Amy's Fish CheekA young teenager goes through a difficult Christmas Eve dinner with her Chinese family and an American family as guests in “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan. The main character, Amy, fell in love with the son of the American family. The point of view and imagery in the short story work together to show the reader the embarrassment, desire for change, and lesson that Amy experienced that night. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In the story “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, Amy is the main character and is going through a somewhat difficult Christmas Eve dinner. She "falls in love with the minister's son" and it turns out that his mother invites him and his family to Christmas Eve dinner at their house (1). Amy wants to impress this young man and the reader sees this when the point of view and imagery in the story work together. The point of view gives the reader insight into what Amy is thinking. For most of the story, Amy is embarrassed when she discovers her mother's plan and questions the way her family celebrates Christmas. She wonders what Robert “would think of his noisy Chinese parents who lack good American manners” (1). The point of view of the story helps to show Amy's embarrassment, but through the imagery that is portrayed. She sees the food her mother is preparing for Christmas dinner and the thoughts that come to mind include: "the kitchen is littered with terrible mounds of raw food: a slimy rock cod with bulging eyes begging not to be eaten." not be thrown into a pan of hot oil” (1). The way Amy describes all the raw meat lying around on her mother's kitchen counters tells the reader of her disgust and embarrassment. The story pictures show that Amy wants to impress Robert, so she tries to change herself. She sees American culture as a way to fit in, so Robert will notice her and maybe even start to like her. So she changes clothes, her mother “even hands her a beige tweed miniskirt” (1). She is ashamed of her family. The images that show this are in the fifth paragraph of the story: “My relatives licked the tips of their chopsticks and reached across the table, dipping them into a dozen plates of food. Robert and his family waited patiently for the trays to be given to them” (1). Although the images are strong evidence that Amy wanted to change for Robert, her point of view also helps the reader understand Amy a little more. Her mother confronts Amy about the change she wants to make in her life. She tells him, “You want to be like American girls on the outside… But on the inside, you still have to be Chinese.” You should be proud to be different. Your only shame is being ashamed” (1). Amy realizes that her mother knows how embarrassed she was during that dinner and that her mother was just trying to help her. Her mother tells Amy not to change when all she wants to do is exactly that. Through the imagery in the story, the reader knows that Amy's mother realizes that Amy has a crush on Robert, so she tries to help her by making all of Amy's favorites. food and show Robert who Amy really is. Amy doesn't see it that way, she's just embarrassed. It was only years later that Amy realized that “for Christmas Eve that year, her mother had chosen all [her] favorite foods” (1). That night at dinner, Amy didn't realize these were her favorite foods. Even when his father "pushed his chopsticks just below the fish's eye, pulled out.