Category: Amy Tan

Introduction

“Fish Cheeks” is a poignant and insightful short story written by Amy Tan, a prominent Chinese-American author. Drawing from her own personal experiences, Tan explores themes of cultural identity, self-acceptance, and the challenges of assimilation. Through vivid descriptions and a powerful narrative voice, Tan invites readers to delve into the complexities of her upbringing and the clash between her Chinese heritage and American culture. This literary criticism essay will examine the significance of “Fish Cheeks,” analyzing its thematic exploration, writing style, and the impact of Tan’s personal narrative.

The Complexity of Cultural Identity

In “Fish Cheeks,” Amy Tan delves into the complexities of cultural identity, highlighting the struggles faced by individuals caught between two worlds. Through the eyes of a young girl, Tan reveals the internal conflict between her desire for acceptance from her American peers and her deep-rooted connection to her Chinese heritage. She portrays the tension and confusion experienced by many immigrants or children of immigrants, who must navigate the intricacies of their cultural identity while trying to fit into a society that often values conformity.

The Power of Perspective

Tan’s writing style in “Fish Cheeks” is deeply introspective, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the protagonist’s emotions and thoughts. Through her honest and vulnerable narrative voice, Tan shares her feelings of embarrassment and shame during a dinner with her American boyfriend’s family. Her vivid descriptions of the exotic Chinese cuisine, coupled with her inner turmoil, effectively convey the clash of cultures and the struggle to reconcile her own identity. Tan’s ability to evoke empathy and evoke a range of emotions in readers is a testament to her skill as a writer.

Themes of Acceptance and Self-Expression

One of the central themes in “Fish Cheeks” is the journey towards self-acceptance and the importance of embracing one’s true identity. Tan poignantly captures the protagonist’s desire to be seen and understood for who she is, rather than being judged solely based on her cultural background. Through her narrative, Tan encourages readers to celebrate diversity and appreciate the richness that different cultures bring to society. She challenges the notion of conformity and advocates for the freedom to express one’s authentic self, regardless of societal expectations.

The Impact of Personal Narrative

“Fish Cheeks” is deeply personal, drawing from Amy Tan’s own experiences as a Chinese-American. By sharing her story, Tan humanizes the immigrant experience, making it relatable and accessible to readers from all backgrounds. Through her narrative, she breaks down barriers and fosters understanding, encouraging readers to embrace cultural diversity and appreciate the richness that it brings to their own lives. Tan’s ability to blend personal experiences with universal themes is a testament to her storytelling prowess.

Conclusion

“Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan is a powerful and introspective short story that explores themes of cultural identity, self-acceptance, and the complexities of assimilation. Through her personal narrative, Tan invites readers to reflect on their own experiences with cultural clashes and the journey towards self-discovery. Her evocative writing style, coupled with her exploration of universal themes, makes “Fish Cheeks” a relatable and thought-provoking piece of literature. Tan’s ability to capture the nuances of the immigrant experience, combined with her skillful storytelling, cements her place as a renowned and influential author. “Fish Cheeks” stands as a testament to the power of personal narrative and the significance of embracing one’s true identity in a diverse and ever-evolving world.

• Title of Work: “Mother Tongue”
• Author: Amy Tan
• Occasion: Explain the context of the piece. What has caused the speaker to say what s/he says? Minimum of 3 sentences. Include 3 quotes as evidence and explain what each quote tells us about the occasion.

The Genesis of “Mother Tongue”: A Personal Revelation

“Mother Tongue” was inspired by Tan’s realization of the certain type of English she uses with her mother in comparison to her formal diction. As she was speaking to a group of people about The Joy Luck Club, Tan notices the way she was talking exceeded her mother’s comprehension. With her personal experiences in growing up in an immigrant family, Tan is confident that her mother is a knowledgeable woman, even though it is not reflected by her level of English. In “Mother Tongue”, Tan explains how she wrote her book so that people like her mother, for whom English is their second language, can read. She also analyzes the effects of her mother’s language impacted her life.

“… I remembered one major difference that made the whole talk sound wrong. My mother was in the room.”

Tan realizes that the English she was using to describe her newly published novel, laced with a formal and grammatically complex tone, was not the English her mother was familiar with. The author was puzzled by this realization which prompted her to analyze the different types of Englishes.

Exploring the Complexities of Language and Perception

“But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions of the limited English speaker.”

When attempting to describe her mother’s English, the author concludes that words associated with the language, like “broken” and “limited”, also have a tendency to describe the speaker too. To elaborate, if an individual speaks in “broken” English, they are received differently by society as lesser than native English speakers. Tan believes that people’s perceptions of a “limited” English speaker are also limited because it is stereotypical that “broken” English is connected to being illiterate. Although English as a second language results in incorrect or simple speech, Tan argues later in this passage that this is an inaccurate assumption of a person’s intelligence.

“I had succeeded where it counted when my mother finished reading my book and gave me her verdict: ‘So easy to read.’”

The author wanted to write a book with the presumption that her audience will be composed of readers like her mother. Tan states that she had “succeeded where it counted”, which translates to the fact that her style of writing does not have to be unnecessarily complicated to unfold a simple truth or story.

• Speaker: Describe the speaker or the author of the text. How strong of a voice does the speaker have? What details does the speaker reveal about him/herself? Why is it important that the audience knows who this speaker is? Minimum of 3 sentences. Include 3 quotes as evidence and explain what each quote tells us about the speaker.

Amy Tan’s Journey: From Self-Consciousness to Creative Writing

Amy Tan comes from an immigrant family and lived with her mother in childhood who spoke “broken” English. Although this forced Tan to experience a learning curve and underperform on English standardized tests, Tan ventured into a career of creative writing and publishes The Joy Luck Club. The audience is aware of the qualities of Tan’s background that explain her unique interpretation of language and variation of Englishes. Tan understands that her mother’s words, seemingly choppy or limited, are woven with complex thoughts and ideas that surpass the acute view of a typical English speaker.

“I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say That is because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect.”

During Tan’s childhood, she was self-conscious because of her mother’s language. Evidently, this provides a reflective trait of the author as she addresses her ignorance at a young age. Adolescent Amy Tan failed to recognize the hardships of her immigrant parent because she followed the same prejudice as her peers towards non-native English speakers. She describes her mother’s thoughts as imperfect, alluding that her thoughts were of a similar quality to her English.

“I started writing nonfiction as a freelancer the week after I was told by my former boss that writing was my worst skill…”

The author challenges ethnic stereotypes by committing to a career in writing than the typical science or math major that’s common for Asians. Her passion for writing and language also allows her to appreciate and understand her mother’s language. Beneath her mother’s “broken” English, Tan was able to uncover the unspoken meaning behind her mother’s words and construct a new perception of her mother’s intelligence.

“But to me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural.”

This reveals the form of English the speaker learned due to growing up with her mother’s language. The author believes that there are variations of Englishes that people subconsciously switch to depending on who they’re addressing. Some don’t understand her mother’s English, but this sort of language is recognizable to individuals who have immigrant parents. This is one aspect that contributes to the author’s Chinese-American background.

• Subject: Describe the subject of the book. What is it about? Explain major concepts or events depicted in the book. Minimum of 3 sentences. Include 3 quotes as evidence and explain the concept or event shown in each.

The Subject of “Mother Tongue”: Language as Identity and Barrier

“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan describes her experiences growing up with her mother’s English that affected her writing, diction, and life. Tan found herself struggling with the form of English taught in school due to her home environment and her mother’s “broken” English. Though, this did not prevent Tan from pursuing a career in writing and creating a book focused on appealing to an audience like her mother. Tan argues that the intelligence of a person is not measured by their English, using her mother as an example. She also recalls memories of the disadvantages her mother faced because of her “broken” English.

“… language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child.”

Language within an immigrant family is defined as “simple” or “broken” compared to the form of English practiced in higher education. Consequently, children who come from immigrant families experience a culture shock when adjusting to a more formal language. This is relatable to the author, who upon completing English standardized tests, suffered difficulty, unlike others due to her home environment. Her mother was only able to speak “broken” English around her.

“Her language as I hear it is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. That was the language that helped me shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world.”

The author claims that language comprehension transcends standardized testing, which depicts a flawed image of one’s knowledge. Tan regards as true the power and weight of language that cannot be translated by a superficial test. As a result, she believes that her mother’s language, although some may view it as uneducated, accepts it as her level of English attempting to grasp her level of intelligence, which is much higher.

· “My mother has long realized the limitations of her English as well… she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she.”

Tan’s mother, an immigrant in America where English is her second language, is forced to adapt and acknowledge the disdainful perception people see her. She is fully aware of the type of behavior people present toward a non-native English speaker. Because of this, she knows that her daughter will receive a higher degree of respect because she’s fluent in English. Thus, she allows her to imitate her while speaking on the phone.

• Audience: Describe the intended audience for the book. Why would the speaker address this particular audience? What does this audience believe or value? Minimum of 3 sentences. Include 2 quotes as evidence and explain how each quote is directed towards a particular audience.

Challenging Stereotypes: The Intended Audience and Purpose

The intended audience of “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is readers who aren’t aware of the mistreatment towards non-native English speakers by a society that necessitates educating them about tolerance. Tan aspires to inform her audience about the difficulties people who are fluent in English can’t relate to by narrating her mother’s encounters with people who undermined her for her “broken” English. The author addresses the struggles and prejudices towards non-native English speakers that mislead society labeling them as unscholarly.

“She said she had spoken very good English, her best English, with no mistakes. Still, she said, the hospital did not apologize when they said they had lost the CAT scan…”

The hospital faculty did not correctly express hospitality towards Tan’s mother, which is heavily implied due to her “broken” English. She is treated more rudely and the hospital worker only complicated her request of uncovering her CAT scan because they lost it. This is an example of how non-native English speakers face challenges that are only targeted to their group, like how this hospital did not aid her with a serious matter.

“… when the doctor finally called her daughter, me, who spoke in perfect English… we had assurances the CAT scan would be found…”

Tan’s intervention regarding the retrieval of her mother’s CAT scan completely contrasts with her mother’s confrontation with the hospital. Instead of not offering many options, acting uninvested, and refusing to apologize, the doctor responded to the daughter with kindness and helpfulness. The author includes this experience because it displays the disadvantages of being a non-native English speaker where it’s harder to have people respect you, resulting in poor service in a hospital.

• Diction: Choose 2 quotes that are typical of the author’s use of diction (word choice). Explain the quotes, showing what the words mean and the impact of the specific word choice on the text.

“I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variation in this country or others.”

Tan utilizes the rhetorical appeal of ethos that immediately befriends the reader at the same level of intelligence by not holding herself to a scholarly title. This establishes the informal tone throughout the passage that is also meant to accommodate readers like Tan’s mother, a non-native English speaker.

“He comes to my wedding. I didn’t see it, I heard it. I went to the boy’s side, they have YMCA dinner. Chinese age I was nineteen.”

Tan’s transcript of her mother’s English is meant as an example of how some may find her language hard to understand. It is a sample of a person who speaks English as their second language and how it may differ from the type of English spoken fluently. This also explains how as Tan was growing up, she was exposed to a different type of English that inevitably carved her unique journey in learning English at school.

• Tone: Choose 2 quotes to analyze for tone. Describe the author’s tone (attitude towards his/her topic). State the specific tone used and analyze the impact of the tone on the text.

“… my mother’s ‘limited’ English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English.”

The author’s tone is meant to unearth the immaturity of her young self because she used to be embarrassed that her mother’s English was hard to understand. She was ashamed of how she had to speak on the phone acting like her mother so that other people respected her. Further, in life, Tan notices more of the splitting difference in treatment her mother, a non-native English speaker, receives in comparison to her.

“I wanted to capture what language ability tests can never reveal: her intent, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech, and the nature of her thoughts.”

Towards the end of the passage, Tan transitions to a more appreciative, reflective, and proud tone. She is grateful for her Chinese-American background, even though she has to confront several obstacles due to being raised by an immigrant parent. Although Tan was embarrassed by her mother when she was younger, she has grown a praiseful perception of her. The author recognizes that non-native English speakers may not speak as fluently as native English speakers, but their thoughts and ideas are equally as valuable and valid nonetheless.

• Purpose: Explain the purpose of the text. What was the author hoping to accomplish? What does the author want to audience to think/feel/do/believe? Explain in a minimum of 3 sentences. Include 2 quotes as evidence and explain how each quote shows the author’s purpose.

The purpose of the text is to enlighten the audience about daily disadvantages and misjudgment towards non-native English speakers by society. Tan summarizes outsiders’ views on people like her mother that highlights the general mistreatment and social inequality they endure. Additionally, “Mother Tongue” informs the reader of the impact of her mother’s language that resulted in stunting her English as well. Although Tan struggled with English at school, this did not terminate her ambition in the process of becoming a writer. Tan hoped to accomplish the acceptance of non-native English speakers as educated individuals, despite their unique version of the speech, and encourage other Asian Americans to take interest in other fields other than math and science.

“You should know that my mother’s expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands. She reads the Forbes report…”

The author explains that her mother’s structure of English contradicts the vastness of her consciousness by absorbing advanced media like The New York Times. This supports Tan’s claim of her mother’s knowledge succeeds the English she uses to express it.

“… ‘fractured’ English… as if it were damaged, and needed to be fixed as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness.”

Conclusion

Directed toward her audience, the author intends on educating the misinformed that “broken” English should be respected as fluent English. The author points out that in today’s society, people often view “broken” English as imperfect, resulting in judging a person’s character based on their language. Though, the judgment is faultily made because “fractured” English does not mean the speaker lacks constructed thoughts.

How do the languages that one speaks at home influence social identity?

In Tan’s article ‘Mother Tongue’, she expresses her recognition and concern over the difference in social attitudes towards her mother’s use of English and American society’s standard English. By introducing her recent realization of her use of standard English in public but not at home, and giving detailed examples of how she speaks with her mother in English and how her mother speaks in English, she reiterates her understanding of her mother’s English; in other words her “mother tongue”. In doing so, she admits to struggling with her definitions of her mother’s English such as defining her mother’s English as “limited”, hence leading her to perceive her mother as intellectually less capable. This is supported by Tan’s examples of how her mother relied on her (even when she was a child) to get about in American society due to Tan’s use of “proper standard English”. Furthermore, Tan’s opinion that due to the differences in language use between her home and the rest of American society had impacts on how she was brought up and ultimately, her social identity. By explaining Tan’s situation through the sociolinguistic lens and linking it to Singapore’s sociolinguistic landscape, I hope to unearth and discover how languages are spoken at home influence one’s social identity.

As social beings, we are born into environments where interaction with other people is necessary and hence inescapable. This then leads to the construction of our social histories, basically our experiences of who we interact with as time passes, which are defined by our belonging (or “membership”) in social groups given to us the moment we are born: gender, social class, religion, and race. (Hall, 2002) According to American linguistic anthropologist Elinor Ochs, social identity can be defined as an individual’s participation, positions, relationships, reputation, and other social dimensions, which are associated with his sense of self. (Ochs, 1993) Language then is a tool for humans to communicate, belong to, and demarcate our social groups. That is to say, our various social identities are not simply labeled that we come with filled with our own intentions but influenced and shaped by the linguistic resources we use in our activities. Rather, these labels embody particular histories that have been developed over time by other group members enacting similar roles using language. (Hall, 2002) Termed as ‘habitus’ by social theorist Pierre Bourdieu, the historically grounded, socially constituted knowledge, skills, beliefs, and attitudes that comprise our various social identities predispose us to act, think and feel in particular ways and to perceive the involvement of others in certain ways. (Hall, 2002) Linking to Speech Act Theory, which is an utterance defined in terms of a speaker’s intention and the effect it has on a listener in order to carry out actions (Nordquist, 2019), language is a resource we manipulate according to the social consensus we have accepted in certain situations, conforming us to identities which we ascribe to in our social groups. In other words, we create our social interactions based on the perceptions and evaluations we have come to associate with both our ascribed and appropriated social identities and those of our interlocutors, and we use them to rationalize one another’s involvement in our encounters. (Herk, 2012) Hence, with the aid of language use, when interacting with one another in social events, we perceive ourselves and others in the manner in which we have been socialized.

This then results in language beliefs and myths that come with the birth of societies that are hierarchical in nature. Such beliefs and myths are used as “evidence” to support the linguistic prejudices of those in power and reinforce the higher status of the standard and colonial languages. For instance, some languages are believed to be unable to express complex ideas or have tiny vocabularies. One prominent example is the idea of a standard language, which suggests that it is an accent-less, more objective variety of the language when it is just the variety spoken by those in power. As a result, standard language ideologies attribute non-standard language use to deliberate non-conformity. (Herk, 2012) Furthermore, what the standard language ideology does is impose a massively steeper burden on speakers of some varieties than on others. When people say that speakers of a non-standard variety “could change if they wanted to,” they are in effect saying, “even though it would require a massive effort, erasure of their identity, and rejection of their home language and community norms, and even then it would still not be completely successful.” (Herk, 2012) With all these in mind, we can come to the conclusion that from a sociolinguistic perspective, language as a tool to determine in-groups and out-groups in a society shapes our perceptions of one another, thereby influencing our social identities.

When applying these sociolinguistic theories, they are able to provide some insights into the situation Tan is in. This is highlighted by Tan’s essay, “Lately, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as ‘broken’ or ‘fractured’ English…” (Tan A., 1990) As her mother’s English is perceived as the non-standard variety due to its difference from Standard American English, it led to Tan being “ashamed of her [mother’s] English and believ[ing] that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say”, buying into this unexamined form of linguistic class prejudice. Similarly, I cannot help but wonder about how Singlish is perceived by both locals and foreigners when linking it to my sociolinguistic situation back home. There are conflicting attitudes towards its usage whereby some claim it is a part of national identity, while those against it are inclined to position it as “bad English”. Therein lies the similarity to Tan’s situation since perceiving Singlish as the non-standard variety only undermines its status in society by comparing it to the much-lauded Standard English. Furthermore, since Singlish is prevalent in use, especially in Singaporean homes, the Standard English ideology will only erase parts of the Singaporean identity and the ‘rejection of home language and community norms. The push for English first emerged during the Speak Good English campaigns of the early 2000s which tried to stamp out Singlish, due to local government language planning and policies that deemed English as the standard variety. The government’s move reflected a large portion of the Singaporean public still remaining unconvinced and continuing to view Singlish as nothing more than ‘bad’ or ‘broken’ English. The ongoing campaign had been explicitly demonizing Singlish as an impediment to economic growth and prosperity, with former prime minister Goh Chok Tong arguing that the foreign world’s inability to understand Singlish. Therefore, heated debates have been ongoing between Singaporeans stressing international intelligibility in the usage of Singlish, and those that argue for the preservation of Singlish on the grounds of the variety expressing Singaporean identity.

This has subsequently affected the perceptions towards speakers of Singlish and English, and hence the social identities of those in Singapore society. Over time, it has become a social marker – which refers to any feature of a person’s speech seen as reflecting their status in society. (Wong, 2015) In Singapore, someone who can effectively switch between the two- English and Singlish- is perceived to be more educated and of a higher social status than someone who can only speak Singlish. Meanwhile, someone who can only speak English, and not Singlish, meanwhile, may be perceived as slightly posh, or worse – not a real Singaporean. (E. Leimgruber, 2009) In relation to Tan’s article, her mother’s English is perceived by American society as a non-standard variety due to the difference in accents, pronunciation, and syntax, hence leading to negative attitudes due to the prestige associated with standard English. Bringing back to Bourdieu’s habitus, “the internalization of the norms and values [are] implied by the prevailing discourses within the social order” (Hall, 2002), which is further shaped by the varieties of language we speak, determining our perceptions of one another and therefore our social identities.

In another article written by Singaporean author Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, she raised another important argument about the power of language in influencing social identities. With Singlish playing a similar role in my society, Amy Tan’s personal experience with her mother’s variety of language divides and marginalizes herself and her mother from the rest of American society, while creating an intimacy between her and her mother. While Singlish divides, it also unites Singaporean society through the mixture of a shared language influenced by a shared culture and a shared community. Titled ‘The Singlish Language Reflects the Power of my People’, Tan draws a compelling case of Singlish reflecting the Singapore spirit. This is rightly pointed out in her rhetorical question “Doesn’t Singlish as an informal dialect rather directly reflect who we are as a people?” (Tan, 2016) In other words, I daresay that Singlish is a part of Singapore’s national identity, despite the government’s opposing stance and early linguists’ reference to it as “a product of imperfect learning and spoken only by the uneducated and uncouth”. Cheryl Tan further backs up her arguments with convincing examples that as a born and bred Singaporean, I wholly agree. For instance, “catch no ball” is a Singlish phrase from the literal English translation Hokkien, and “Gostan!” is a Malay slang derived from the English nautical term, “go astern.” (Tan, 2016) As a contact variety, which refers to a language that has been influenced by words used by several ethnic groups such as Malays, Chinese, and Indians, Singlish is an exact reflection of the nation’s local distinctiveness of racial harmony, which is uniquely Singapore. Cheryl Tan’s article is an expression of pride in the local variety called Singlish, often criticized by policy-makers as not matching the exogenous standards but proudly claimed by many Singaporeans as part of their social, if not national, identities. (E. Leimgruber, 2009)

References

1. E.Leimgruber, J. R. (2009). Modeling Variation in Singapore English. Oxford, Cambridge: -.
2. FRANCESCO CAVALLARO, B. C. (2014). Singapore Colloquial English: Issues of prestige and identity. In B. C. FRANCESCO CAVALLARO, World Englishes (pp. 378- 397). Singapore: Wiley & Sons.
3. Hall, J. K. (2002). Teaching and Researching: Language and Culture. United States of America: Longman.
4. Herk, G. V. (2012). What is Sociolinguistics? Canada: John Wiley & Sons.
5. Nordquist, R. (2019). Speech Acts in Linguistics. ThoughtCo., -.
6. Ochs, E. (1993). Constructing Social Identity: A Language Socialization Perspective. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 287- 306.
7. Tan, A. (1990). Mother Tongue. The Threepenny Review, -.
8. Tan, C. L.-l. (2016). The Singlish Language Reflects the Power of My People. TIME Magazine, -.
9. Wong, T. (2015). The rise of Singlish. BBC News, -.
10. Ying, T. Y. (2019). Commentary: Singlish is not English. That’s not a bad thing. Channel News Asia Commentary

Amy Tan’s short story, “Fish Cheeks,” explores the theme of identity and cultural acceptance through the eyes of a young Chinese-American girl named Amy. Set during a Christmas Eve dinner with her American friends, Amy experiences a clash between her Chinese heritage and the desire to fit in with her predominantly white peers. Through the vivid portrayal of her internal struggles, Tan illuminates the complexities of embracing one’s cultural identity while navigating the pressures to conform to societal norms.

One of the central themes in “Fish Cheeks” is the tension between Amy’s desire to be accepted by her American friends and her discomfort with her own cultural background. Throughout the story, Amy feels embarrassed and ashamed of her family’s Chinese traditions, particularly during the dinner when her mother serves traditional Chinese dishes, including fish cheeks, which her American friends find strange and unappetizing. Amy’s embarrassment is evident when she states, “I prayed for Christmas to be over…so our real Christmas could begin.”

This theme of cultural acceptance is further developed through Amy’s infatuation with the American boy she has a crush on. She yearns for his acceptance and validation, believing that if he sees her as an American, she will be spared from the embarrassment of her Chinese customs. However, the climax of the story occurs when her father embarrasses her by eating the fish cheek, causing her to feel even more alienated and different from her peers. It is through this experience that Amy comes to realize the importance of embracing her own cultural heritage.

The story’s theme is reinforced by the use of vivid imagery and sensory details. Tan describes the dining table adorned with “crystal glasses…big, juicy hams and turkeys,” highlighting the stark contrast between the lavish American feast and the humble Chinese dishes. This stark contrast serves as a metaphor for the clash between cultures and emphasizes Amy’s feelings of otherness. The description of her mother’s “shabby old kitchen” and the “grayish rice” further underscore Amy’s sense of embarrassment and cultural inferiority.

However, as the story progresses, Amy’s perspective begins to shift. The turning point occurs when her mother reminds her of the importance of embracing her heritage and being proud of who she is. Through her mother’s wisdom and guidance, Amy realizes the beauty and richness of her Chinese culture. This realization is symbolized by her final sentence: “And my cheeks burned with shame.”

In “Fish Cheeks,” Amy Tan explores the universal theme of identity and cultural acceptance, highlighting the struggles faced by individuals torn between their cultural heritage and the pressures to conform to societal norms. Amy’s journey towards self-acceptance and embracing her Chinese identity is a powerful message about the importance of honoring and cherishing one’s heritage.

Through the effective use of vivid imagery, sensory details, and internal monologue, Tan creates a relatable and poignant story that resonates with readers of all backgrounds. “Fish Cheeks” serves as a reminder that cultural diversity should be celebrated and that true acceptance comes from within. It encourages readers to embrace their unique identities and to find strength in their cultural heritage, even in the face of societal expectations.

In conclusion, “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan delves into the theme of identity and cultural acceptance. Through the eyes of a young Chinese-American girl, the story explores the internal struggles of embracing one’s cultural background while yearning for acceptance from others. By the end of the story, Amy learns to appreciate her heritage and finds the courage to embrace her true identity. Tan’s powerful storytelling and evocative imagery make “Fish Cheeks” a compelling exploration of the complexities of cultural identity and the importance of self-acceptance.

Through the novel, The Joy Luck Club, the author Amy Tan conveys the importance of finding joy and luck in the darkest of times. As mentioned in “Feathers From A Thousand Li Away,” the four mothers, who experienced their own trials and went through much pain, came together in Kwelin and held parties to try to escape from their harsh realities. At these parties, they would have extravagant feasts, play numerous games, and tell glorious stories. These parties came to be known as “Joy Luck” since they gave joy and luck to them. Although Tan tries to use the mothers’ distressing stories to emphasize the importance of taking action to have joy and luck, the novel exudes the gloomy mood the stories convey. Amy Tan’s use of figurative language contributes to the feeling of melancholy she probes in The Joy Luck Club. Through the worrisome and pessimistic experiences of the characters, Tan uses figurative language by applying techniques such as observation and description, imagination, and adjectives that reinforce the characters’ thoughts and perceptions from their experiences, which creates the melancholy feeling the novel expresses.

By applying observation and description, Tan is able to use figurative language to indicate how Ying-Ying St. Clair’s experience of drowning affected her thoughts to create the melancholy feeling of the novel. Before Ying-Ying falls from the boat and drowns in the sea, there is a foreboding moment in which she drowns. In the second paragraph of page seventy-five, it discusses a woman taking “out a sharp, thin knife and beginning to slice open the fish bellies, pulling out the red slippery insides and throwing them over her shoulder into the lake” (Tan 75). From this brutal observation, Tan emphasizes how Ying-Ying, as a young child, accepts and normalizes the harsh reality of the world. The detailed description of fish being killed to eat adds to the melancholy feeling of the novel, and with a young child like Ying-Ying thinking and observing closely the violent

Through the novel, The Joy Luck Club, the author Amy Tan conveys the importance of finding joy and luck in the darkest of times. As mentioned in “Feathers From A Thousand Li Away,” the four mothers, who experienced their own trials and went through much pain, came together in Kwelin and held parties to try to escape from their harsh realities. At these parties, they would have extravagant feasts, play numerous games, and tell glorious stories. These parties came to be known as “Joy Luck” since they gave joy and luck to them. Although Tan tries to use the mothers’ distressing stories to emphasize the importance of taking action to have joy and luck, the novel exudes the gloomy mood the stories convey. Amy Tan’s use of figurative language contributes to the feeling of melancholy she probes in The Joy Luck Club. Through the worrisome and pessimistic experiences of the characters, Tan uses figurative language by applying techniques such as observation and description, imagination, and adjectives that reinforce the characters’ thoughts and perceptions from their experiences, which creates the melancholy feeling the novel expresses.

By applying observation and description, Tan is able to use figurative language to indicate how Ying-Ying St. Clair’s experience of drowning affected her thoughts to create the melancholy feeling of the novel. Before Ying-Ying falls from the boat and drowns in the sea, there is a foreboding moment in which she drowns. In the second paragraph of page seventy-five, it discusses a woman taking “out a sharp, thin knife and beginning to slice open the fish bellies, pulling out the red slippery insides and throwing them over her shoulder into the lake” (Tan 75). From this brutal observation, Tan emphasizes how Ying-Ying, as a young child, accepts and normalizes the harsh reality of the world. The detailed description of fish being killed to eat adds to the melancholy feeling of the novel, and with a young child like Ying-Ying thinking and observing closely the violent moment, it adds to it even more. In the sentence following that, Tan incorporates a simile into Ying-Ying’s observation of “the fish scales, which flew into the air like shards of glass” (Tan 75). Mentioning an added detail to her observation, such as shards of glass, shows the particular danger of the moment; it adds to the importance of how Ying-Ying must have been affected badly to be able to be immune to primitive moments like this. The last sentence of the paragraph stating, “And there was nothing else to see” (Tan 75), forebodes how there is nothing left of Ying-Ying’s innocence and joy after she drowns. When Ying-Ying drowns, she is alone without her guardian, Amah. She describes how the water first was refreshing and comfortable to her and then became frightening when she began to sink. Before the aforementioned paragraph, Ying-Ying is accepting and undisturbed by the woman cutting open the fish, but now that she is in actual danger, she is immediately alarmed by the risk of dying. She acquires the perception that anyone can be in danger and not only animals, such as fish. Humans can have the hazard of being hurt, and that makes Ying-Ying change how she sees the world, ultimately seeing it as frightening and beginning to distrust its facade of providing safety. In the last paragraph on page seventy-seven, she describes how one of the Five Evils, a snake, “wrapped around her and squeezed her body like a sponge, then tossed her into the choking air” (Tan 75). Tan uses simile by incorporating description that has the connotation of violence and danger to reinforce Ying-Ying’s perception of the world and the significant effect her experience of drowning had on her. Not only did she use simile, but she uses symbolism—Ying-Ying symbolizing the butchered fish—to give the melancholy feeling of the novel. With Ying-Ying’s personal thoughts of how she observed the butchered fish and how she felt drowning, Tan uses foreboding, simile, and symbolism to emphasize the melancholy feeling.

In the case of Rose Hsu Jordan, Tan uses description to show Rose’s thoughts and perception about her mother, An-mei Hsu. When Rose and her family lost Bing to the sea, she and her mother went to the reef and used a tube hanging from a pole to try to get Bing from the cave. Rose’s illustrative description of the moment gives the anxiety that she feels when Bing is yet to be found by saying, “the bloated tube leaped up and then it was sucked in, under the wall and into a cavern” and “over and over again, it disappeared, emerged, glistening black, faithfully reporting it had seen Bing and was going back to try to pluck him from the cave” (Tan 139). Utilizing certain words and phrases such as “leaped up,” “sucked in,” “over and over again,” “disappeared,” “emerged,” “glistening black,” and “pluck him from the cave” adds to Rose’s focus and attention to find Bing. They reveal her innermost thoughts and give depth to when she perceives her mother as losing Bing. When her mother realizes she lost Bing forever, Rose regards her mother’s face as a look “that she’ll never forget” (Tan 139). The descriptive words and phrases of her description of the tube stress the impact she received from seeing her mother and her “despair and horror” (Tan 139). The language Tan uses intensifies the moment of An-mei losing her child through Rose’s perspective, adding to the melancholy feeling of the novel.

Connecting Rose’s perspective of her mother to An-mei’s perspective of her own mother, An-mei imagines how her mother turned from being joyful to dark, and Tan is able to execute this by using figurative language in the form of imagination that has a despondent connotation. When An-mei describes how “the waters changed from muddy yellow to black and the boat began to rock and groan” (Tan 247), she is reinforcing her nervous thoughts and feelings about moving to her new home in Tientsin. Her imagination made her become “fearful and sick” (Tan 247) and using transitional words such as “from and to” and “began” gives the change in her mood and feeling. As An-mei starts to drift off in thought and think about her aunt’s warning about “the dark waters that changed a person forever” (Tan 247), Tan is able to incorporate personification, which initiates her further use of imagination to cause An-mei to have fear. The figurative language about the waters turning black and the boat beginning to groan, along with An-mei’s remembrance of her aunt’s warning, makes her see and realize that her mother is also changing for the worse. Her imagination consequently allows her to perceive her mother in worrisome scrutiny, seeing her mother’s face become “dark and angry” (Tan 247). In turn, her own “thoughts became cloudy and confused” (Tan 247). Although her imagination led her to have the far-fetched suspicion about her aunt’s warning about her mother changing, it made her see the harsh reality and truth—that her life is not going to turn out for the better, and what seems to be the case, like her mother is happy to bring her to her new home, is not what it seems at all. It allowed her to connect with her mother better and maintain a deeper emotional understanding. Looking at how both Rose and An-mei were able to have a better understanding of their mothers by perceiving them through Tan’s use of figurative language reinforced by description and imagination, they were able to grasp the cruelty of their experiences, making them lose a part of their innocence, adding to the melancholy feeling the novel expresses.

Tan uses figurative language and reinforces it with adjectives to emphasize on Ying-Ying St. Clair’s thoughts, causing her to be perceptive of remembering her experience. When Ying-Ying realized that she would marry the man, who would later abandon her for an opera singer, she felt that “a knife had cut the flower’s head off as a sign” (Tan 279). The use of personification—the knife cutting the flower’s head—and symbolism—Ying-Ying being the flower—magnifies the directness that she received from her revelation of marrying her ex-husband. The knife cutting the flower’s head leaves a slight tone of forthright brutality, which is reinforced to describe Ying-Ying’s appearance at her current age. With the description of “small and pretty” feet now “swollen, calloused, and cracked at the heels” and “eyes, so bright and flashy at sixteen now yellow-stained, clouded” (Tan 279), Ying-Ying’s change from better to worse is emphasized by adjectives. By transitioning from the use of positive to negative adjectives, there is a significant impact in which describes how Ying-Ying changed and turned into a different person, adding to her perception of herself when looking back at her distressing experience of her husband abandoning her and her losing the baby. Although her appearance changed for the worse, she gained the ability to “see almost everything clearly” (Tan 279). Ying-Ying learned from her experience, and through her own perception and perspective of herself, Tan uses personification, symbolism, and adjectives to reinforce the reflection of her sorrowful thoughts, manifesting the melancholy feeling of the novel.

Through the novel, Amy Tan shows the significance of figurative language by integrating it with the thoughts and perceptions that the characters gained from their upsetting experiences with the readers, using observation and description, imagination, and adjectives to create the melancholy feeling the novel expresses. Ying-Ying St. Clair, before becoming lost, and drowned, and her experience enhanced by the use of observation and description of her negative feelings and thoughts, emphasize simile and symbolism in that particular moment. Rose Hsu Jordan and An-mei Hsu had similar experiences that consequently enabled them to have emotional understandings of their mothers, which add to the despairing feeling they had and the novel expresses through the use of description and imagination reinforcing personification. Ying-Ying St. Clair, recalling her experience of having a terrible husband and losing her baby, establishes her own change as a person and her perception of herself, using adjectives to magnify the personification and symbolism that deepen the melancholy feeling of the novel. With the characters having and sharing their harsh experiences in the novel, we, the readers, gain this deeper understanding and, perhaps, empathy with them through their innermost thoughts and intense feelings they had and kept as a part of them. Although the novel is the opposite of its title, maybe Tan wanted us to find the limited good from the bad, hence its name The Joy Luck Club, even though it wholly conveys its melancholy feeling.

Amy Tan successfully incorporates various aspects such as Chinese values and customs in her works to create the most realistic essence of Oriental culture that she is famous for, most especially in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. . She creatively intertwines pieces of both oriental culture and the mixing and clashing between east and west; she vividly displays the pathway that these cultures have caused her to take on through imposing them on the characters in her novel: the process of dealing with two cultures, the impact this had, the eventual understanding of it, and finally accepting it. This can be seen throughout the story of The Bonesetter’s Daughter . It is this scenario that allows readers to delve into Amy Tan’s ideas and essentially her message quickly, giving them the access and cultural context that embodies the entire novel and paints a rich oriental color prevalent in her own life. Through her special eyes holding her personal memories and both her American and Oriental culture, Tan is able to bypass describing social life and the imagery of the novel in a broad sense and instead can imitate a magnifying glass effect, giving the readers the ability to see every nook and cranny in her characters and story . She uses the story“Yin” and “Yang” in a subtle manner in the novel to represent the need for balance, something she struggled with herself in her life. By teasing the reader, she suspends mystery in the plot and her characters and urges the reader to unlock each one, for each one holds an important piece of her memories and thoughts beyond the text on the page. This oriental mysticism of the Chinese culture can be seen weaving between every character in the story.

Amy Tan uses her personal experiences as a Chinese-American to display themes of loneliness and isolation that allows her readers step into her shoes and to create an intimate connection with her through the characters in her story. Born in Oakland, CA, in 1952, Amy Tan was the daughter of two Chinese immigrants (Barclay 2). Due to her family’s inability to settle down in one place for an extended period of time and the fact that she was Chinese prevented her from developing intimate connections and resulted in Tan feeling like she was different, and thus, an outsider. Her practicing of her culture amidst people who viewed it as abnormal caused Tan to be embarrassed repeatedly throughout her childhood, not realizing that this feeling of isolation was common and normal until she was an adult. This inability to communicate with her own family and others drove her to write stories, ultimately giving her a way to express the thoughts that she held inside of herself, wound up, for so long. Despite her tenacity of shying away from her roots, she did admit that family is in fact the most important after she loses both her dad and brother to illnesses and her mother’s memory to Alzheimer’s. Amy Tan learned the importance of family, as well, by connecting with relatives in China despite the language and cultural barrier present between them(Opposite 157). In The Bonesetter’s Daughter, the character Ruth emobies Amy Tan’s persona, a rebellious daughter who constantly bickers with her mother and feels alienated and embarrassed to be with her throughout her teenage years, but who eventually learns to appreciate her mother and value the quality of life that she possesse

Family and culture should be the two most important things in our lives. In the short story, ‘A Pair of Tickets’ by Amy Tan, the main character (Jing-Mei) evolves over the course of the story by struggling with her identity as a Chinese to being able to accept her Chinese heritage. ‘My mother said when I was fifteen and had vigorously denied that I had any Chinese whatsoever below my skin’ (150). As Jing-Mei was growing up, she was influenced by the American culture all her life. She did not want to accept the fact that she was Chinese until she found a letter from her twin sisters trying to reach out to their mother who they did not know was dead. Jing-Mei refuses to accept her Chinese heritage, but as she got older, she realizes how important it is to connect with her roots.

Firstly, by Jing-Mei not willing to accept her heritage causes her to not be able to know what it is like to be Chinese. After her mother’s death, Jing-Mei received a letter from her twin sisters whom her mother left on the side of the road for someone to come take them because she thought she was going to die. Jing-Mei’s mother did not want her kids to suffer; she wanted them to be loved. Throughout her entire life Jing-Mei’s mother tried her best to instill in her the importance of her Chinese heritage. ‘Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but to feel and think Chinese’ (150), as her mother would tell her. Jing-Mei never knew why it was so important for her to learn about her inner Chinese, and she was also sometimes embarrassed by it.

Secondly, Jing-Mei and her father start taking trips so she could learn more about her heritage. Along the way, she learns many things about her real roots, and she discovers things she never knew before. Their first stop was in Guangzho, where she will get to meet her father’s aunt. Her family is a very united family; they make decisions together and look out for one another. Upon their arrival at Gaungzho, Jing-Mei gets nervous and although she is trying hard to assimilate her thoughts seem to go back and forth between being Chinese and continually questioning her heritage. The struggle is evident as she quotes ‘The minute our train leaves the Hong Kong border and enters Shenzhen, China, I feel different. I can feel the skin on my forehead tingling, my blood rushing through a new course, my bones aching with familiar old pain and I think, my mother was right. I am becoming Chinese’ (152). This trip to China may be an attempt on her part to conform with her Chinese heritage, but in reality the trip is the fulfillment of what she felt was an obligation to carry out her mother’s wishes who wanted to take the trip herself to finally meet the two daughters she abandoned as a young woman.

Lastly, Jing-Mei is starting to accept her Chinese heritage. As Jing-Mei and her father lands in Shanghai, she was quite anxious to meet her twin sisters. She sees in them the part of her that is Chinese. Her father takes pictures of them, and as they look at the photograph, they realize how much they look like their mother. By her getting to meet her sisters, Jing-Mei finds her identity.

As a result, Jing-Mei evolves over the course of the story by struggling with her identity as a Chinese to being able to accept her Chinese heritage. Jing-Mei finally knows what it feels like to be Chinese. She remembered everything her mother told her before she died. Her journey with her father has helped her gain more knowledge on their Chinese heritage. There is no difference between appearance and reality; they are all the same at the end of the day. Furthermore, such notions do not really matter at all. All that counts are the blood and heritage.

Individuals tend to evade things they don’t comprehend, to abuse the new. This is something that Gloria Anzaldua and Amy Tan know all too well. The author of ‘How to Tame a Wild Tongue’ Gloria Anzaldua was an American scholar of Chicana cultural and feminist theory. She grew up on the Mexico–Texas border and incorporated her lifelong experiences of social and cultural marginalization into her work. She also developed theories about the marginal, in-between, and mixed cultures that develop along borders. The author of ‘Mother Tongue’ Amy Tan is a Chinese American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese American experience. Both Tan and Anzaldua enables readers to perceive what they experienced and the implications it had on their lives, the two women have had fundamentally the same yet different encounters throughout their journeys with language identity and discrimination.

Tan and Anzaldua may have had different backgrounds but both women’s experiences were very similar when it came down to language. Both expressed the idea that language used with family, the educational system and society shape us as individuals. Tan communicates how she understood the distinction by the way she talks with her family and how she talks with individuals in an expert way. Just as she felt that the contrast between the two sorts of English may have held her back in school when it came to test results. The majority of this is perhaps what molded Tan as a person.

Anzaldua states in her exposition her mom needed her to communicate in English appropriately and was humiliated that she communicated in English like a Mexican. She also says that she can still remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess and that was good for being hit because of it. Even in college, it was required of her to take two speech classes to dispose of her intonation. These things possibly molded Anzaldua as a person as well. When living in a family with parents that speak ‘broken English’, it is common to find hardships and challenges that are faced on a daily basis. “Pa’ hallar buen trabajo tienes que saber hablar el inglés bien. Qué vale toda tu educación si todavía hablas inglés con un accent”, Anzaldúa’s mother would say. ”To get a good job you need to speak English well. What good does your education do if you speak English with an accent?’. Her mother was mortified that she spoke English like a Mexican. Anzaldúa’s mother only wanted the best for Gloria, and in her opinion, being able to speak perfect English, without an accent, was the best thing for Gloria.

Tans experience on the other had was actually quite different. From ‘Mother Tongue’ Tan provides an example of her mother’s ‘Fractured English’: “Why he don’t send me check, already two weeks late. So mad he lie to me, losing me money”. Tan uses personal stories of her relationship with her mother, and how her mother’s ‘limited and broken’ English has made an impact on her life. Amy tries to express that even though her mothers English may be described as ‘Fractured’, it can be understood and does not determine her intelligence. This is evident through her quote, “I wanted to capture what language ability tests can never reveal: her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech, and the nature of her thoughts”. Although someone’s English may not be perfect, that doesn’t mean they aren’t ‘smart’ or intelligent.

Similar to Amy Tans paper Gloria Anzaldua also writes about growing up with language barriers. To continue this topic of similarity Anzaldua states in her essay “They would hold us back with their bag of reglas de academia”, meaning the way they spoke help them back from certain opportunities. Tan states something very similar in her essay “English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well”, meaning this almost held her back as well.

Both of these essays speak about the difficulties growing up with language barriers. They both faced hardships because of it but both women made the best of the hand they were dealt. Tan openly accepted the language barrier and even used it to her advantage in her writing. Anzaldua had a more difficult time of acceptance but she also used this to her advantage in her writing and even challenged the difficulties of this language barrier. These women fought the differences and used them to their advantage. Even with all of these similarities there are differences between Anzaldua and Tan. For instance, each of these writers use very distinct and different tones and ways of writing throughout their papers. Tan was almost a bit passive in her writing she was more understanding of the types of readers that would be reading her writing. Whereas Anzaldua was more aggressive and unapologetic in the way she writes. She switched between Spanish and English throughout her writing and that could make readers uncomfortable because they don’t understand and may even discourage people to read her work. That’s the thing about Anzaldua she didn’t really care she just wanted to get her point across in the way she wanted to without keeping every single type of reader in mind.

Going to class where individual picture is a major piece of a student’s life can be very harrowing. American qualities are frequently constrained upon students and a specific lifestyle is anticipated from them. The battle of fitting in and tolerating the social foundation is a noteworthy point in both articles. In Anzaldúa paper, she ponders a circumstance that numerous individuals face in a contact zone of a wide range of societies. She clarifies how she felt unaccepted by all gatherings, Americans, Mexicans, and other Spanish speakers. Anzaldúa was blamed by different Latinos for a being a Pocho, a social deceiver. She was additionally dismissed by numerous Latinos and did not blend well with Americans either. Alongside her peers, her educator gave her trouble too. “If you want to be American, speak ‘American’. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong”. In addition to the fact that Anzaldúa got ridiculed about her Spanish, but her English as well.

Confronting a comparable circumstance, Amy Tan had a few inconveniences in her language as well. At a youthful age, she was required to talk with people higher up such as stockbrokers and doctors due to her mother’s ability to speak less than perfect English. Because of these encounters from her youth, for example, turning into her mom’s interpreter, influenced Tan to understand the significance of having the capacity to explain her musings well so as to have smoother encounters.

Conclusion

The two women originate from altogether different foundations, face a similar kind of issue, however, can understand that in spite of what others think or state, that being uncomfortable with themselves is something that requires them to change.