Literary Analysis Essay on a Man in America and Fish Cheeks

Introduction

Just a few weeks after arriving in Nashville, Tennessee, I paid a visit to one of the fast food restaurants. Coming from Iraq, I was not familiar with American foods. I sat down and started perusing through the menu, which was on the table. I was searching for something familiar. A type of food that I had eaten or heard of before. I had a good understanding of the English language, but my speech still carried the Iraqi accent. A picture accompanied each menu item. I identified the image of French fries and called the server to attend to my table. I requested for French fries as written on the menu, but I have a heavy accent, which altered my pronunciation. I eventually opened the list and pointed to the French fries, and her face immediately lit up. Over the next few weeks, I frequented the same restaurant and started being fond of the server.

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However, I was unable to order meat from the restaurant. Sometimes I would be with my friends, and they would be ordering burgers or chicken, and I would have to settle for vegetables. Most people confused my reservations for meat products with vegetarianism. However, as a Muslim, I was forbidden from eating meat from animals that were not slaughtered by a Muslim. Therefore, I was hesitant to consume meat products because I was not sure of their origins. The server was also convinced that I am a vegetarian.

Besides, drugs such as alcohol are discouraged in Arab culture, and that made it difficult for me to attend social events. These cultural differences combined with the language barrier made it difficult for me to approach the server although she did not seem to care about my culture or heritage.

Close Reading

Shakir's short story, A Man in America is comparable to Amy Tan's Fish Cheeks. The two short stories display the struggles that immigrants and their families have when trying to transition to American life. The passage highlights one single experience that exemplifies the efforts that the Chinese children have while trying to adopt the American lifestyle. The reading shows an identity conflict as the author starts to embrace the new culture at the expense of Chinese culture. Amy Tan's Fish Cheeks might be similar to Shakir's A Man in America, but it still has some differences, especially from a male perspective. Some of the challenges that immigrants have to overcome in their bid to assimilate American life include cultural transition, language barrier, and discrimination.

A cultural transition is a process of moving from previous cultural practices to new cultural practices. From the short story, Shakir had retained most of his cultural traditions while trying to adopt a new culture. He realized that fast foods are an essential part of American culture. He frequented one restaurant alone and also with friends in a bid to get the attention of a female employee. However, not everything about the new culture was appealing to him. He was having trouble with the menu in American restaurants. In Amy Tan Fish Cheeks, she is trying to portray herself as a sophisticated American. She was eyeing the preacher's son but is worried that he might not be impressed by her Chinese heritage. In that passage, it appears the author is trying to transition into the American culture, and she sees the preacher's son as a gateway to that transition. To have an American boyfriend would be a good show of her Americanism. However, unlike Shakir, Tan is embarrassed by her Chinese background. Most of the Chinese practices described in the story seem to conflict with American behaviors. As a result, Tan is prepared to embrace the American ways at the expense of Chinese culture. She was even embarrassed by her family's Chinese behaviors. When her family prepares Chinese meals for the minister and his son, she feels like her family's mannerism was an obstacle to her quest to transition to an American lifestyle. Identity crisis is a common problem for many immigrants, especially among the young generation. They get ashamed of their cultural background and seek to get rid of it to transition to American life. However, as she later realized, it is okay to be different, and the one need not adopt everything American.

Language is also a problem as evidenced by the restaurant experience. Even with a good understanding of the English language, communication may be a problem because of an accent. According to Schwaar, "Language barriers cause huge difficulties and make simple interactions seem like daunting feats," (par.9). Tan did not describe anything that may suggest that she had a language barrier between her and her peers. A language barrier can hinder the assimilation process, which is significantly dependent on communication. For Shakir, the inability to communicate with the servers negatively affected his restaurant experience. The fact that the server struggles to grasp his message made the experience undesirable for both parties involved. On the other hand, he also struggled to read some of the food menus. The transition process became a struggle because he was unfamiliar with some of the food items available on the list. He had to rely on visual communication, which is images, for him to get my desired meal.

Another obstacle to the transition process of immigrants is discrimination. In Amy Tan's Fish Cheeks, the author describes a feeling of embarrassment when having a meal with a minister and his son. The author is trying to fit into her peer group, but her Chinese background is holding her back. The main reason that she is ashamed of her Chinese heritage is the fear of rejection. It seems that her peers sideline her because of her culture. Furthermore, she is targeting the minister's son, but he also seems embarrassed by the author's culture. During the meal, Tan's father released a loud belch as a sign of gratitude to the cook. He even proceeds to explain himself before his visitors (Tan 126). He tells them that belching is a beautiful Chinese custom of gratification. However, that does not do much to reduce the visitor's uneasiness. Robert, the minister's son stared at his plate with a reddened face. It seems that Robert is ashamed of the custom, and would likely have the same attitude towards Tan. Tan's situation is comparable to Shakir's. When it comes to isolation, the two stories are complementary. Shakir seemed to struggle to fit in because of his unique cultural practices. His meat and alcohol reservations locked him out of social functions such as parties. He tagged along with his peers, but he felt left out of these social events because he had different mannerisms.

The two stories reveal some patterns especially in regards to their association with others. Shakir was in the early stages of transition and was still reluctant to let go of his cultural heritage. Although he recognized the inconveniences as challenges, he regarded them as temporary. Like Tan, Shakir felt isolated from his peers, but his experience was that of a male immigrant. As a male member of society, Shakir was subjected to less judgment and scrutiny than Tan. A female immigrant would have it difficult because of the constant assessment and monitoring from the rest of society. For instance, one would notice that only Tan's father belched and the mother did not. Perhaps it is because she wasn't satisfied or maybe the custom is reserved for only the male members of society. Either way, the girls are held to a different standard than the male members of the community. Also, one would notice that it was Tan who was struggling to fit in and not Robert. As a female member of society, she had been made to feel like it was her responsibility to meet Robert's needs. Had Tan been a male member of the community, then she would have had fewer challenges in her quest to transition. That concept is well reflected by Shakir, who despite being isolated by his peers, he was under no pressure to act in a particular manner to meet other people's demands. Furthermore, his love interest was undisturbed by his cultural traditions. She thought that Shakir was a vegetarian but did not mind it. Moreover, the fact that the Shakir feels that his love interest is not bothered by his heritage shows that she had not displayed any hostility or rejection towards him. The only challenge for Shakir seemed to be his language barrier, which complicated his situation with his love interest, but for Tan, her cultural background is the point of conflict. All these go to show that the female immigrants experience tougher challenges in their transition process than their male counterparts.

Conclusion

Jalal Shakir's short story A Man in America is comparatively similar to Amy Tan's Fish Cheeks because of their struggles to adapt to American life. Shakir's primary obstacle is his language barrier, which hinders his interaction with his love interest. As for Tan, her primary obstacle is her identity crisis, which made her choose between Chinese culture and American culture. Both figures faced discrimination from their peers because of their different mannerisms. On the other side, Tan is a woman, and that placed her to more scrutiny than Shakir. Despite Robert's reaction to their customs, Tan is still interested in pursuing Robert. As for Shakir, his cultural background as an Arab did not intimidate his love interest. Instead, his language barrier seemed to prevent him from adapting to American life.

Works Cited

Schwaar, Lauren. Difficulties Faced by Immigrants and Refugees. 2015. Website. 18 March 2019. <https://fmcusa.org/lightandlifemag/difficulties-faced-by-immigrants-and-refugees/>.

Tan, Amy. "Fish Cheeks." Tan, Amy. The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings. New York: Penguin Putman, 2003. 126. Book.