Fugu Fumble

6 Pages 1399 Words

Kazuo Ishiguro tells us of an exceedingly powerful story. In “A Family Supper,” a young man returns home from California. When he arrives in Japan, his father, who shows great hospitality, welcomes him. The young man soon learns that his mother previously died by eating a poisonous fish called Fugu. His father then tells him that his business collapsed and his partner killed himself. Later, Ishiguro mentions that his father’s business partner killed his wife and his two daughters beforehand through the words of Kikuko, the father’s daughter. The father then prepares dinner while Kikuko and her brother socialize outside in the garden. When the two return inside, the fathers asks Kikuko to help prepare dinner while he takes his son for a tour around the house. The small family then reorganizes to eat a fish diner. During dinner, the son realizes a picture on the wall but does not recognize the woman in it. His father informs him that that is his mother. After a moment of silence, they finish with dinner and retire into the tearoom, where the father and son wait for Kikuko to return with tea. This story psychologically examines the family and their reactions to their mother’s death in contrast to the dinner. The story shows that the father wants his son to live with him and for his daughter to do the same after she is done with school.
The son, who is the protagonist, is the elder of the two children. Ishiguro does not tell us much about him besides he previously lived in California with a woman by the name of Vicki. He is a static character because, throughout the story, there is no hard evidence of him involving into a different person. Though, he is as round as a sphere. The son only shows his emotions through a few words and silence: “‘my mother. You see, its dark. I can’t see very well.’ No one spoke for a few seconds” (470). The son was obviously sorry for not recognizing his own mother, but he ...