Be True According to Dictionary.com, the word identity means, “ The fact of being who or what a person or thing is.” Your identity does not need to change so you can become something you are not. Sometimes, in short stories, characters struggle to find their identities through tough situations. In the short stories “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” by W.D Wetherell, and “Papa's Parrot” by Cynthia Rylant, the characters learn about their identities through significant moments. To begin, in “Fish Cheeks”, Amy Tan learns about her own identity at a holiday family dinner. In addition, Amy’s crush Robert and his family come over for a holiday family dinner where Amy’s mom is cooking up a very strange selection of food, Amy is embarrassed. Many years later, Amy says, “ It was not until many years later, long after I had gotten over my crush on Robert that I was fully able to appreciate her lesson and the true purpose behind our particular menu. For Christmas Eve that year,…show more content… For instance, when the boy has a crush on Sheila Mant who lives in the house next to him, the boy finally builds up the courage to ask her out. When they are in the canoe a giant bass catches on to the boys rod and he decides to cut the line so he would not be embarrassed in front of Sheila Mant. When they were at the concert, Sheila mant decides to go home with Eric Caswell. Later that day, the boy says, “ There would be other Sheila Mants in my life… and I would never make the same mistake again” (5). The boy should have just been himself and caught that bass. When the boy cuts the line, he had changed his identity and becomes something he is not. The boy learns about his identity through the moment he realized Sheila Mant used him. Thus, the boy struggled with his temptations of catching the bass and learned to stay true to his own
