Fish Cheeks Summary

The first passage reveals the parallel suffering occurring in the lives of different members of the family, which emphasizes the echoes between the sufferings of the father and the narrator. The narrator’s father’s despair over having watched

in both stories "Broken Chain" by Gary Soto and "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan there is a common theme that people think they need to change their appearances to belong. in "Broken Chain" the main character, Alfonso, thinks he needs to change his appearance to feel like he belongs with his friends. He wants to appear tougher so the guys he hangs out with will like him more.in the beginning of broken chain "Alfonso sat on the porch trying to push his crooked teeth to where he thought they belong"(Soto 1). this shows how Alfonso thinks he needs to change his appearance to belong with his friends.he later spends extra time to clean his bike before going to Sandra's house.his chain breaks preventing him from taking his shiny bike to see her.he is upset

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

In the essay, “All Over But the Shoutin’,” Rick Bragg, the author, depicts the painful strain inflicted upon family’s relationship caused by the reckless action of a father to forgo the future of his wife and kids in pursuit of his own selfish ambitions. The author’s use of rhetorical moves such as tone, stance, and imagery effectively portrayed to his audience that, regardless of how debauch a deed may be, there is always room in one’s heart for forgiveness—you just have to be receptive to its backlash.

Forgiveness can be a simple gesture. Either way it’s a difficult task to complete. Nevertheless it’s easier to pry forgiveness from certain groups of people; especially children. Children tend to easily forgive since they do not fully comprehend the severity of a situation. This theory especially applies to the parent-child relationship where the child feels the need to forgive their parents no matter the situation. Forgiveness for the parent seems mandatory to the child considering the parent is the teacher of life to their child; what the parents say and/or do is all their knowledge of how the world goes. In The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls proves this theory correct. Numerous times Jeannette forgives her parents for their wrongdoings and

Sometimes, forgiveness is used as an excuse to make the mistakes conducted okay. Eventually, the ones that are forgiven take advantage of the idea of forgiveness. In the memoir, The Glass Castle, the protagonist, Jeannette Walls and her siblings face difficult situations where they're forced to accept and learn from a young age to forgive those who are responsible. Jeannette’s parents struggle with being strong and stable parents for their children, making mistakes that have consequences that affect not only themselves but also the the Walls children. Jeannette chooses to believe that by letting go of the grudges she holds about parent she can avoid a bitter life, even though it is her parents responsible for her pain. Through Jeannette Walls journey she is able to capture the hard reality of forgiveness.

“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are two stories that reveal the consequences of individual suffering. These consequences include estranging relationships, bitter behavior, and even illness, addiction, or death. Throughout each of these stories, Sonny and John’s wife, known as the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, continue to suffer due to John’s and Sonny’s brother’s, known as the narrator of “Sonny’s Blues”, failure to meet obligations and familial compassion. Neither the narrator in “Sonny’s Blues” nor the husband, John, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” serve as the villains of the stories, however, I believe we are able to see how both their inabilities to effectively

Authors tend to write on subjects that they know the most about, or subjects that affect them on a personal level. Authors and poets use various aspects of life for the basis of their works, such as life experiences, romances, and family roles. Poems like “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “Forgiving My Father” by Lucille Clifton feature one of the most important roles in a family: a father. The two poems differ vastly in many regards, but many similarities surface among them and a common theme resides between them. Through the similarities they hold, the poems represent a common theme of regret for one’s lack of action.

As human beings we are often reluctant to let go of our anger and unwilling to forgive others. This becomes especially true in the case of loved ones or family members. The poem, “How Do We Forgive Our Fathers?,” written by Dick Lourie, addresses the different dilemmas associated with a child forgiving his/her father. In his six-stanza poem, the poet discusses how a child should forgive their father for traumatic events imposed on the child. This includes reasons for forgiveness, appropriate time to forgive, and whether or not to even forgive at all. Detailed through the different stanzas, the poem suggests that until one learns how to appropriately forgive another for wrongful behavior, they will never be able to let go of resentment and

There is a big connection between our family and our identity. Family shapes us into the person we become and takes a big part in developing our identity. No matter if their influence is life changeable or not, their presence in our lives is enough to create changes. In the book, Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez described his life as a Mexican-American trying to adapt to the new ways of life and how this has cause him to become distant with his family. On the other hand, in the essay, “The Love of My Life”, the author Cheryl Strayed discussed the affects her mother’s death had on her and her outlook in life. Both authors can relate in terms of the importance of how family helps in shaping one into the person they become. Although identities can be self-built, our families are important in the process because they provide the support needed to build and find identity.

Forgiveness can save relationships, or it can damage them depending on if you use the knowledge you have in a positive or negative light towards a person. In The Glass Castle, forgiveness saved the relationship between Jeannette and her parents. Even though her parents did awful things to her and did not necessarily take care of her, Jeannette still lets her love for them shine through and she forgave them for it. Although Jeannette’s parents imposed many hardships and she endured many difficulties, Jeannette found it in her heart to forgive her parents for what they had done.

In every home, there is a different definition of family and how family should treat each other. Two short stories were read by an author named Flannery O’Connor. “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. It was about a dysfunctional family who encounters a criminal named “The Misfit”. The grandmother which is the main character is very judgmental towards others and sometimes her own family at times. This story starts off with a disagreement on where to go for a family trip, but they decide on going to Florida for the family trip after a while of arguing. On this trip, it showed what type of family they are. They talk about everything with one another as well as bicker and fight but at the end of the day, they are still family and love each other. They come together the most in panicking situations such as the accident and waiting for a car to help them. The point of this paper is the theme of family. Specifically, family is a theme in this short story because it depicts a dysfunctional family; the family you see on a crazy television show and can’t get enough of because they’re funny but also they have serious moments. There 's the two troublesome and annoying kids, the hot-headed dad who tries to maintain control of a situation and fails, the wife busy attending to the baby, and the grandmother, who 's a case all to herself (and also the main character). Though the story starts out seeming like a comedy, it takes a serious turn when the family encounters a criminal, who kills them

"Fish Cheeks" and "Broken Chain" both address a common theme about belonging. Both stories show that people act unlike themselves when they are trying to impress others or fit in. In the essay "Fish Cheeks" Amy Tan is embarrassed about her family's culture because it is different from her American neighbors. As a result Amy tries to hide it away and become something she is not. In the short story "Broken Chain" Alfonso meets a girl that he really likes. He believes that in order for her to like him back, he has to look and act like people on T.V. In both stories the main characters care about their image and what people think.

The child who died is considered a gift to the parents and family, and they are forced to give up that gift. Yet, as parents, they also strive to let their child's life, no matter how short, be seen as a gift to others. These parents seek to find ways to continue to love, honor, and value the lives of their children and continue to make the child's presence known and felt in the lives of family and friends. Bereaved parents often try to live their lives more fully and generously because of this painful experience.

It is also vital to look at Wilson’s view on the practice of forgiveness and how if an individual decides to ignore it, it can place a road block in their process of change. She believes that God speaks about forgiveness for the following reasons:” (1) we are all sinners with whom to relate so we’ll need to become skillful forgivers (2) God makes forgiveness a centerpiece of our healing process because living in un-forgiveness is so much worse (Wilson, 2001).