Kitchen By Banana Yoshimoto Analysis

In “Kitchen”, Yoshimoto explores how the kitchen becomes an integral part of Mikage’s family. Banana Yoshimoto novella, “Kitchen”, tells the of a girl who is all alone, because every one of her family members have died. However, Mikage soon realizes a new family with Yukichi and Eriko his mother. Yoshimoto delves into the aspect of family through the use of multiple literary devices such as juxtaposition, diction, and symbolism to illustrate what a family really is and not necessarily having to be blood related.

The importance of kitchens, in the novella, “Kitchen”, is constantly being utilized to show how Mikage has formed a family with kitchens. The motif of “Kitchen” is significant in the novella because the title of the book is Kitchen

Mikage was in a “daze”(page 4) after the funeral, and she pulled “her futon into the deathly silent, gleaming kitchen.”(Page 4-5) By the use of this juxtaposition “deathly silent” and “gleaming kitchen” by using the word “gleaming” Yoshimoto conveys kitchens in a positive light. Yoshimoto places these quotes after Mikage has lost her grandma, her last family member who was alive, and through the quotes Yoshimoto wants to convey to the readers that the kitchen has become her new family that comforts her. This is represented

Mikage loved her grandmother and remembered how her “Grandmother loved cut flowers. Because the ones in our kitchen were by not allowed to wilt” (Page 7). This use of symbolism shows that kitchens symbolize life, this is shown through the use of flowers, and flowers connect with nature. This further explains the way that Mikage sees the kitchen as a place of hope. In addition, the summer that Mikage had spent with Yukichi and Eriko, was “summer of bliss in that kitchen”(page 59). This further infers the comfort that Mikage receives when thinking about the time she spent with her new family. This is shown because of the use of the word “bliss”. The kitchen takes on many roles for Mikage in the novel and all the roles Yoshimoto gives the kitchen are responsibilities of a family, which shows that Mikage had found a family from the kitchen. Through the use of symbolism, Yoshimoto wants to convey that Mikage’s love for kitchens is a parallel to how people should love their families. Also, the happiness Mikage gets from kitchens also represents how families make people happy. Therefore, the multiple uses of the kitchen as a place of hope and happiness symbolizes the roles of a