Assimilation

In "Fish Cheeks," Amy Tan suggests that immigrants need to remain true to themselves by being proud of their culture. The Asian narrator, because she wants to impress a white boy, is ashamed of the Chinese food that is being served to him. Looking back, she believes believes being proud of the food would have been more true to herself seeing as her mom "had chosen all of her favorite foods" (95.) Tan suggests that complete assimilation is bad, however what she doesn't address directly is the idea that assimilation is imminent for immigrant families. 

Asian's are stereotyped as being smart because their parents generally place more emphasis on education. The more generations an Asian American has been in America, the less likely this is to be true. As they become more American, the original culture slowly disappears. The narrator of "Fish Cheeks" learns to value the culture from her past. However it stands to reason that her children and grandchildren aren't likely to reach the same conclusion. Over generations, the family will blend into the great melting pot. In the context of the story, this feels like a defeat. However I would posit that there's nothing inherent about American Culture that makes it inferior to the Chinese culture of the narrator's parents. Chinese culture is still alive and vibrant in China, the fact that it can't exist for an extended period of time in America makes perfect sense.

Allow me to play you out...