autobiographical narrative following fourteen year old Amy Tan and her experience at a Christmas Eve dinner after her father invites the minister and his son, Robert, who was Amy’s crush at the time. As I was reading the story I was able to learn how Amy went from being self-centered to other-centered causing her to fully appreciate her mother’s lesson, and some of the ways I could improve myself based on Amy’s situation.

Four Chinese mothers have migrated to America. Each hope for their daughter’s success and pray that they will not experience the hardships faced in China. One mother, Suyuan, imparts her knowledge on her daughter through stories. The American culture influences her daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her

After reading Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, I have learned that Ally is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the book, Ally is stubborn. Eventually, Ally becomes brave through the middle of the story. At the very end of the story, Ally becomes confident. These character traits were observed through Ally’s actions, dialogue, relationships, choices and problems. I have learned that the main character Ally is to never give up and don’t let anyone bug you. Meaning don’t let anyone bully you or make you want to give up. Whenever I want to give up, I think of the book Fish In A Tree and how Ally never gave up and was brave to stand up for her friends.

The piece describes what she envisioned her time in China would be like; visions of small talk and drinking tea danced in her head (Schmitt 125). This is a bit admirable to a more reserved person because it shows how outgoing she is when diving into a new culture. However, the reality of a language barrier and day to day behavior settled in. A series of uncomfortable exchanges illustrate the challenge of being accepted into a new culture. Described in the essay are people standing around in bath robes and under garments and popping in and out of rooms like some sort of clown

Amy Tan recounts her experience of a disastrous Christmas dinner with her and the minister’s family. Her crush Robert is there and he makes her feel ashamed of her family’s actions and traditions. In the short story Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan, a young girl is embarrassed of her Chinese heritage but grows more confident after a disastrous dinner.

Over there nobody will look down on her, because I will make her speak only perfect American English.  And over there she will always be too full to swallow any sorrow!  She will know my meaning because I will give her this swan- a creature that became more than what was hoped for.”  (Tan 1)  The culture in China the mothers of Joy Luck dealt with was unlike anything their daughters could ever imagine or appreciate. Between the mothers Lindo, Suyuan, An-mei and Ying-ying, the Chinese culture forced them into being married by a matchmaker, giving up babies, witness desperate attempts to save loved ones, and having an abortion.  In many ways the Chinese culture scared each woman, although they were proud of their heritage, their daughters deserved better.  These four mothers had very high hopes for the better lives that they wanted to give their daughters by raising them in America.  They didn’t like or want to have their daughters looked down upon, just because they were Chinese women.  From each of their own experiences, they learned that they wanted to improve the lives of their following generation.

The main reason for the huge crack in the mother-daughter relationship is due to the joint culture that they share and their conflicting opinions on their joint cultures (Parini 294). Communication problems with their mothers, in Tan’s writings, are due to the daughters of Chinese mothers wanting to be more American than Chinese (Tan The Opposite of Fate…. 22). Mothers who have immigrated to America face language barriers and feel the pressure of their new culture (Wiener 22). To a Chinese American daughter, not only does the Chinese mother humiliate the daughter, but traditions that tie back to their past are also humiliating to them (Parini 292). After the death of her father, Tan’s relationship with her mother decreased and caused her to become more rebellious to her mother’s good intentions (Angel 26-27).

Fish Magic is a combination of a charming scene decorated with vibrant colors to make one of the most famous paintings. The painting by Paul Klee has evoked multiple emotions in the audience, as it has it is full of aura. The Fish Magic by Klee was completed during his prime years as an artist before he died of scleroderma. The painting has however remained to be one of the pieces which sparked the creativity of the painter and infused a different level of skills to create a new figure.

At the beginning of the short story, Jing-mei shares about “becoming Chinese” (Tan 152). Living in San Francisco area, she had always felt disconnected from her Chinese culture. The most significant moment of Jing-mei’s acceptance of her Chinese culture was when her father told her about her mother’s journey from China to America during the time of the invasion. She truly learns to appreciate her mother because of all she had gone through. Jing-mei also understand the existence of her half-sisters and feels the need to visit and meet them, as they are part of her mother. Jing-mei’s original lookout on Chinese culture was developed their prejudices and stereotypes. After living with her Chinese family and learning more about her mother’s past,

“Fish Cheeks,” an essay written by Amy Tan, emphasizes the importance of accepting once customs and surpass embarrassment. It relates the humiliation she went through as a teenager for Christmas Eve, when her family invites her crush, and his family to enjoy a Chinese traditional meal. The affection she had towards the minister’s son blinded her from seeing her families effort. Indeed, Tan was focusing on what others would think of her appearances and customs. The quote “Your only shame is to have shame,” is the lesson imparted by her mother, meaning she should be a shame of not accepting herself, her family, and traditions (Tan 111).

Wong feels that she needs to fit into the dominant culture from an early age. The reason for this is because society stresses the dominate culture, promotes the dominate culture and pressures immigrant children to fit in. Wong uses herself as an example of the tremendous pressure children of immigrants are under to fit in, which is a burden placed on them by society. The pressure is so great that many are embarrassed by their roots and their heritage. Wong experiences this burden, and this is what drives her to want to become the stereotypical All-American girl. She learns to hate her culture so much that she does not want anything to do with it and she wants a divorce from her ethnic roots, “Wong’s adolescent embarrassment of her ethnic

This education, seen from the other side of the cultural gap, is what makes Lena see her mother as a weak person. Lena has a job, an American husband, she lives an American life, unlike her mother, who is attached to weird old disused Chinese traditions. But she herself is not happy, as her mother can see. Her husband is not as good as he might be: he exploits her, paying her a too low wage, never recognizes her contribution to their success as architects,... On the other hand, Ying- Ying marriage, although imperfect, is based on firmer grounds of respect and goodness towards each other than that of Lena.

Mary’s culture has not been very significant in her life. Although her parents sometimes speak Chinese in their home, they speak English as their primary language. Mary says that her parents sometimes celebrate Chinese traditions to bring some of their culture back into their busy lives. Mary’s Dad is a doctor, and her mom is a house wife who is starting a decorating business.