Our search for who we are is powered by a need to find a place in the world in which we belong. The two comparative texts, Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and The Vanishing Act (TVA) by Mette Jakobsen, famous Bildungsroman, unveil the idea of a sense of belonging and how it is shaped by the quality of an individual's interpersonal relationships. Both texts position the reader to understand that a perception of connection must exist before the achievement of individual autonomy and an awareness of personal identity, and that the attainment of these is entirely dependent on strong and supportive relationships.
In Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto explores the damaging impact of sudden loss on an individual’s sense of self; reflecting that an individual’s fear of loneliness is crucial to re-evaluate who they are and their treasured relationships. The protagonist Mikage Sakura has experienced loss throughout her whole life but is not afflicted profoundly until …show more content…
Twelve-year-old Minou finds the body of a young boy washed up the shore and believes that he will explain the mysterious disappearance of her mother a year earlier. Through the simile, “His eyes looked sad, like the ocean before a big storm.” (Jakobsen, 2011, P. 21) Jakobsen strategically reflected Minou’s experience towards her mother’s disappearance using the dead boy as a symbol of melancholy, exhibiting not only the child’s perception of isolation, but also the consequence that affected her idiosyncrasy. The use of olfactory imagery and oxymoron in the quote, “… had learned that the world had other ways of breaking… Sick sweet. Like old rose on a breeze,” (Jakobsen, 2011, P. 64) emphasises her sudden realisation of her isolated