Comparison Between 'Half And Fish Cheeks'

In numerous texts, the authors like to reveal themes in different ways. Theme can be interpreted as the lesson of a story and is the central meaning. In two short texts, “Half and Half” by Lensey Namoika and “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, they share a similar theme about their character. However, the two writers use various techniques to reveal the theme. In the stories, the theme “Be proud of who he/she is” is revealed by the author in different ways.
In the first short story Half and Half, the author Lensey Namoika, reveals the theme through internal conflicts. Fiona who is the main protagonist wants to sign up for a folk dancing class but realises that she didn’t check a box for race. It is later revealed that Fiona is half white and half Asian.
The main character who is Chinese, has a crush on a white boy named Robert. When the two finally meet during a Christmas dinner, the protagonist feels embarrassed and ashamed because the food her mom served was strange and how her relatives act are not considered “proper” in the white culture. Since she likes Robert but her family is making a fool of her, she is furious and hates her culture. Her mom understandingly gives her a present stating, “But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame."(Tan) Even though the main character never understood this, through her dialogue with her mom she finally realised that she should be proud of who she is and not be afraid to express it. The reason her mom created such a strange menu was that it was all of the protagonists' favorite foods. The theme in both short stories is revealed in many different manners. As shown in the stories, the theme was announced both using dialogue or using an internal conflict. Even though both authors chose different ways to present the main point, they still both got the same result. The author for Fish Cheeks used talk between two characters to get the message across. In contrast, the author for Half and Half used internal conflict. In both stories, the theme “Be proud of who you are” is revealed by the author in different