A Family Supper

Little is known about the unnamed narrator of “A Family Supper.” He is not physically described, but Ishiguro provides small details about his character throughout the work. At the beginning of the story, the narrator returns to native Japan after many years abroad. His return comes too late, two years after his mother’s death. Both Kikuko and his father talk to him about his estrangement from the family. Kikuko tells him that their mother never blamed him for leaving them but, instead, blamed herself for not raising him correctly. The narrator’s father, on the other hand, suggests that the narrator’s refusal to return home caused her to take her own life from disappointment. The narrator tries to defend himself from his father’s accusation, insisting that his mother could not have expected him to stay in Japan forever. The narrator and his father struggle to connect and communicate, unable to linger on difficult conversations. They are quick to lapse into silence or to change the topic to something mundane, like toy ships, tea, or the weather. Though the narrator does not voice his guilt for staying away, he also doesn’t agree to stay in Japan. The narrator’s small actions in the story betrays his feelings.