Camparison Symbolism of Objects in Kitchen and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch
BY PEDRO MACE
How symbolic are object and materials in “Kitchen” and “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch”?
Table of Contents
|How symbolic are object and materials in “Kitchen” and “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch”? |1 |
|Bibliography |6 |
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto The Kitchen featured another story entitled Moonlight Shadows and it is easily notable how both stories were about a young woman who had to deal with the loss of an important person in her life as she moves on with the events in the novel. From the creative mind of Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen tells a story of a young woman who lost the only living family she had – her grandmother. To cope with the loneliness, she turned to cooking and to the memories that filled the house she shared with her grandmother. Throughout the novel, numerous items were used to symbolize various concepts, emotions and events that Mikage and the other characters of the story had to deal with. The refrigerator was a significant piece of appliance that belonged to the house where Mikage and her grandmother lived. After the death of her grandmother, Mikage would spend hours just listening to the refrigerator’s vibrating sound. The refrigerator was a reminder to Mikage of the days she spent with her grandmother and how vivid the refrigerator is in her memory of her grandmother. In the kitchen, she feels wrapped in a blanket, like Linus (5). How she would always listen to the refrigerator made the statement in the book, "Truly happy memories always live on, shining. Over time, one by one, they come back to life," easier to understand and appreciate. Through the refrigerator and other items in Mikage had, she was able to bring back to life the happy memories she had with her grandmother. Another significant item in the novel is the “magnificent juicer”
How symbolic are object and materials in “Kitchen” and “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch”?
Table of Contents
|How symbolic are object and materials in “Kitchen” and “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch”? |1 |
|Bibliography |6 |
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto The Kitchen featured another story entitled Moonlight Shadows and it is easily notable how both stories were about a young woman who had to deal with the loss of an important person in her life as she moves on with the events in the novel. From the creative mind of Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen tells a story of a young woman who lost the only living family she had – her grandmother. To cope with the loneliness, she turned to cooking and to the memories that filled the house she shared with her grandmother. Throughout the novel, numerous items were used to symbolize various concepts, emotions and events that Mikage and the other characters of the story had to deal with. The refrigerator was a significant piece of appliance that belonged to the house where Mikage and her grandmother lived. After the death of her grandmother, Mikage would spend hours just listening to the refrigerator’s vibrating sound. The refrigerator was a reminder to Mikage of the days she spent with her grandmother and how vivid the refrigerator is in her memory of her grandmother. In the kitchen, she feels wrapped in a blanket, like Linus (5). How she would always listen to the refrigerator made the statement in the book, "Truly happy memories always live on, shining. Over time, one by one, they come back to life," easier to understand and appreciate. Through the refrigerator and other items in Mikage had, she was able to bring back to life the happy memories she had with her grandmother. Another significant item in the novel is the “magnificent juicer”
Bibliography: Yoshimoto, Banana. Kitchen. Trans. Megan Backus. Washington: Washington Square Press, 1993.