Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan

The essay, “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan is an interesting story. It's a story of a Chinese girl named Amy, who had a crush on the minister's son, Robert (an American), the winter she turned fourteen. Amy was very nervous when she found out that her parents invited Robert and his family over for a Christmas eve dinner. She started thinking of what Robert would think of her home and the noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners. Her fears came true when Robert and his family came over. It seemed right from the start that Robert does not want to be there. Something that gave this away was when Robert came in and grunted hello to Amy and she pretenteded he was not worthy of existence. Amy started to feel deeper in despair when dinner came around because her family were acting inappropriate at dinner. They were licking their chopsticks and dipped them into their plates. Another thing that made her felt ashamed was the food. It wasn't the typical American food for Christmas. They had Chinese food and it looked like Robert does not like the food. When dinner was done, Amy's father belched very loud, and in China that is considered as polite and shows that you are satisfied. With that being said, the minister managed to muster up a quiet burp. After everyone had left, Amy's mother said to her “ You want to be the same as American girls on the outside” she handed her a miniskirt in beige tweed and continue “ but inside, you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame”. Years later, Amy finally understood what her mom was trying to tell her then. Amy also realized that the dinner they had that year was all of her favorite food.

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