“Your Only Shame is to Have Shame” - 1543 Words

â€Å"Your Only Shame is to Have Shame† Every individual in this world faces some type of problem through out their lives, and everyone overcomes them in different ways. People sometimes release their stress and problems through writing what they feel, and by writing they feel they go somewhere else. Amy Tan, a Chinese American, struggled with her true identity which influence her works which mainly focus on identity, the Chinese American dream, and family struggles. Amy Tan had a childhood full of ups and downs, and they are all part of her stories and poems. She overcame many obstacles in her life and learned many lessons that are all reflected in her works. Many of Tan’s works are about personal experiences she had and about her family.†¦show more content†¦She feels very embarrassed and wishes she were American. In the end of the story, she writes a quote that her mother actually told her, â€Å"You want to be the same as American girls on the outside. But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame† (Tan). In the end the character understood and knew that her mother was right. Tan was not confident with her Chinese identity when she was young, and that influenced some of her works like â€Å"Fish Cheeks†. The short story â€Å"Two Kinds† by Amy Tan is about the main character that has many conflicts with her mother because she struggles with her identity. Her family moved to America after losing everything in China, just as Tan’s mother. The struggle of identity and conflicts with her mother that Tan had when she was young influence this work. This work also talks about Americans as if they were extremely superior to everyone else and that American’s can do whatever they want in America, starting by the first sentences of the story. â€Å"My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get a good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous† (Tan). This story has a small portion of the Chinese American dream, where the mother shows her daughter Shirley Temple and wants her daughter to be like her a nd takes her to aShow MoreRelatedGuilt And Shame In Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter1401 Words   |  6 PagesGuilt and shame, we all know these emotions, they put your stomach in knots, a burning feeling in your face, and make your hands shake as you shrink deep into yourself. Guilt and shame influence your decisions, perspective, and even your physical state after a prolonged period of time. Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter excellently represents the effect these emotions have on a person. 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