Comparing Fish Cheeks And Crash

Living in a world motivated by greed and pride, kindness is the last shred of humanity that maybe surviving today. Many people believe that society can only run when money and selfishness are involved, but compassion and selflessness have shown their faces in many situations. In a world motivated by greed and selfishness, kindness still leads many people throughout their day to day lives and actions. In the essay, "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan and in the movie Crash, directed by Paul Haggins, characters show us how acts of kindness are still around in this egotistical world. Writer Dacher Keltnee, questions in his book, Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life, if humans are born to be good or evolved from selfish to caring people.

Tan writes about the experience she had when she was 13; her crush was the pastor's son and she wanted so badly for him to like her. Tan did everything she could to impress the boy, yet she was ashamed of her family. When it came to dinner, her relatives embarrassed her even more and her father poked his chopsticks into the fish head on the table and popped the cheek out then offered the tender meat to Tan. "Amy, your favorite, he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I just wanted to disappear" (Tan, 5) Tan's father was being kind, even though she was mortified because of him. At the end of the night Tan's mother gave her a miniskirt that she had wanted so badly so that Tan could be just like the other American girls at school. Her mother acted with kindness by buying a piece of clothing that Amy wanted so she could fit in even though her mother wanted her to be unique. Years later Tan looked back at the events of that night and realized that she was wrong, and she acted selfishly. She appreciated the lessons she learned that night and the true intentions of her

The film is about the racial and social tensions that live and breathe in Los Angeles, California. Hardworking family man, Daniel is introduced after Jean and Rick Cabot are carjacked. Daniel is a locksmith and he is asked to change the locks in the Cabot home and as he is finishing his work he overhears Jean asking her husband to get yet another locksmith to change to locks because she is afraid Daniel will give the new keys to "his gang banger friends" (Haggins).Daniel leaves and hands Jean the keys as he heads out the door. All Daniel wants to do is make a better life for his young daughter and wife. Anthony on the other hand is carjacker, looking out for himself and only caring about finding another victim to steal from to feed his drug addiction. Anthony states many times that he does not want to be stereotyped and yet he does nothing to get out of that kind of life. At one point in the film, Anthony and his partner Peter hit a man with a car they stole. At the end of the film, he returns to the abandoned car and realizes that there are illegal immigrants hiding in the back of the van. Instead of selling the unfortunate people, he freed them, acted upon the small bit of kindness left inside