Though the two stories “Fish cheeks” and “Two Kinds” have many similarities, their differences play a key role in defining each individual story. Both stories have the same basic setup; they are each told from the point of view of a young Asian-American girl, who are both the daughters of generation Chinese immigrants. This proves to be a source of conflict in the two stories, due to the fact that the cultural and generational differences between both mother-daughter duos. In the story “Fish Cheeks,” the narrator is struggling with her heritage and cultural traditions as she tries to fit into American society and be accepted by her peers, specifically, the minister’s son. She is embarrassed by her mother’s ethnic food choices for dinner and…
It’s a beautiful moment when a mother sees her baby for the first time, but it can be quite overwhelming when her baby is born with a defect. Though some women don’t feel the courage to face the challenges of having an “abnormal baby”, others are willing to accept their child as he/she is. In this story, The Monster on Her Cheek, Rebecca Roland demonstrates the emotional struggle but choosing to embrace her child either way.…
Appearance is everything, the way someone looks, talks, and acts all make up who they are as a person. When someone does something the way they are seen often affects the outcome and consequences of their actions. This is seen very often in both Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. The main characters in both of these novels do awful things but their physical appearance, mindset, and whether they are a good or a bad person affects the way they are treated. The way society sees a person's overall appearance too often changes the way their actions are seen and dealt with and how they are treated as well.…
In John Irving's “A Prayer For Owen Meany”, the raw heart behind one struggling with acceptance due to appearance is demonstrated . Owen Meany is a touching young man who is very intelligent yet extremely judged due to his appearance. Owen is unique because he breaks beauty standards and is completely comfortable in his own skin. Many people in modern society struggle with appearance and acceptance which is often the root of most eating disorders, depression, and body issues. The beauty industry has such a grip on society that most people find themselves wanting to be taller, skinnier, tanner, or blonder, all while claiming to be comfortable in their own skin. People have fallen into the trap that…
“Before going to bed at night I looked in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when I saw only my face staring back and then it would always be this ordinary face I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl! I made a high pitched noises like a crazed animal trying to scratch out the face in the mirror” (Tan517). The reader can assume that her mother’s high expectations are starting to take a toll on her self-esteem. Jing-mei wants to be accepted not to be changed according to her mother’s unrealistic expectations on her such as trying to groom her to become a…
In her story "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan describes her relationship with her mother, who speaks "broken" English. Essentially, Amy ending up changing her style of writing because of her mother, who changed Amy's perception of language. In the beginning of her life, Amy was always ashamed and embarrassed because of her mother; her mother, in speaking broken English, would often sound weird and not be understood by people in every day affairs. As an attempt to get away from this side of her heritage, Amy--once she becomes a writer--writes with great English and diction, and she uses a plethora of vocabulary. However, she soon realizes that she is being someone she is not; Amy eventually fully realizes her true relationship with her mother, and subsequently allows that newfound knowledge to affect her writing. Their relationship is one of wonderful love and comfort, one where they can speak broken English ("mother tongue") and have it mean something very special. Essentially, Amy Tan becomes authentic and true to her roots; inspired by her mother, she begins to right so that the 'common man' can understand…
Why trade natural skin for plastic? Marge Piercy addresses this issue, though indirectly, in her poem "Barbie Doll". Piercy presents an innocent young girl, but conveys that she has fat legs and a big nose. Piercy explains that the child was a normal kid, not bad looking, not in bad shape, but simply does not meet the expectation of not having fat legs and a big nose. She is encouraged strongly to do this, and encouraged strongly to do that, but she can not fix herself up; The pressure is too great, the demand too high- she kills herself. Ironically, she looks pretty in her casket, and in this way Piercy is ironically saying that it was not worth it. Piercy shows that the destructive impact of social influence to meet the ideal look can…
Lucy Grealy tells a story about not fitting in, unbearable pain that takes up residence in one's head as loneliness and confusion, questioning what things mean, being scared and lost in your family, enduring intense physical pain, and most importantly, figuring out who you are. Lucy had no idea she might die, even though the survival rate for Ewing's sarcoma was only five percent. She does not present her parents as overly afraid for her life, either. Her autobiography is not a story about the fear of death, but about such courage and anguish. Lucy shows how she falls under the spell of her disability, allowing it to control her life and dictate her future to a greater extent than it would otherwise. Having a disability means that sometimes you have to say "I'm disabled, therefore I can't...", but as Lucy finally learns, it also means sometimes saying "I'm disabled, but I can!" Through her traumatic tale of misfortune, she has sifted out truths about beauty, the public, and self-concept.…
In today’s society we have a distorted view of beauty. We see thin as good and women have actually convinced themselves that the skinnier the better. In our world today, a Barbie is a figure of beauty and perfection. Women are willing to go through surgery in order to look like Barbie. There is something completely wrong with that, and leads my thoughts to “How did it get to this?”.…
In my final example we'll look at Pecola and her wish to have blue eyes. Pecola believes that if her eyes were blue, making them beautiful in accordance to white standards, her life would be less "ugly", and her problems would go away. I believe Pecola also thinks that if her eyes were blue that her peers and teachers would like her more, making life easier. Pecola also hates the fact that she stares at herself in the mirror attempting to figure out how she became way she is.…
To sum up. Contrary to the saying that you should not judge the book by its cover, appearance is a primary factor that has a huge impact on people’s life. Thus, people should be forced to undergo plastic surgery to make world…
After so many operations, she has come to believe that beauty is on the outside, and she looks for any way necessary to achieve the look of her ideal, an imaginary person. The flaws that she sees in herself causes her self-esteem to be unusually low to almost non-existent; this combination of low self-esteem and unrealistic ideal leads to her wanting more of a Barbie doll look, further compounding her lack of self-esteem. With all of the cosmetic surgeries she has undergone, Cindy Jackson has presented herself as a success story and is helping to advertise cosmetic procedures that help enhance a person’s physical beauty.…
Amy becomes disconnected from her native culture when she immigrates to the United States. After living in the United States for a couple of days, Amy wonders night after night if she can face another one of those days like the one she had safely survived. Amy soon wakes up and goes shopping while waiting to pick up the kids from school. One of Amy’s problems was the leak that she had in her apartment for four months now, she would call in someone to fix it but the tenant would just reply that “we will get to you as soon as possible but we have bigger problems in other rooms, and were working as fast as we can.”(3557) Amy’s problem would just make her think about how she misses Puerto Rico and how she starts to feel isolated and disconnected the longer she lives in her.…
America’s standards of beauty were created and taught to younger generations. Businesses reinforces unattainable standards with photoshopped images in order to make a profit. The media reinforces the ideal american body with movies and magazines. In America, beauty is important. People are obsessed with looks because they are constantly being taught that they are ugly by businesses and the media (Miner 288). People spend enormous amounts of money and take on great risk to be considered beautiful. When a person cannot reach the standard, insecurities, physical disorders, and mental disorders develop. This is the ugly truth behind beauty in America…
-I think Amy’s mother did a traditional Chinese dinner because since it was an invitation, maybe she wanted her guest to know that the food was part of their culture and a tradition in the family. I think that the sentence that best describes the lesson Amy learned is, “You must be proud you are different”.…