Kitchen

Banana Yoshimoto

Lesson 3

Imagery

Review of homework

• Discuss what themes and ideas emerged from study of quotes about the following images in Kitchen:

- light and darkness - plants and flowers - nature - pop culture and modernity• For this discussion you will be placed into groups that

did the same topic and each group shares and notes down ideas. Then jigsaw so that ideas can be shared and recorded on all four types of image.

Light and darkness• An enormous number of

light and dark images are used by Yoshimoto in her text.

• These images represent a number of important themes in the novel.

• Each of the following quotes, which you have now had time to think about and discuss in groups, we will now discuss as a class.

In the black gloom before my eyes (as it always is in cases of bewitchment), I saw a straight road leading from me to him. He seemed to glow with white light. (6-7)

When was it I realized that, on this truly dark and solitary path we all walk, the only way we can light is our own? … Someday, without fail, everyone will disappear, scattering into the blackness of time. (21)

The city was fringed with tiny points of brightness, and the lines of cars were like a phosphorescent river flowing through the darkness. (50-51)

Now that Eriko was dead, the two of us, alone, were flowing down that river of light, suspended in the cosmic darkness, and were approaching a critical juncture.

I understood. I understood it from the color of the sky, the shape of the moon, the blackness of the night sky under which we passed. The building lights, the streetlights, were unforgiving. (77)

The endless sea was shrouded in darkness. I could see the shadowy forms of gigantic, rugged crags against which the waves were crashing. While watching them, I felt a strange, sweet sadness. In the biting air I told myself, there will be so much pleasure, so much suffering. With or without Yuichi. The beacon of the faraway lighthouse revolved. It turned to me, then it turned away, forming a pathway of light on the waves. (104)

Light and darkness• One use of light imagery as a contrast to ‘the blackness of the

cosmos’ is in Yoshimoto’s descriptions of other people: - The whole of her gave off a marvelous light that seemed to vibrate

with life force. (11) - There was a warm light, like her afterimage, softly glowing in my

heart. (12) - Their faces shone like buddhas when they smiled. (15) - The conversation we just had was like a glimpse of stars through a

chink in a cloudy sky – perhaps, over time, talks like this would lead to love. (29)

- His sadly cheerful face radiated a dim glow. (50) - If Yuichi is with me, I need nothing else … dazzled as I was by the

light given off by his eyes. (62) - Yuichi’s smiling face seemed to sparkle. (102)• Why does Yoshimoto connect Yuichi and Eriko with light?• Recall the image of the lighthouse in the Momoko Sakuchi song

(38). In what way is the lighthouse a symbol for love?• Why is love so important when we are faced with despair, loss

and the ‘blackness of the cosmos’?

Plants and flowers

• Another important image used by Yoshimoto in her text is botanical images.

• These images represent important themes in the novel.

• Each of the following quotes, which you have now had time to think about and discuss in groups, we will now discuss as a class.

Grandmother loved cut flowers. Because the ones in our kitchen were not allowed to wilt, she’d go to the flower shop a couple of times a week. When I thought of that I remembered him walking behind my grandmother, a large potted plant in his arms. (7-8)

Looking around, I saw that the whole house was filled with flowers; there were vases full of spring blooms everywhere. (9)

Listening to the quiet breathing of the plants, sensing the night view through the curtains, I slept like a baby. (22)

Still, enveloped in the twilight coming from the west, there she was, watering the plants with her slender, graceful hands, in the midst of a light so sweet it seemed to form a rainbow in the transparent water she poured. (42)

“But she begged me, in tears, to take it home, this sunny plant from a southern place, before it became infused with death. I had no choice. I took it in my arms.” (81)

Nature

• As well as botanical images, wider images of the natural world are used to highlight important themes in the novella.

• Each of the following quotes, which you have now had time to think about and discuss in groups, we will now discuss as a class.

A gentle, warm rain enveloped the neighborhood as I walked … (8)

The sky outside was a dull grey. Waves of clouds were being pushed around by the wind with amazing force. In this world there is no place for sadness. No place; not one. (23)

The scratching of our pens mingled with the sound of raindrops beginning to fall in the transparent stillness of the evening. (28)

Under the blue sky, inhaling the clear, sharp bite of the winter air, I was overwhelmed by it all. What should I do? I had no idea. The sky was blue, blue. The bare trees were sharply silhouetted, and a cold wind was seeping through.

“I can’t believe in the gods.” (86)

Pop culture and modernity

• Many references to modern life and popular culture are made in the novella, again reflecting key themes.

• Having had time to think about and discuss these images in groups, we will now discuss them as a class.

My family had steadily decreased one by one as the years went by, but when it suddenly dawned on me that I was all alone, everything before my eyes seemed false. The fact that time continued to pass in the usual way in this apartment where I grew up, even though now I was here all alone, amazed me. It was total science fiction. (4)

Wrapped in a blanket, like Linus, I slept. (5)

It was like watching Bewitched. That they could be this cheerfully normal in the midst of such extreme abnormality. (31)

The scene reminded me of the jungle cruise at Disneyland. (95-96)

Like a blast of fresh wind, the richly perfumed breath of those days returned to my soul … Yuichi and I playing computer games one night while we waited for Eriko to get home. (100)

Plenary

• Summarize the themes that emerge from a close examination of Yoshimoto’s use of imagery.

• What do you appreciate about the author’s style here? Explain.

• Describe the nature of Yoshimoto’s images. In what ways do they reflect aspects of Japanese culture (if you know)?

Homework

• Find out the meanings of the following words: - Bildungsroman - Existentialism• Both words apply to aspects of Kitchen. Come

up with 2-3 aspects of the novel that reflect the meaning of each word.

• Next lesson we examine Mikage’s journey through the novel, looking at how her experiences reflect the concepts of bildungsroman and existentialism.