critical essay

• Her father embarked at sunrise, with a flask of water, a samurai sword in the cockpit, a shaven head full of powerful incantations
• But half way there, she thought, recounting later to her children, he must have looked far down at the little fishing boats strung out like bunting on a green-blue translucent sea
• Remembered how he and his brothers waiting on the shore built cairns of pearl-grey pebbles to see whose withstood the longest the turbulent inrush of breakers
• safe to the shore, salt sodden, awash with cloud-marked mackerel, black crabs, feathery prawns, the loose silver of white bait and once a tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous.
• And though he came back my mother never spoke again in his presence nor did she meet his eyes and the neighbours too they treated him as though he no longer existed.
• Till gradually we too learned to be silent, to live as though he had never returned, that this was no longer the father we loved. And sometimes, she said, he must have wondered which had been the better way to die.
• embarked at sunrise - patriotism, Japan is known as the land of the rising sun, he is starting a new chapter of his life
• samurai sword - the sword is symbolism of the Japanese code of honour
• a shaven head full of powerful incantations - he is under the spell of patriotism, he is not making his own decisions; he would want to keep living
• but - hesitation to go through with his mission
• she though - she is filling in the gaps
• later to her children - oral storytelling
• bunting - symbolising the honour and celebration he will bring to his family and community
• green-blue translucent sea - connotations of peace and tranquillity in the colour imagery, he doesn't want to deny himself or those he will kill the beauty of nature and the preciousness of life, associating nature with precious things
• little fishing boats - the beauty of the fishing boats is ironic because he is supposed to be looking out for warships
• remembered how he and his brothers waiting on the shore - the pilot begins to reminisce, suggests a realisation of the importance and value of life
• built cairns, to see whose withstood longest the turbulent inrush of breakers - a simplistic memory, this suggests appreciation for thee small things in life that may have seemed insignificant, now they are everything to him
• turbulent - reflects his current state of mind, he has realised he no longer wants to carry out this mission and has to make a decision about what to do
• pearl-grey pebbles - another image of a precious gem, emphasising his growing understanding of how precious life is and the beauty of nature