When I first read “Fish Cheeks”, by Amy Tan, I thought that fish cheeks just referred to the Christmas Eve dinner. However, I realized that Amy Tan would probably have a deeper meaning for the title of her memoir. The more I thought about this title, the more I came to realize the deeper meaning of it.
I think that “Fish Cheeks” represent the shame that Amy Tan felt. She was ashamed of her oriental background. The fish cheek is a traditional Chinese food that represents Amy Tan. Even though it was her favorite food, she was ashamed because it was different than what the majority of the people ate. In other words, she was uncomfortable with, and strongly disliked being Chinese. She emphasizes this at the beginning of her memoir when she italicizes the word Chinese three times. Also, I think that fish cheeks represent embarrassment because when people are embarrassed, their cheeks blush and turn red. When Amy’s father offered her the fish cheeks, she was not only ashamed but also embarrassed. She gave up her favorite food, and in a way, her nationality because she wanted to be “American” to impress Robert. This shows what she would give up in order to impress somebody of another gender and another race.
The moment when her father offers her the fish cheek was very significant because it was a moment when she was so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear. I think that the whole meal was torture for Amy Tan, but the moment her father offered her the fish cheek was her last straw. I think that “Fish Cheeks” is plural because Amy Tan is trying to send a message to many people who went through similar circumstances. She is trying to show that there are many people like her who are ashamed of their ethnicity and want to give it up.
I enjoyed reading your post! I agree with the parts you talked about the probable reasons of why Amy Tan titled her memoir as "Fish Cheeks." She was definitely very embarrassed to be Chinese, and she did not like it when her dad offered her the fish cheeks, especially in front of Robert, the guy she liked. I thought it was funny how we see the connection between Amy Tan and us. Don't you want to look nice in front of the person you like, too? I think that is just the feeling that almost all the teenage girls have. Anyways, I like the part where you reasoned why Amy Tan probably used a plural form of "cheek" as her title. Although I did not think the same as you before I read your post, I changed my mind as I went through your post. I now think the reason why she put that word in plural is because she wanted to send a message to many different people. (169 words)
ReplyDeleteI like the beginning introduction of your blogpost. I realized what you thought about before reading the memoir. I also thought that the title would have a deeper meaning. I agree with most of your ideas and I learned some new ones too. I think your idea about naming this memoir Fish Cheeks because the cheeks represented embarrassment was clever. This memoir was definitely based on embarrassment of heritage. Also, your post on why this memoir was titled plural was also new to me. You said it was trying to send a message to different people. On the other hand, I thought that it was because she wanted to emphasize the coming together of two distinct cultures.
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