The passage I’m going to talk about is in page 50[a]. In this page, the dominant theme that captivates the reader’s attention is the death of Eriko. The first apparent issue that comes into this novel is the pain and loneliness the protagonist feels after her parents and her grandmother dies the other day. As years goes [b]by, everything vanishes leaving her alone in tragedy. This passage also illustrates the same death, catastrophe that happened in the first chapter. She torments on her second mother, Eriko’s death, who was killed by a psychotic stalker. Not only [c]Mikage feels the emptiness in her life and the “darkness” the author always mentions throughout the novel, but Yuichi also faces the irresistible depression. He as well becomes the orphan.
The [d]purpose of this passage is to introduce a deeper moral than just a simple death, which is also the main theme of this novel and the reason this book became a famous book in the world. Through the death of Eriko, the author presents a totally different story than a conventional tragedy. The death of their beloved ones eventually tightens their bond, which generates a new theme of love and friendship. Moreover, there is a growth in Mikage’s personality through finding hope and achieving mental recovery. These two themes combines and shows the reader how a catastrophe such as death can be recovered through relationship and families.
The method Yoshimoto uses to illustrate mental recovery is by inputting the “unusualness” that exceeds what the reader expects. In this passage, there is definitely an unusual optimism that arouses from Mikage. After a serious conversation with Yuichi, Mikage relieves the serious atmosphere by comparing her and Yuichi as the “destruction workers[e]”. Mikage radiates a cheerful yet somber feeling to alleviate how much pain she suffered through this process of joking. When Yuichi says he has become an orphan, Mikage replies with an energetic yet mournful tone. She says, “That goes double for me. Not that I’m bragging about it.”
The author is implying that if individual stays with a family; although Yuichi and Mikage is [f]a non-biological family, then he or she can find comfort and hope through being together. Yoshimoto tells us of ways we can and able to [g]handle tragedies and in this case, the optimistic attitude and conversation built up hopes and ways to appreciate the present[h]. In the whole context, the author is mentioning a lot about today’s world, especially about the healing movement in Japan[i].[j]
