A Family Supper and Come Rain or Come Shine by Kazuo Ishiguro: Comparison and Contrast

Introduction

Kazuo Ishiguro's intense and reticence, inward, self-containment are noticeable in his writings. When you first read the stories of Ishiguro they will appear as not so expressive: as the diction artificial, the one-note of the story, the plot devices wayward. However his writing style is famous for what, in music would be depicted as elite part - time interval that vibrates after a note is impressive.

A Family Supper

There is certainly a challenging, subliminal meaning to "A Family Supper" written by Kazuo Ishiguro. The story takes place in Tokyo, Japan, a couple of decades ago, "nearing the end of a sunny autumn day." The setting has a great impact on the events that occur throughout the story, heavily relying on Japanese traditions and culture like tea drinking, views of death, and preference of food. The main characters are the son (narrator), his father, and his sister Kikuko. When Kazuo returns from California, his father happens to be the bearer of bad news, informing him of his mother's recent death, as well as the death of his father's firm, and his father's business partner. It's very faint to detect, but these events have altered the father's personality and his perspective on life as well.

The story starts by giving information about a kind of fish that is called Fugu.  The narrator tells that his mother died by eating that fish. There is a tragic atmosphere throughout the story because of the following reasons: (1) there is the collapse of the narrator's father's firm, (2) the narrator's mother's cause of death, and (3) the circumstance of Watanabe's and his family's deaths.

The narrator's past or his past behavior is likewise very mysterious.  I wonder what it is about since the father only says “I for one am ready to forget the past…”  His sister also says, “Mother never really blamed you.”  I'd like to believe that the family was hurt with the narrator's decision to study in California. Perhaps his parents wanted him to be involved in the firm but he chose to leave instead.

While reading the story, I was thinking that there is a suggestion of another death. Could it be that the fish that they were about to eat was Fugu?  If it wasn't, then why did the author emphasize Fugu in the first two paragraphs, if Fugu was not really that important? Why did he give an extensive discussion about Fugu? The narrator could have said, “Mother died while I was in California. She died because she ate Fugu.” In this case, the focus is no longer on the fish but on her death.

The family's supper is likewise a big deal.  While their recollections are ongoing, the readers know that the day's events will culminate in the family's supper. To me, their eating of the fish is eerie. I am certain that they are eating Fugu.  Will they die? Perhaps, they won't. And I am convinced that they won't. Since the father prepared ...