Light And Darkness, By Banana Yoshimoto

To illustrate the contrast of light and darkness, Banana Yoshimoto begins with detailing Hiiragi as radiant and glowing. Hiiragi, although still reeling from the sudden deaths of both his girlfriend and his brother, seemed to always be “gaily illuminated” (Yoshimoto, 120) and often “smiled brightly” (118), especially during scenes where Satsuki appeared. Hiiragi’s “bright eyes” and “childlike” personality reference Yoshimoto’s portrayal of him as a character of innocence. Yoshimoto continues to develop this portrayal by utilizing satire through the narrator’s point-of-view to explain Hiiragi’s seemingly “immature” and “odd” (122) decision to wear a uniform in grievance of his deceased girlfriend. As immaturity and childhood innocence are often perceived as symbolic definitions of the concept of light, Yoshimoto constructs, through evocation, a radiance around Hiiragi. This radiance seems to temporarily protect Hiiragi from the metaphorical darkness of the grief yearning to set in. In Japanese culture, grief is expected to be concealed and not to be publicly displayed. The radiance protecting Hiiragi can be seen as a sort of armor as it shields him from darkness of the area around him.