Multicultural Literature. Juliet Kono’s “Sashimi” Poem Essay (Critical Writing)

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Seemingly simple at first sight Juliet Kono’s poem Sashimi suggests more themes for the reader’s consideration than a mere preparing and eating a fish dish. Through the use of this metaphor, the author makes some observations on the differences between Eastern and Western cultures. Not only the Japanese dish with its ingredients speaks for the Western identity but the carefulness and even scrupulosity with which it is prepared and eaten separates the two worlds.

One can hardly imagine an American who cares so much about what he or she is eating. With all the fast-food facilities that the Western world of food is crammed with people living there cannot be so demanding to what they eat. The details with which the author describes the way how she puts the ingredients speak for the Eastern people’s character trait of being extremely cautious to everything they cope with.

The process of eating is a significant ceremony in the Eastern world that is based on certain principles that are historically maintained and rules that are carefully followed, whereas the Western people feel free during eating. The speaker seems to anticipate this ritual and lets nobody but the one spoken to into it. We believe that the one to who the poem is addressed is a representative of the Western world, the author calls him/her like “you”; this person, going by the author, calls eating primitive. This might imply that the Western people might consider the Eastern traditions primitive but the voice of the ancestors the author speaks about reminds the reader that history cannot be neglected. She states: “Soon you will come to appreciate/the years/behind my palate” (Kono 90).

We are inclined to believe that this means that the Eastern world is proud of preserving its traditions and the author believes that one day these traditions will become the heritage of the whole world.

Works Cited

Kono, Juliet S. “Sashimi.” Hilo Rains Bamboo Ridge Press. 1988: 89-90.

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