The Kitchen By Banana Yoshimoto Analysis

The Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto narrates the story of Mikage, who is a single girl without a family. However, she finds a new family with an old friend Yukichi and his mother Eriko. The two are very helpful, and they comfort her and through them, she can overcome the challenges that she has experienced in her life “great people emit light that warms the hearts of those around them. When that light has been put out, a heavy shadow of despair descends.”. She picks up her life, and now she hopes for a better tomorrow. The author of this story, Yoshimoto, used Yukich to develop a theme on the essence of a family and the good role it plays in someone life. Mikage has been used to show the struggle that one goes through without the family. Through

her, the author conveys that to have a happy life one need enough support as well as backing from the family.
The Japanese tradition has been used to highlight the link between the importances of the family to the kitchen.

According to the Japanese tradition, the kitchen used to be referred as kamado which also means stove. In Japanese culture, there are various saying which involves this word since it's used as a representation of a family or house, for instance, Kamado who Yaburu and Kamado who wake. Literary, this would mean to divide or break a stove; however, its symbolic meaning is to set the family apart. It’s used to emphasize how the kitchen is used as the motif to insinuate a family or a house. The theme symbolism has been used in the whole novel; the author has used Mikage’s love for the kitchen to give a general view that every individual should love and esteem their families. Besides, Mikage’s happiness in the kitchen demonstrates the manner in which the families bring happiness to the people hence alluding to its

importance.
The extensive usage of the kitchen as the place where people go to have some warmth, understanding, and comfort, is a symbol for the families role to support and individuals in their life. Kamado has also been used as a symbol as well signifying a family and a home. Therefore, Mikage now has got a good platform to handle the losses that she has been through together with Eroko and their grandmother. “The place I like best in this world is the kitchen. No matter where it is, no matter what kind, if it’s a kitchen, if it’s a place where they make food, it’s fine with me. Ideally, it should be well broken in. Lots of tea towels, dry and immaculate. Where tile was catching the light (ting! Ting!)” (p. 3).”
The kitchen’s importance in the life of Mikage runs throughout the novel which has the enabled Yoshimoto to bring up the theme of the importance of a family in the life of an individual. The motif of ‘kitchen’ is important in the novel; it has been used in the title of the book and, therefore, bringing forward the motif significance. The manner in which the novel begins makes mikage believe that the kitchen is the best place in the world. It brings to the reader Mikage’s love for cooking as well as the passion she has for that activities. The author suggests that the families should be where an individual feels most comfortable in; hence, there should be the best comfort that one desire to have. Mike suggests that she is in deep love for the kitchen since everything she needs to be found in that place. "a place where they make food"(p3. This statement expression furthers the passion she has for cooking. The motif suggests that is an important activity in the life of Mikage. Almost everything he does or says, there is an element of cooking in it. She always finds comfort in this place because the kitchen is the only place where she can sleep. Therefore, most of her time she is always in the kitchen, the author suggests that she finds the kitchen to be her family. The use of this symbolism gives a further illustration of her love for both food and the kitchen. Despite the fact she has no family, the kitchen has comforted her and now she has hope for the future. The author used Mikage for the plot developed and brings out the theme of the family importance.
The author portrays the kitchen in a positive light throughout the story, by so doing the family is also portrayed through a positive light since its Mikage symbolic family. It’s through the kitchen that she has been able to find comfort after the sad demise of her people. It’s through the kitchen and her love for cooking is realized, and she find hopes in life through doing what she loves. She is now in a position to cope and overcome the life most challenges that initially she had no strength to fight. The author demonstrates that it’s hard for one to cope with life without a family it’s the case is now different for Mikage since the kitchen has given her hope. To remain healthy, and have hope for a better tomorrow is crucial to have a good family that will comfort and strength someone when they are hard hit by life.
Besides, Yoshimoto also shows the importance of the family through a negative view of the consumerism since she thinks it’s another factor which negatively affects a family.

Consumerism is global; it occur every part of the world. It’s viewed as the social movement where people buy goods in excess just to find pleasure and enjoy life. It happens mostly in the western world though it still happens in the Japan as put forward in the novel. Yoshimoto has dealt with the theme of consumerism in many in many instances; it is more evident in the purchase of the juicer as well as the word processor. It has led Mike to believe that the Japanese have the taste in buying the new things. However, the authors also emphasize on the negative aspect of the consumerism through some of the impacts it has on Japanese tradition and culture. It’s through it that people have no value and the respect for the family. Due to their busy life, they find no time to spend with their families.

Moreover, the context in which this book was written demonstrates that Japan is going through the financial affluence as well as the greatest boom since it is during the postwar period, much of the financial affluence had been caused by the consumerism in Japan. The author seem to be biased on this theme, despite the benefits consumerism has had on Japan, Yoshimoto goes ahead to give it a negative

connotation.
It is apparent that in this novel, the author deems the family very important in the life of everyone. To achieve it, she employs the many literary devices like juxtaposition, symbolism, diction and other. These devices have been used to bring out the element of support, comfort, prominence; love and responsibility are found in an ideal family. He depicts a family has very important, and the individual should count themselves lucky to have one.