Diversity

The United States is composed of a multitude of various races and cultures. It is truly a melting pot of diversity. While this diversity is a great quality of this country, Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks” reveals some of the issues that it can create. Children of those who move here are faced with the extremely difficult challenge of assimilating into American culture while not losing their heritage. In an attempt to absorb the “American” traditions, the narrator becomes ashamed of her Chinese background. She “wants to disappear” when her father mentions her favorite food in front of the Robert’s family (para. 5). The already taxing task of assimilation is made even more difficult for Tan because Robert is uneducated about her culture and “grimaced” when the food was brought out (para. 5). A potential reason he is unable to accept other people's cultures might be because he has not been exposed to them. As the number of diverse backgrounds has increased in our country, more have overcome ignorance and learnt acceptance. Robert’s reactions to the Chinese Christmas dinner do not seem out of contempt but rather out of being unfamiliar with the situation. This offers a possible reason some display ignorant behavior towards other cultures; they don’t mean any harm but they just don’t have much knowledge on them.