Mothers and daughters, in general, clash during adolescence and adolescence; imagine going through these years trying to figure out who you are and being a second generation immigrant. Aimee Nezhukumatathil provides insight into what it would be like to grow up with first-generation parents in America. She shares stories that stem from the truth she knows about her Filipino mother and all the folklore and stories of that culture. There is a clear cultural difference and with it a fear of their differences, whether dietary, social or ethical. The poems “Hell Pig” and “Fishbone” demonstrate the fear, cultural confusion, and identity crisis that first-generation immigrant parents instilled in their children. In these stories, the mother is a conduit of communication, an instrument in the formation of identity as her daughter negotiates with the culture into which she was born as a Filipina and that which surrounds her as an American. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay Identity is something that tends to be a difficult concept to understand coming from a first-generation immigrant family , but the answer to this mystery can most likely be attributed to food. In “Fishbone,” the daughter tries to determine where her identity lies while witnessing the unfolding of two cultures at the table: “At dinner, my mother says if you get stuck / in your throat, roll some rice into a ball / and swallow it. entire. She says things / like that and the next thing out of her mouth / did you know Madonna was pregnant? (Nezhukumatathil, 1-5) Her mother tries to identify with her daughter and the American pop culture that surrounds her life, but her daughter can't stop looking fishy-eyed. She compares her breakfast to a normal American breakfast, cheerios: “I wonder why we can't/have normal food for breakfast like Sara's…” … “Sure. Pretty. / Nothing with eyes. (Nezhukumatathil 10-11, 14-15) At this point in the poem, the comparison with security can take several different directions. The obvious would be that her breakfast is unsafe because she eats a whole fried fish, and when you eat fish, sometimes little pieces of spine break off and get stuck in your throat. This is why the mother in the poem advises her daughter to roll up a ball of rice and swallow it whole. From the poet's perspective, however, she feels safest eating a traditional American breakfast, nothing painful or difficult to show to new friends. Nezhukumatathil finds this struggle for her identity through the safety and normalcy of her meals, but her mother's efforts to balance the two worlds at the beginning of the poem allow the poet to grow into the abnormality of her culture, accepting it fully as she “collapses”. on the next head. (Nezhukumatathil 31) In “Hell Pig,” the mother scares her daughter by telling her that if she goes out late at night, the pig from hell will follow her daughter: “To keep me from going out late at night, / my mother warned about the Hell Pig. Black and full of hot slime, eyes the color of lungs – he would follow me home if I respected curfew. (Nezhukumatathil, 1-4) This is a cultural folklore that personifies the mother's own fear while instilling fear of a childhood monster: "It's not like the pig / had any special powers or could take a small bite / of my leg - only assurances that it was simply a scandal to follow until the.