A Family Supper

“A Family Supper,” though short in length, contends with many themes including death, suicide, nostalgia, family, estrangement, and loneliness. The story is set in Japan an untold number of years after the Second World War. The time and geographic setting are left deliberately vague, giving the reader a sense of being unmoored. Without proper markers to help ground readers in specific time periods or spaces in Tokyo, readers are left adrift, forced to make assumptions and connections based on the details given in the text. Ishiguro uses these techniques to make the piece ambiguous. The mood of the work echoes the drifting, wandering nature of the story’s narrator. The narrator has nothing left for him back in California, and yet he appears unwilling to stay in Japan. He is trapped between two different states of being, just like the ghost of his mother that he sees walking through the garden. Ishiguro’s “A Family Supper” is best likened to a glimpse into purgatory. Every character in the story is stuck between two places, torn between disparate paths. The narrator is unsure if he should stay in Japan or return to America, his father is divided between his loneliness and his pride, and Kikuko is torn between being the obedient daughter and pursuing her own dreams.

The story examines the ways in which people fill their lives—with family, relationships, and work—and the emptiness that follows when these things are gone. The father, who is entering a later stage in life, is in a different place emotionally from his children, who are just beginning theirs. Duality is present in “A Family Supper”; the story depicts how things can be similar, yet also impossibly different. Though lacking physical descriptions of the characters, the story uses dialogue to introduce characters to readers. Ishiguro uses a limited first-person perspective but does not offer glimpses into the interior worlds of his characters. Like the narrator, readers must pay close attention to what is both said and unsaid to better understand each character. This use of voice in “A Family Supper” is one example of how Ishiguro deliberately keeps the reader at arm’s length throughout the work.

“A Family Supper” is a story that focuses on popularized aspects of Japanese tradition, such as traditional gender roles, honor killings, and suicide. Ishiguro contrasts the older generation’s way of life with the more modern beliefs and attitudes of the post-war generation. The ghost in the story is symbolic of, not only the narrator’s lost mother, but also of a family, childhood home, and country that he no longer recognizes. Though the title of the short story suggests that a reunion is occurring, through the many conversations that take place throughout the story, it becomes clear that this family has become nothing more than a group of strangers. They know little about each other, and are unable, for the most part, to communicate honestly and say precisely what they mean. Trapped in awkward silences and mundane topics of conversation, none of the characters can dive into the heart of their collective grief. At first glance, the descriptions provided in the short story appear superficial, just as the conversations do.

The illusion of shallowness throughout hints at the wealth of things that have been left unsaid between the members of this family. The discrepancy between what can be seen on the surface and the depth that exists below also touches upon the theme of stereotyping. In “A Family Supper” Ishiguro plays with Western expectations and stereotypes of Japan. Including several objects of Western fascination such as fugu, honor, xenophobia, and misogyny, Ishiguro toys with what a Western reader might expect to see in a work about Japanese culture and heritage. These stylistic choices make for a disconcerting mood for readers, one that borders on sinister. Alongside the prevailing theme of death, the specter of Watanabe’s murder-suicide and family annihilation compel readers to wonder at the father’s true intention for bringing his family back together. The ambiguous nature of the story refuses to answer any questions the reader might have, instead allowing them to plunge the story’s depths for clues.