Fish Cheeks Firoozeh Dumas Analysis

Both Amy Tan and Firoozeh Dumas showcase heroes that have positively impacted them in their narrative essays. In her essay “Fish Cheeks,” Amy Tan narrates about her struggles of self-acceptance and the shameful actions her family presented during a Christmas Eve family dinner with her crush Robert, and his family. She also talks about the moment her mother gave her encouraging words about self-love. During the Christmas Eve dinner, Tan’s relatives licked their chopsticks and poked them in different plates of food, her father poked a fish’s cheek and yelling across the table “Amy, your favorite” offering her the piece of fish, and he later belched loudly showing he is satisfied according to Chinese customs. Even though Tan was dealing with cultural acceptance, her family was …show more content…
Her thoughtful words were to encourage Amy to be proud of her Chinese culture. She can be American on the outside, but inside she will always be Chinese. Also, she should be proud of being different because being different is what makes her unique. At that time when her mother offered her the wise and encourage words, Amy did not agree with them. Now that she’s an adult, Amy has appreciated her mother’s encouraging words and understands her family’s culture. Likewise, Firoozeh Dumas’s essay “The ‘F Word”’ also illustrates heroism. Firoozeh Dumas, a native of Abadan in Iran, has always been discriminated because of her name. Ignorant people would miss pronounce her name and if they couldn’t say it right, they would make fun of it. It has always been a challenge for Firoozeh trying to correct her name over and over. Tired of ignorant people miss pronouncing her name or even ignoring her, Firoozeh decided to change her name. Firoozeh’s brother’s thought it was stupid for her to change her name, though they later changed theirs. Struggling to adapt with the American culture and finding a job, Firoozeh decided to change her name. “My father suggested