A Family Supper

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Hannah Hughes English 210 Professor Debrot 10/22/12 Last Supper In Japanese culture, the most respected way to die with diginity after failure in life is through suicide. In the short story, 'A Family Supper' by Kazuo Ishiguro, the father has had a difficult time adjusting to his wife's untimely death, and is struggling to accept the fact his children are leaving him. Since he feels out of control in his situation, the father decides to commit suicide with his children, withouth their knowledge. In the beginning of the story, the reader is quick to learn about the collapse of the father's firm. He had the firm for seventeen years, along with a partner by the name of Wantabe. Wishing to avoid disgrace, Wantabe killed himself. It isn't until the brother talks to his sister, Kikuko, when the brother finds out that Wantabe killed not only himself, but “he took his whole family with him. His wife and his two little girls.” The brother replies, “Father was just telling me how Wantabe was a man of principle.” The father reassures the son throughout the story about how much he idolized Wantabe. He mentions that “Wantabe was very devoted to his work” and that he was “a man of priniciple and honour. I respected him very much.” Since the father greatly valued Wantabe, he could have been influenced by Wantabe to reciprocate his actions. Next, the children's behavior does not meet the expectations of the father. The son has been living in California for quite some time, and the sister, Kikuko, has been at a university in Osaka. While this appears to be a good start for the children, the father is having a hard time accepting the fact that his children's generation does not strictly follow Japanese culture. Clearly, he would prefer for his children to live at home and keep a stronghold on their traditional customs, but both of his children are doing the opposite. The

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