Notes

Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan

The main character, Amy Tan, has developed a crush on the son of the minister. Amy’s family is rooted in Chinese tradition, with foreign menus and alien traditions that differ significantly from American culture. When Amy’s relatives invite the minister’s family over for Christmas Eve dinner, she feels humiliated - she has to expose her family’s unusual culture to her crush and his family! The night was full of shame and embarrassment for Amy as her relatives brought out steamed fish and belched loudly after the meal, her customs lacking American manners and dishes. Once everyone had left, Amy’s mother tells her not to be ashamed of her culture - no matter how much of an American she is on the outside, on the inside, she is Chinese. Many years later, looking back, Amy agrees with her mother. She realizes that what she considered an absurd menu was full of all her favorite foods. She has learned her lesson - to accept her culture and not feel shame for being simply different from others.

The lesson taught in this short story was to accept your culture and traditions and not to be ashamed of them simply because they are different from the customs of those around you. The plot illustrates this clearly by showing Amy Tan feeling shame when exposing her Chinese customs to her American crush’s family. However, she learns in the future that she genuinely enjoys her tradition - thinking back, she realizes that what she thought was a shameful menu was selected by her mother to be all her favorite foods. Therefore, accept your culture and be proud of being different, not ashamed.


A Temporary Matter by Jhumpa Lahiri

The story opens with two main characters - Shoba, the wife, and Shukumar, the husband. They had been a close couple, and very motivated people - Shukumar was a diligent student and a teacher. Shoba bought many groceries, prepared a lot of food, and worked downtown correcting errors in textbooks. Shukumar knew she never liked surprises and always prepared for them. But ever since September 6 months ago, they have grown distant and avoid each other most of the time. This was due to their baby being born dead last September. Now Shoba no longer has an interest in the things she used to do. Shoba spends most of her time at work and out of the house, and when she is at home, she avoids Shukumar. Shukumar now does no school work and thinks about how their relationship has changed - they no longer talk to each other, they don’t eat together. But tonight and for the next few nights, they have no electricity - repairmen were fixing the electricity lines, meaning they must eat together. Shukumar recalls how lively a couple they used to be and how excited they were about getting married. They exchanged confessions during their first dinners together for a long time - things they had done in the past that have disappointed themselves, things that might have been unfaithful. They talked to each other during these lightless nights and began to rekindle their love for each other by recalling the past and admitting things they felt guilty for. When the electricity returned, they turned the lights out and continued eating together, mimicing the nights before. After confessing the unfaithful things they have done to each other, Shoba states she’s moving out. They cry together upon knowing everything that they’ve done to each other.

The lesson taught is to talk about your issues with those you care about to maintain your relationship with them. Resolve problems, don’t just ignore them and continually grow distant. Talk about things, confess things you have done wrong or kept secret. This is taught with the example of Shoba and Shukumar - they were once a lively and close couple but grew distant and avoided each other. They only began to talk to each other when external events forced them to, and only then did they begin to resolve their unsteady relationship with each other.

Night by Alice Munro

Night begins with an unnamed protagonist. She had surgery in the past - the removal of an appendix and removing a ‘growth,’ potentially related to cancer. She used to enjoy tormenting her little sister or dressing her up in clothes as if she were a doll. She lives in a house not far west of a busy town and east of a more rural area. She thinks about having respect from others in a crude way - she mows her lawn for the sake of some “townlike respectability” and thinks of her surgeries with respect to how others will treat her after they happen. In June, she is released from school, has marks well enough to skip the final exams, and had much free time during the day. But, in the midst of freedom, she develops severe insomnia. This is because she has thoughts about strangling her little sister. She’s afraid that she might do it for no reason at all, no anger or jealousy or any motives, just for no reason. So she consistently sneaks out at night and rests during the day, worsening her insomnia. One day while sneaking out, she encounters her father. She finally talks about her insomnia and worries to her father, stating that she is afraid of strangling her sister. She thinks about how being outside the house no longer thwarts her worries. Her father replies that people can have such thoughts sometimes. He says that it’s implausible and that she ought not to worry about it. Her father did not blame her or wonder at her but simply stated there was no real danger in the possibility. From then on, she was able to sleep at night.

The lesson taught was to talk about your problems with people. The protagonist had major problems regarding her insomnia and the thought that she might strangle her little sister for no particular reason. She overcomes this when she encounters her father on her sleepless walks and tells him about her dark thoughts. She is comforted by the reply that it would be improbable for such a thing to happen, like a meteor falling on their house. So perhaps the moral is to talk to others about your dissatisfactions and your sufferings. Talking to others about what you are stressed or worried about can earn their thoughts back, which can be valuable and relieve the stress.