A FAMILY SUPPER- caracterizare

Through his use of vivid description, Kazuo Ishiguro would have the reader believe that the
father in A Family Supper is capable of poisoning his family. Upon closer inspection, however,
the father is foreshadowing his own eventual death.
By not giving the father any other name except father, Ishiguro provides his audience with the
archetypal father figure. Ishiguro uses this archetypal father to embrace the timeless issues of
children growing up, moving away and their parents growing old, facing the reality that they
may die alone.
The father's message actually embraces two of the many ways that people die - they can die from
eating poisonous fish, fugu, or from neglect. He is telling his children there are consequences for
leaving home and for staying behind. If they saty home, they could put their lives on hold
indefinitely. And if they leave him, he could die as easily as if he had eaten fugu.
Gradually, the reader realized that the story offers an archetypal son, as well. Also unnamed, the
son was living in California at the time of his mother's death. the reader learns, "Apparently, my
mother had always refused to eat fugu, but on this particular occasion she had made an
exception, having been invited by an old school friend who she was anxious not to offend" (338).
With the characteristic innocence of a child, the son accepts this version of her tragic yet
blameless death.
The son cannot imagine his mother could die because of the neglect by him and his sister. The
father states his case midway through the story: "I [the father] hadn't meant to tell you this, but
perhaps it's best I do. It's my belief that your mother's death was no accident. She had many
worries. And some disappointments."
"Surely," I said eventually, "my mother didn't expect me to live here forever."
"Obviously you don't see. You don't see how it is for some parents. Not only must they lose their
children, they must lose them to things they don't understand." (Ishiguro 342)
The father is opening up the possibility that the mother's death was not caused by the misfortune
of eating poisonous fish. It was through eating potentially poisonous fish without trepidation for
the possible outcome. the mother missed her children and felt her life was not worth living. Her
children's perceived indifference caused her to commit suicide.
Of course, during the story, the family is eating fish. Ishiguro wants to make sure that it crosses
the reader's mind that they may be eating the notorious fugu. The son asks his father what kind of
fish they are eating. The father replies, Just fish" (344) This evasiveness serves to heighten the

reader's alarm. Could he be planning to poison his family? but no, the reader reasons, this story is
told in first person limited, after the fact.
The archetypical father is warning his children that they have to make a decision. He admits his
faults; he needs to be a more attentive father. He acknowledges the possibility that his son could
return to America; his daughter could remain in Osaka or go to America as well after her
university graduation.
But he is lonely since his wife has died. The father dreads the thought of his children's impending
independence at the expense of his own. He asks them to forego the fugu. Put off having
adventures in foreign countries until I am gone, he seems to be saying. He asks the reader and his
children to realize what the real fugu is; the possibility that the father will experience a slow,
painful death if they leave and become independent, the pain of abandonment in old age.

A FAMILY SUPPER- summary

"A Family Supper," by Kazuo Ishiguro, is a story of uncertainty, nervousness, emotions, and loss
of love in the family. The narrator, Ishiguro, is a Protagonist, was born in the Tokyo, Japan. He is
returning home from California some two years after the death of his mother. After the WWII,
Watanabe's despondency of the loss of the company leads him to take his life and his family
members. The Protagonist's mother, who is believed by her husband to have lost hope in her life,
commits a suicide as well. The Protagonist's father who lives with the loss of his wife and his
friend and business partner, Watanabe, feels hopelessness that leads him to consider suicide as a
relief from loneliness and guilt. "A Family Supper," by Kazuo Ishiguro explores the psychology
of the desperate father, whose uncertainty about his life will be judged by the bond of love he
shares with his son.
This story takes place in Japan after WWII. Kazuo Ishiguro returns his native home from
California to visit his father and his sister, who lives in the Kamakura district. The garden creates
an atmosphere of anxiety and worries: "Much of the garden had fallen into shadow" (466). The
garden provides sensory background about her mother. Her worries, beliefs in ghosts, and
disappointment on her son's behavior leads her to commit suicide as narrator agrees that "My
relationship with my parents had become somewhat strained around the period" (465). It's a part
of Japanese culture that people don't live a disgrace life. It's an honor to die. Suicide for the
business partner and even for the air force pilots is glorified by the father. The description of the
house contributes conflict and also reveals his father's character. The protagonist, while walking
through his old home, remarks "I had forgotten how large the house was [...] but the rooms were
all startlingly empty" (469). This parallels with the illustration of his father - the owner of the

house - who closes himself off emotionally from the rest of the world, including his children;
when the protagonist asks his sister if their father is overly upset concerning the fall of his
company, she replies "Don't know. You can never tell with father" (468). The large, empty, cold
rooms can be likened to the father, who appears statue of emotions and warmth. The Father
foresees his future with no body at his home. He wants some one who take care him. He would
feel happy if Ishiguro stays there: "If you wish to stay here, I mean in this house, you would be
very welcome" (472). A model of battleship symbolizes glorious death and victory, love, and
pride of real happiness. In every battle, an army tries to defeat their enemies. The bond of trust
and love help them fulfill their dreams. The dreams and love, which their family depends on has
been shattered by Ishiguro's behavior.
The story is written in first person prospective, allowing us to know and understand the thoughts
of his father and himself. However, Ishiguro thoughts are never given for himself, but we can
portray his character through the conversation and his actions as negligence and irresponsible
son, who doesn't care about his family and the need of love, which his parents expect from him.
At once, he can't recognize his mother's photograph: "Who is that old women in the white
kimono" (470). On one side he says that she looks lot older, but on the other side he says, "It's
dark. I can't see it very well" (470). The father is melancholic because his business has recently
collapsed. Moreover, there are some family conflicts that are presented only indirectly: the father
is prepared to forget his son's unspecified "behavior" (466) in the past and longs for that time
when his business did not involve "foreigners" (466); the son (the narrator) recalls his father
striking him when he was a boy; the sister contemplates immigration to America with her
boyfriend. These conflicts are what the characters do not talk about. The father approves his
partner's action for its particular ethic and its general bravery: he calls his partner "a man of
principle and honor" (466); later, the father says he wishes that he had been a pilot during the
war, because "in an airplane . . . there was always the final weapon" (470). Ishiguro's parents
accepted their fault for sending him in the America. The son, who had been living in the
America, has forgotten the custom and culture of Japan and doesn't approve of his father's
values: "Perhaps I should have been more attentive father" (469). With the mother's death as
background and the partner's suicide as foreground, death will be better decision for father to
reunite and fulfill the bond of love.
Ishiguro's use of language plays a crucial role in expressing the central idea. The family in
Ishiguro's story have become alienated. We see this alienation and lack of love in the imagery
and symbolism. The darkness of night and the garden indicate their dark and broken relationship:
"The light in the garden had grown very dim" (468). The metaphor show a father terrify and
rigorous personality: "stony jaw and furious black eyebrows" (466). The simile conveys the
generation gap and shattered relationship which creates many conflicts: "chattering like and old
women" (466). The father is traditional and strict; he held himself responsible for his son's life
and change in his attitude. The father admires his friend's sacrifice and his wife's respect and
dedication by serving a fish. It creates quite nervousness for the narrator, who imagine that father

may be trying to poison the family as he asks "Kikuko tells me Watanabe-San took his family
with him" (471). His father lowers his eyes and nod. A model of battleship symbolizes his broken
family. The father portrays his cracked family by spinning the battleship in his fingers, which is
facing lots of storms and its survival may be impossible. Now the father doesn't see any light in
the clusters of clouds refers the situation as "'These little gunboats here could have been better
glued, don't you think'" (469). The narrator is unfortunate that he doesn't see any holes in his
family relationship, which he claims as "It looks fine" (470).
The tone is emotional and formal. We see the father always in the sense of uncertainties,
nervousness, and desire to have faithful relationship. The narrator is sloppy and never looks at
his father's emotions. The father shows him that the bond of love between father and son is far
behind the battleship. He illustrates his love by calling his friend "A man of principle and honor"
(466). The father offers Ishiguro the opportunity to stay with him by showing "all startlingly
empty" (469) rooms. He is desperate that his traumatized family can never be happy. The author
beautifully conveys this message by lots of pauses and soft gently conversation. The isolation,
the father will feel, leaves an option for him to commit suicide instead of living a disgraceful life.
A life with no ambitions will definitely demolish.
Kazuo Ishiguro through his emotional feeling and imagery illustrates the need of love and bond
of relationship we share in our lives. He proves that how important our elders need love and
compassion. Relationship is not about isolation from the rest of the world. It's all about winning
the hearts and minds of our elders. Never ever let them feel alone, as the mother never leaves her
child alone. The pillars of love will definitely create strong and united families.