Moonlight Shadow by Banana Yoshimoto is a tale of lovers suddenly separated by death. Satsuki loses her boyfriend, Hitoshi, in a car accident. In the same accident, Hitoshi’s brother, Hiiragi loses his girlfriend. The novella explores their respective internal conflicts as they experience grief in its most explicit form. Their conflicting emotions and restless mental states are only calmed when Satsuki and Hiiragi begin to connect with each other by sharing in their grief. Through this, Yoshimoto makes her strongest argument, which is that grief is most manageable when it is common, rather than isolated. Since the deaths occur in the opening, Yoshimoto is able to portray how each character copes with their loss for the remainder of the novella. …show more content…
Both characters begin the novella in an extremely lost state of mind. Their conflicts are not resolved until they begin to acknowledge, accept, and share their negative feelings regarding their losses. This progression is shown multiple times: specifically, when Satsuki parts with Urara. In this scene, which is another portrayal of loss – rather than tragically saying goodbye and damning the Gods as she once did, Satsuki calmly reflects on “how much [Urara] has given to [her]” (p. 149). For Hiiragi, a similar revelation occurs, however his is much more subtle. In the closing of the novella, Hiiragi meets with Satsuki to discuss seeing Yumiko in a dream-like setting. Hiiragi then finally opens up about his confusion with his loss. “Do you think I’m losing my mind?” he “jokingly” questioned Satsuki (p. 150) after explaining that he saw Yumiko. Though, his question is far from humorous. Instead, it is a clear sign that he is finally accepting and sharing his grief. Subsequently, after accepting said grief, their conflicts begin to be resolved. Thus, Moonlight Shadow can be viewed as Yoshimoto’s literary commentary on the motif of shared grief. Through two polar reactions to the death of a partner, Yoshimoto depicts how individuals naturally react radically and negatively, yet groups of people sharing and accepting their grief tend to be more affirmative,
The author initially uses words with negative connotation, such “wild,” “storm of grief,” and “sank into her soul” (1), to suggest a normal reaction to the death of a loved one.
James Baldwin had a talent of being able to tell a personal story and relate it to world events. His analysis is a rare capability that one can only acquire over an extensive lifetime. James Baldwin not only has that ability, but also the ability to write as if he is conversing with the reader. One of his most famous essays, “Notes of a Native Son,” is about his father’s death. It includes the events that happened prior to and following his father’s death. Throughout this essay, he brings his audience into the time in which he wrote and explains what is going on by portraying the senses and emotions of not only himself, but as well as the people involved. This essay has a very personal feeling mixed with public views. Baldwin is able to take one small event or idea and shows its place within the “bigger picture.” Not only does he illustrate public experiences, but he will also give his own personal opinion about those events. Throughout “Notes of a Native Son” Baldwin uses the binary of life versus death to expand on the private versus public binary that he also creates. These two binaries show up several times together showing how much they relate to each other.
The critics who perceived this book's central theme to be teen-age angst miss the deep underlying theme of grief and bereavement. Ambrosio asks the question, "Is silence for a writer tantamount to suicide? Why does the wr...
Throughout the lives of most people on the planet, there comes a time when there may be a loss of love, hope or remembrance in our lives. These troublesome times in our lives can be the hardest things we go through. Without love or hope, what is there to live for? Some see that the loss of hope and love means the end, these people being pessimistic, while others can see that even though they feel at a loss of love and hope that one day again they will feel love and have that sense of hope, these people are optimistic. These feelings that all of us had, have been around since the dawn of many. Throughout the centuries, the expression of these feelings has made their ways into literature, novels, plays, poems, and recently movies. The qualities of love, hope, and remembrance can be seen in Emily Bronte’s and Thomas Hardy’s poems of “Remembrance” “Darkling Thrush” and “Ah, Are you Digging on my Grave?”
Through an intimate maternal bond, Michaels mother experiences the consequences of Michaels decisions, weakening her to a debilitating state of grief. “Once he belonged to me”; “He was ours,” the repetition of these inclusive statements indicates her fulfilment from protecting her son and inability to find value in life without him. Through the cyclical narrative structure, it is evident that the loss and grief felt by the mother is continual and indeterminable. Dawson reveals death can bring out weakness and anger in self and with others. The use of words with negative connotations towards the end of the story, “Lonely,” “cold,” “dead,” enforce the mother’s grief and regressing nature. Thus, people who find contentment through others, cannot find fulfilment without the presence of that individual.
Imagine that the person you love most in the world dies. How would you cope with the loss? Death and grieving is an agonizing and inevitable part of life. No one is immune from death’s insidious and frigid grip. Individuals vary in their emotional reactions to loss. There is no right or wrong way to grieve (Huffman, 2012, p.183), it is a melancholy ordeal, but a necessary one (Johnson, 2007). In the following: the five stages of grief, the symptoms of grief, coping with grief, and unusual customs of mourning with particular emphasis on mourning at its most extravagant, during the Victorian era, will all be discussed in this essay (Smith, 2014).
Heffernan, Teresa. “Beloved and the Problem of Mourning.” http://www.questia.com/library/ 1G1-54196882/beloved-and-the-problem-of-mourning /. N. p. n. d. Web. Nov 24, 2012.
“Every part of my body hurts. Except my heart. I saw no one, but, strange as it was, I missed no one” (Strayed 70). This takes a turn of events. “Every part of my body hurts, except my heart,” gives new meaning and how Strayed manages to gain emotional stability in the wake of her mothers’ death, and illness. This shows great strength in regards that she rises above the obstacles thrown in her path--the feeling of what it means to be alive. This work invites and informs the reader of the many ways one can cope with loss; moreover, Strayed demonstrates what what may work for everyone--the method of sublimation.
out about the truth behind his father’s death, they end up losing their lives. One death eventually
The philosophical residue of Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls reveals the impact of love, duty, and relationships on the main character’s ideas about death.
During the process of growing up, we are taught to believe that life is relatively colorful and rich; however, if this view is right, how can we explain why literature illustrates the negative and painful feeling of life? Thus, sorrow is inescapable; as it increase one cannot hide it. From the moment we are born into the world, people suffer from different kinds of sorrow. Even though we believe there are so many happy things around us, these things are heartbreaking. The poems “Tips from My Father” by Carol Ann Davis, “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, and “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop convey the sorrow about growing up, about sorrowful pretending, and even about life itself.
Overcoming the grief that is felt after losing a loved one is a physically and mentally agonizing task. According to Dr. Christina Hibbert, a clinical psychologist who graduated from the California School of Professional Psychology, three main stages of grief include anger, depression and acceptance. Each one of these emotions can be seen in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and The Descendants (2011, Payne) as the artists explore the effects of grief and the different emotional responses that one can have due to the loss of a loved one. Additionally, in Ismail Kadare’s Broken April, the Berisha family feels the sufferance that is associated with unexpected death, as well as the various temperamental reactions that one will have after losing a loved one. Each of these works of art represent a powerful example of the stages that one will go through after feeling the intense sorrow that is connected with death, as well as the unavoidable effects of grief.
For many people, death can be a disheartening topic or event. It is a loss of someone that most times is deeply cared for and loved. “Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men describes the aftermath of a man’s death from the perspective of both the man and his widow. According to Nanna, one of the lead singers of the group, "It’s about a couple and the husband passed away and it’s from the conversation between the two of them” (CITE). At first read, the poem seems to be depressing and alludes to the idea of a breaking relationship. The relationship appears to have been long term because the poem speaks of days when they were young and “…an old voice in my head” (11). The woman is walking through an “…old and
In the novel Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, Yoshimoto illustrates how the main characters deal with death and grieving. Throughout the story she shows us how each character has a type of hobby or took up a new duty to escape their sad feelings. For example in Kitchen, the main character Mikage had a special relationship with her kitchen, it didn’t matter what kind it was, she loved it. “The place I like the best in this world is the kitchen” (Yoshimoto 3). Throughout this story, Yoshimoto uses four characters as examples of four different types of people dealing with death and how each one handles it individually and together.
Grief, revenge, and unsurpassed sorrow. Few authors can replicate these feelings as well as Edgar Allan Poe. “The Raven”, “Lenore”, and “Annabel Lee” all refer to an instance where the narrator is grieving over a lost loved one.