Why autobiography? -[Fish Cheeks]

November 7^th, 2012

Reflective Essay-Amy Tan’s [Fish Cheek]

Mr. Menard / American Literature

11b4 111150 Ho InHee

The main source people rely on is their memories. They write, tell, and read stories about their own and others’ memories. They make judgments and conclusions based on memories. They even try to prove things based on their memories (sworn witnesses do such things in court). What is ironical here is that memories are the most unreliable sources people can have. Memories are oftentimes revised; while some remain relatively untouched, others are totally fabricated. People may consciously or unconsciously attempt to romanticize their past days and heroize themselves. As individual, everyone would also want to try romanticizing and heroizing, or probably already has operated such things on own memories.

In same sense, autobiographies and essays may seem meaningless and valueless. They basically address stories that are solely based on one’s unreliable memories. But still millions of people read these books, write, and reflect on them. But why?

Certainly, what people seek from autobiographies and essays is not a list of the most accurate facts. Why would people want to unmask every single proven detail of others’ lives? People surely are seeking something else than memory when reading those types of writings.

What people can get from autobiographies and essays is a new perspective of viewing things. Autobiography is a self-reflective essay that the author intensely contemplates on his or her life. The author traces back own history, considering every one experience. Grafting this experience and a well-fitting theme, the author then starts to write. Consequently, readers can see real life experiences that they as well are very likely to experience similar ones. Familiar episodes presented with a new viewpoint of seeing them are what autobiographies are for, what readers want from autobiographies.

Consider how an author actually gets his or her subject of writing. Amy Tan, the author of [Fish Cheeks], is another astounding exemplary figure for autobiographers who write highly satisfactory pieces with their novel perspectives of seeing something. Amy Tan specifically got most of her inspirations in China. During a visit to China, once, Tan saw a silent guy on the beach heaping up stones. Stones were all standing on their sharpest ends, all of them directly exposed to rather harsh sea breeze. Tan first couldn’t believe her eyes which were telling her that the stones were all standing on their sharp ends, as if they were unstably tiptoeing. She was amazed when she discovered the stones were all standing by themselves without any other device’s aid, such as putting sticky glue to pile stones together. This inspired her of the idea of balance. So her next few writings were all about finding the adequate balance. On another occasion, Tan visited her mother Daisy’s ex-husband’s three daughters. When Daisy went all the way over from China to the America, she had to leave her three daughters to her husband. Daisy had always missed her three other daughters in China ever since she inevitably left them. As Tan became an adult, she brought her old mom to China, and made her meet her other daughters. This reunion of a mother and her daughters left Tan a strong impression about invisible yet innegligible bond within a family. Since then she wrote about precious family love. Likewise, Amy Tan drove inspirations from any circumstances of her daily life, tried to catch all the inspirations she got, and intensely thought over those inspirations.

Autobiographies present fresh ideas through familiar experiences. Readers can learn to see certain occasions from a different point of view by reading autobiographies. And this is why autobiographies, like Amy Tan’s Fish Cheeks, are still a widely written, and widely read book in spite of its inaccuracy.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

****************************************************************************************************************************

Yeji: Interesting ideas :) But I think you sometimes are writing according to your flow of consciousness rather than outline.. For example, I think there is no reason to write “I, myself…” in the end of first paragraph because this sentence gives readers impression that you are going to talk about your experience of fabricating memories. Except this, a great essay :) Well-done!

Yoonju Chung: Nice intro. It was impressive to bring the idea of memory that is revised all the time with biases, yet has worth writing about it. As Mr. Menard mentioned during the class, we can’t dismiss Amy Tan because she wrote about memory which occurred 10 or more years passed from now or she is an unreliable narrator. This revised memory, in other words, “faction”, deserves reading it by providing us some opportunities to walk a mile wearing on someone else’s shoes! I would recommend you to write more about Amy Tan in completed version! Except for this, great essay with creative ideas! :)