Read this excerpt from "Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan in which Tan recounts the Christmas Eve dinner:
And then they arrived - the minister's family and all my relatives in a clamor of
doorbells and rumpled Christmas packages. Robert grunted hello, and I pretended
he was not worthy of existence.
I
Dinner threw me deeper into despair. My relatives licked the ends of their
Chopsticks and reached across the table, dipping them into the dozen or so plates
of food. Robert and his family waited patiently for platters to be passed to them. My
relatives murmured with pleasure when my mother brought out the whole steamed
fish. Robert grimaced. Then my father poked his chopsticks just below the fish eye
and plucked out the soft meat. "Amy, your favorite," he said, offering me the tender
fish cheek. I wanted to disappear.
At the end of the meal my father leaned back and belched loudly, thanking my
mother for her fine cooking. "It's a polite Chinese custom to show you are satisfied,"
explained my father to our astonished guests. Robert was looking down at his plate
with a reddened face. The minister managed to muster up a quiet burp. I was
stunned into silence for the rest of the night.
How does this excerpt illustrate the theme of cultural conflict that persists throughout the story? Be sure to use
specific details from the text to support your answer.
