Moderism in the Kitchen Essay
Ruchit Janjani
Marrene Franich
Humanities
October 4th 2012
The Kitchen-Modernism The novel Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto can be classified and used as an example of modern writing because of it’s use of many stylistic characteristics such as Interior monologue, multiple points of view and stream of consciousness to advance the theme of the rejection of traditional appearances towards the morals and traditions of Japanese culture. Interior monologue is a story told through images, not words by the speaker, and when Mikage’s grandmother dies, “{Yuichi’s} hands tremble as he {lights} the incense while his eyes were swollen from crying”(7) all because of the death of someone close to him. Mikage, uses images that show how Yuichi felt about the death of Mikage’s grandmother and how affectionate he was towards her even though she meant nothing to him in terms of relationships. Mikage agrees to live with Yuichi even though she barely knew him only because a stranger asks her to which isn’t really accepted in traditional society. Multiple points of view, is a conversation that the speaker has with him/herself when they are in shock, this relates to when Eriko died and after Mikage found out “{she} didn’t understand anything; nothing was getting through, {she} was to stunned to speak”(45) because of what she just learned. Mikage thinks to herself about what had just happened with Eriko and analyzes the situation seeking the appropriate ways to take care of it. Mikage loses her mind about someone who is not even related to her and goes running to someone that she stayed away from for a long time. Lost in her thoughts, Mikage “wishes to {spend} the rest of {her} life traveling from place to place”(88) and being lonely, which she believes might be the perfect life for her. Stream of consciousness suggest how characters are deep in their thoughts and being a little random, this describes what Mikage is feeling. This behavior is not one of an average member of society
Marrene Franich
Humanities
October 4th 2012
The Kitchen-Modernism The novel Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto can be classified and used as an example of modern writing because of it’s use of many stylistic characteristics such as Interior monologue, multiple points of view and stream of consciousness to advance the theme of the rejection of traditional appearances towards the morals and traditions of Japanese culture. Interior monologue is a story told through images, not words by the speaker, and when Mikage’s grandmother dies, “{Yuichi’s} hands tremble as he {lights} the incense while his eyes were swollen from crying”(7) all because of the death of someone close to him. Mikage, uses images that show how Yuichi felt about the death of Mikage’s grandmother and how affectionate he was towards her even though she meant nothing to him in terms of relationships. Mikage agrees to live with Yuichi even though she barely knew him only because a stranger asks her to which isn’t really accepted in traditional society. Multiple points of view, is a conversation that the speaker has with him/herself when they are in shock, this relates to when Eriko died and after Mikage found out “{she} didn’t understand anything; nothing was getting through, {she} was to stunned to speak”(45) because of what she just learned. Mikage thinks to herself about what had just happened with Eriko and analyzes the situation seeking the appropriate ways to take care of it. Mikage loses her mind about someone who is not even related to her and goes running to someone that she stayed away from for a long time. Lost in her thoughts, Mikage “wishes to {spend} the rest of {her} life traveling from place to place”(88) and being lonely, which she believes might be the perfect life for her. Stream of consciousness suggest how characters are deep in their thoughts and being a little random, this describes what Mikage is feeling. This behavior is not one of an average member of society