“Coming Home Again” response: c. what’s the importance of food in this essay?
This story was so real…about a man whose family is united through his mother, who dies of stomach cancer and the family seems to fall apart.
Lee shares the food his mother cooks throughout the story as the symbolism of his mother’s tool to keep the family together. Lee knows that even when he is at boarding school, knowing he hates to be with his parents when he tastes his mother’s food he feels happy. Lee felt he bonded with his mother when he watched her cook this food was the force that brought the family together.
Everyone had their own seat at the dining table, this was the time the family came together in order. Lee’s mother always sat next to the stove as he mentioned in the story, his father on her right, on his father’s right he sat Chang-Rae Lee and then his sister sat to the right of him. The table filled with food and plates, everything seeming right as they ate and conversed together.
When Lee’s mother was stricken with cancer and could no longer sit and eat the food with the family they seemed to separate, especially after she died his sister moved back out of the house. Lee stayed in the house with his father and they continued sharing the meals now Lee made from watching his mother all those years. Nothing seemed the same, he states the color of the food was wrong and so was the taste…the touch of his mother was gone, he realized she was more than the family cook, she was their bond that kept them as a family unit, that connected them through food she made everything taste delectable.
Hi Daye,
ReplyDeleteYour point about the symbolic meaning of the food is insightful! Your observations of the family after his mother's death are keen; the family seems to fall apart after her death and the food isn't quite right.
The narrator is cooking and eating his mother's dishes, but the meaning given that food is so much more than sustenance; the food is his mother, love, family, and culture and it's associated with loving memories of his mother. He's attempting to keep her alive through the food.
I agree that the story is real. The writer works diligently to make his experience real for his audience. The descriptions he provides are meant to re-create the experience for us, so we can experience it too.
Thanks for your insights.
Take care,
Lauren
I really enjoyed your post. I answered the same question and came up with a similar response but quit different. You gave me some other things to think about the reading such as after the mom died the food just wasn't the same. Also, it gave me more insight as to how close this family really was such as how they all had their designated and assigned seats at the dinner table.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing,
Dina
Hi Daye,
ReplyDeleteYour use of the word "symbolism" really shows how important food was to this family. Everyone in this world learns their culture through symbols, wether it's written, sung, or performed. In Lee's case, his mother performed by cooking, and passing along a way for the family to bond.
Thanks,
Carrie Mac
Hello, I love the way you pointed out that the symbol for the mother was the food you made. yes she the middle of it all, she connected everyone. The food she made, had the family inseparable. This story was touching, and the things you stated made it meaningful!
ReplyDeleteThankS, Lesley