Scattered All Over the Earth

Knut, the other protagonist of Scattered All Over the Earth, also narrates three chapters of the novel, and while Hiruko and others provide the experiences of immigrants and refugees in Europe, Knut has the experience of someone who is ethnically Danish. Knut is a linguist who is losing his passion for his field. He feels a lack of innovation and excitement until he sees Hiruko on the panel of a TV program: “I had to meet this woman. Not only meet her, but stay close to her if I could, and see where she went from here. I’d never felt this way before” (8). In Hiruko, Knut sees an opportunity to witness someone speaking a soon-to-be-extinct language for the first time in years, and he makes it his mission to help her find another native speaker so that she can communicate with them. His approach to language is one most interested in diversity and the interaction of unique language speakers. In fact, he builds strong relationships with people who do not speak the same mother tongue as himself, finding kinship in their differences and the passion of their search. The one other character in the novel whose native tongue is also Danish, his mother, is the one person he does not get along with.

Knut often avoids his mother, not wanting to tell her about what is happening in his life and refusing to spend time with her. He has had an antagonistic relationship with her since childhood. This is partly because he resents the attention she pays to Nanook and partly because he feels a need to break free of her authority to become independent. Their shared language becomes just another obstacle to his independence: “Because I’d been speaking the same language as my mother since I was a child, I always had the nasty feeling that no matter what I said I’d still be just a part of her. And now she was angry, so I knew she’d say things that would directly attack my nerves” (217-28). Knut feels a connection with his mother through Danish that is not forged but forced. While he forms and strengthens relationships with others through their different languages, he feels as though the common Danish between his mother and himself bonds them in a way that feels oppressive. He also believes that their lifelong communication gives his mother a familiarity with him that allows her to know the deepest parts of him and attack him with precision and impunity. In this way, language stands as the primary way in which Knut builds friendships and also suffers through toxic relationships.

Akash is the third narrator of the novel and is a student from Pune, India studying in Trier. She is very perceptive and caring, developing an intense crush on Knut that impacts how she approaches the group and their mission. Akash is a transgender woman, which draws extra attention from many Europeans as she is also an immigrant. Akash uses clothing as a means of expressing both gender and cultural identity: “Ever since I decided to live as a woman I’ve been wearing saris of varying shades of red when I go out. Not that I’m intentionally dressing Indian, but as German women of my generation hardly ever wear skirts I didn’t want to wear one myself. And if I wore trousers as they do, I’d simply look like a man” (38). An interesting aspect of this approach is that Akash does not wear traditional Indian clothing because of an allegiance to Indian culture but rather because of the cultural differences between women’s fashion in Germany and India. It is much easier for her to dress as a woman with Indian clothing than German, showing how the cultural differences that the characters encounter in the novel are not all along linguistic lines.

Akash’s commitment to the group and Knut in particular manifests in a close perception of each member. She can see deep into the personalities of those around her and discern who they truly are—a skill that may grow out of her own experience, as she has built an identity for herself by paying close attention to who she is rather than accepting the identities placed on her by the outside world. In Chapter 10, when Akash comes to the restaurant, Knut is in the midst of an argument with his mother. Akash, despite having intense feelings for Knut, declares that Knut needs no woman in his life: “Knut, you don’t need a woman. What you’ve got to have is lots of friends to walk with you. You’ll probably never marry. Or have children, either. You are a man of the future, who doesn’t need sex” (218). Akash sees Knut for who he is and declares that despite others’ expectations, Knut does not need a lover or a romantic relationship in his life, as he is more fulfilled by the friends he has and the mission they are on. Despite her feelings for him, Akash acts unselfishly by declaring this and supporting Knut in his argument with his mother. Akash understands that for Knut to be happy, he must separate from his mother’s expectations and pursue his own passions, demonstrating her acute ability to read others.

Nora, another narrator, is the love interest of Nanook and one of the many sidekicks that Hiruko and Knut collect on their travels. Like Knut, Nora is originally from Europe, living in Trier, Germany. She and Nanook form a relationship after she discovers him injured in the tunnels, where she spends a lot of mental energy trying to discern his identity and background. Nora makes assumptions about Nanook’s identity on his physical appearance and her own internalized expectations, something that goes against her values: “[T[he ankle of someone as mysterious as a coyote. Comparing a person with exotic looks to an animal is unforgivably prejudiced of me” (70). Nora is a caring person who does her best to not let prejudices influence her. This informs her relationship with Nanook, who she believes is Tenzo, as she tries to respect and support his place in European culture. She has strong feelings for him and tries to help him make a place for himself in an often racist society. This commitment is strong and is tested more than once throughout the novel.

In Oslo, when Akash, Hiruko, and Nora find Nanook and he admits to them that his name is not Tenzo and that he is not from the “land of sushi,” Nora is rattled. However, her commitment to him prevails, and she understands that he is still the same person even as the story of his background changes: “‘I think I can go on loving him,’ she said, ‘but it still hurts, being lied to. Besides, now my head is full of Greenland, a place I’d never even thought of before. The world map in my head is shifting around, and it’s giving me a headache.’” (130). Despite her disorientation, she shows a genuine desire to better understand him and expand her understanding of the world.

Nanook, one of the many narrators of the novel, undergoes a similar journey as Hiruko in the sense that he travels across Europe searching for a greater identity. When he initially comes to Denmark, he finds that those who correctly identify him as an Indigenous Greenlander often ignore or belittle him as a result. However, occasionally, others will misidentify him as being from the “land of sushi,” and these people often approach him with great interest, believing that he possesses esoteric wisdom. As this happens more frequently, Nanook decides to pursue it: “But even if it was based on a misunderstanding, her interest in me, and the way she kept asking me all these questions, felt pretty good. Being singled out as an exotic was a lot more fun than being neutral, just another Eskimo everyone ignored” (98). Nanook enjoys this mistake because people see him as interesting when they believe he is from a vanished nation rather than from a former colony. He begins researching and crafting a new identity under the name Tenzo, to feel as though he has a real identity that people will be interested in and engage with. This leads down his path of working with sushi, and as more and more people make the mistake, he lets them. Even his love interest, Nora, believes that he is from the “land of sushi” and he never corrects her.

Throughout the novel, Nanook feels conflicted and unsure of what he wants. Despite gaining some freedom after language school, crafting a new identity, traveling around working in sushi shops, and meeting Nora, he does not feel fulfilled. He runs from Nora, hiding in Oslo, wanting some distance and more independence. When all the characters meet in Arles, and both Nora and Inga yell at Nanook, Knut steps in to defend him: “Attacking Nanook makes no sense. So cut it out, why don’t you. He isn’t running away, he’s looking for something” (215). While almost everyone in his life considers Nanook’s actions to be those of someone fleeing from responsibilities and other people, Knut recognizes that Nanook is searching for something. He wants to find a more stable and interesting identity, a life centered around his own interests and passions. For a long time, he has operated under the expectations of others, such as going to college and pretending to want to pursue a degree that others believe will be good for him. However, once he begins researching dashi, he feels a stronger connection to his work and feels more confident in his own identity.

Susanoo, the final narrator of Scattered All Over the Earth, is in many ways the foil to Hiruko. The two share many similar experiences, such as growing up in the “land of sushi” and coming to Europe as students. Additionally, neither returned, and now that their country no longer exists, they are refugees adrift with no compatriots around. However, whereas Hiruko actively seeks out someone to speak with in their native tongue, Susanoo remains alone and even loses his voice: “I had lost my voice, and that was depressing. I still had language. I could understand what the people around me said...But when I tried to imitate the sounds and say the words myself, no sound came out. My German had dried up, too” (182). Though Susanoo can still understand others, his ability to express language is gone and he cannot communicate. He spends years in silence, slowly fading, and when Hiruko finally finds him, she asks if he does not see language the same way she does. She wants to speak to preserve not only the language but also herself, and she fears that to not speak is to decay.

Though Susanoo is not featured in the novel as much as the other characters, his role is just as important, as he demonstrates that communication does not solely depend on language. Though he stays silent for years, at the very end of the novel, he gets up and makes a speech: “Just then, Susanoo floated to his feet like a weightless ghost and started to make a long speech. His mouth opened and closed, his lips pursed and spread, his Adam’s apple rose and fell, but I didn’t hear his voice” (218). Susanoo speaks to the group, though he does not make any actual sound. Having been silent for so long, he still remembers how to form the words but cannot produce the necessary expression. However, despite the continued silence, everyone in the group understands him, demonstrating an ability to communicate without sound. In many ways, despite being the silent foil to Hiruko, Susanoo demonstrates Hiruko’s belief in the importance of unique communication. Susanoo’s final speech shows that a conversation does not need two fluent speakers to be meaningful.