Somebody/ (main character): Amy
Wanted/ what did the main character mostly want?: Amy wanted the minister's family to not come over to their Christmas Eve dinner since she was ashamed of her culture.
But/ big problem: "When I found out that my parents had invited the minister's family over for Christmas Eve dinner, I cried. What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas?"
The big problem was that she found out that her parents had invited the minister's family over for Christmas Eve.
How does she try to solve the problem? She doesn't try to solve the problem, but she is embarrassed with what unfolds.
Then/ what is the solution?: After they leave, when her mother gives her a gift, Amy realizes that her mother understood her embarrassment. Her mother tells her that it's alright to want to fit in, but don't be ashamed of their culture.
What is the author's message?: The purpose of the story "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan is precisely as Tan's mother points out at the end of the story: that "the only shame is to have shame," speaking in terms of one's heritage. Due to a childish crush on the son of the American guests as well as insecurity, Tan becomes more and more ashamed as an evening meal goes on, constantly agonizing over how strange Chinese food and customs must seem to an American guest.
Summary: You can come up with that on your own.
Explanation:
As the plot in "Fish Cheeks" progresses, new characters and problems arise that the main character, Amy, struggles to handle. During the exposition, you learn that the main character is a young Chinese girl. The narrative takes place on Christmas eve, when the author was 14 years old.
Since she belonged to a Chinese family, she was worried about how the minister's family would perceive their Chinese way of celebrating Christmas. She was particularly worried because she fell in love with Robert, the minister's son. So, this part is where the tension or conflict of the story falls. The main character is having a problem about the upcoming Christmas Eve dinner. This aspect challenged the character on what she'll be doing during the event.
Amy's family is Chinese, and her mother is planning to cook all of the family's favorite dishes for Christmas Eve dinner: tofu, squid, fish cheeks, and other dishes that Amy is afraid that the minister's family will find strange. She feels that her mother is going out of her way to cook the dishes that will make them seem even stranger and more different. She is also worried about how the behavior and customs of her large extended family will be perceived.
When the guests arrive, Amy is embarrassed by how her relatives eat noisily with chopsticks and reach across the table into different dishes instead of passing them, as the minister's family would expect to do. Her mother proclaims that she made the fish cheeks because they were Amy's favorite. The worst part is when her father belches loudly after the meal, which is considered acceptable and even polite behavior in Chinese culture because it shows appreciation for the meal. Even though her father explains this to their guests, Amy is terribly embarrassed and cannot wait for the evening to be over.
When the guests have left, Amy's mother gives her an early Christmas gift: a skirt in the style that is popular among the other girls at school. Her mother tells her that it is okay to want to fit in with her appearance, but that she should always hold on to her culture. As Amy looks back, she realizes that her mother understood how she felt that night more than she realized. The dishes her mother cooked were actually her favorite, and she appreciates the lesson she learned about being proud of her culture.
