Fish cheeks is a personal essay written by Amy Tan, a Chinese American author known for her exploration of the relationships between mothers and daughters in the Chinese immigrant experience. In the essay, Tan reflects on a Christmas Eve dinner at her family's home when she was a teenager, during which her family hosted her crush and his family for dinner.
The essay is set in the 1970s, when Tan was growing up in California. At the time, her family was still very connected to their Chinese heritage and traditions, even though they had immigrated to the United States. One of these traditions was the celebration of Christmas, which was not a traditional holiday in China. Despite this, Tan's family had embraced the holiday and celebrated it with a traditional American feast.
The central conflict of the essay revolves around Tan's embarrassment over the traditional Chinese dishes that her mother serves at the Christmas Eve dinner. Tan is self-conscious about her cultural identity and feels ashamed of the exotic and unfamiliar foods that her mother has prepared, such as steamed whole fish with the head and tail intact. She is worried that her crush and his family will think that the food is strange and that she is strange for eating it.
However, as the dinner progresses, Tan begins to see the beauty and significance of the food and her cultural heritage. She recognizes that her mother's cooking is a way for her to express her love and cultural identity, and that the food represents the sacrifices and struggles that her mother has faced as an immigrant in a new country. Tan also realizes that her crush and his family are not judging her or the food, but are actually appreciating and enjoying it.
In the end, Tan learns to embrace her cultural identity and the traditions of her family. She realizes that the things that make her different are also the things that make her unique and special. The essay is a poignant and moving reflection on the struggles of growing up and finding one's place in the world, as well as the importance of cultural identity and heritage.
