Genre
Short story; literary fiction.
Setting and Context
The story takes place over one evening in Kamakura, a city south of Tokyo, and is likely set in the early 1980s.
Narrator and Point of View
The story is narrated by an unnamed first-person narrator; the point of view stays with the narrator.
Tone and Mood
The tone is mournful and restrained; the mood is ominous and haunting.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the narrator; the antagonist is the narrator's father.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in "A Family Supper" is that the narrator is unsure whether he should return to living with his estranged father when their relationship is still damaged by the narrator's refusal to abide by the family's traditional standards.
Climax
The story reaches its climax when the narrator sees a photograph of an old woman in a white kimono and doesn't recognize her as his mother.
Foreshadowing
The narrator's father’s repeated remark of “you must be hungry” foreshadows the dinner of unidentified fish the father will prepare for his son.
