23 pages • 46 minutes read
Amy TanFish Cheeks
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1986A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
Amy Tan
Amy Tan is a Chinese American author, widely recognized for her work in fiction and nonfiction. She is most well known for her 1989 debut novel The Joy Luck Club, which earned critical acclaim and was listed as a finalist for the National Book Award. The novel was adapted as a feature film in 1993. In addition to her novels, Tan has also written a collection of essays, in which “Fish Cheeks” appears, short stories, a memoir, and two children’s books, one of which she later adapted into a television series.
Tan was born and raised chiefly in Oakland, California, though she was temporarily moved by her mother to Switzerland at 15 after both her father and her brother passed away. Before her birth, Tan’s parents had emigrated from China to the United States in order to escape the Chinese Civil War. They settled in California, where her father worked as a Baptist minister. Like in “Fish Cheeks,” Tan often draws on her experience as the daughter of Chinese immigrants to inform her writing. Tan has also talked openly about the contentious relationship she shared with her mother.
While Tan’s work has been mostly acclaimed, it has also amassed some criticism from other Chinese and Chinese American writers and academics. These criticisms largely consist of claims that Tan’s work caters to a Western audience, perpetuating common stereotypes and creating a spectacle of Chinese culture. Tan, however, has countered these critiques, emphasizing that her work is solely meant to express her personal experiences and never intended to represent Chinese American culture comprehensively.
Tan’s Mother
Tan’s mother plays a significant role in the essay. It is through her character that Tan is able to explore her key themes of Generational Differences and the Desire to Assimilate, Shame About One’s Cultural Heritage, and The Celebration of Differences.
Throughout the essay, Tan’s mother’s actions and perspectives contrast starkly with those of the American culture her daughter is growing up in, and only serve to deepen Tan’s embarrassment. Tan’s mother represents the Chinese culture and customs she is trying so desperately to distance herself from. This is especially evident in her mother’s rejection of a typical American Christmas meal in favor of creating a “strange menu” instead (Paragraph 3). Tan’s mother’s decision to prepare traditional Chinese dishes for their American guests highlights the mother’s desire to hold onto her heritage despite being in an environment that often looks down upon or misunderstands her cultural practices and norms. On the other hand, Tan’s mother’s pride in her heritage only enhances her daughter’s shame and embarrassment as she grotesquely describes the ingredients scattered around her mother’s kitchen.
Furthermore, Tan’s mother serves as a catalyst for the author’s own internal conflict and eventual realization about the complexities surrounding her identity. This is illustrated in the last two paragraphs of the essay, when Tan’s mother presents her with the gift of the tweed miniskirt. Despite being firmly rooted to her own Chinese culture, Tan’s mother recognizes her daughter’s struggle to fit into her American surroundings. She tells her daughter that inside she “must always be Chinese" and to be proud that she is different (Paragraph 7). Although throughout the essay Tan posits her own shame through the eyes of Robert and his family, it is actually through her mother’s unyielding embrace of Chinese culture that Tan is forced to confront these feelings of embarrassment regarding her cultural background in the presence of others. It is through her mother’s portrayal that Tan is able to explore the nuances of these cultural differences and her desire to assimilate, finally arriving at self-acceptance and celebration of these differences.
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