Deep Dive Explanation of 'Food for the Wastebasket' for the Curious

At first glance, this work is

a story about a man trying to write a letter to his father

.

However, it is also

a story about how, in trying to understand his father through words, he ends up losing him instead

.

And furthermore,

it is a tale of a person suffering from the gap between memory and reality

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1. The theme of this novel is not 'father' but 'words'

Many people, while reading, think,

.

Of course, that is also correct.

However, what is tormenting Saku-chan is not the father himself.

He repeatedly says,

• Father

• Father

• Dad

The character repeats these ways of addressing him.

Why is that?

It is because,

they thought that by changing the words, they could understand their father

.

However,

changing how they address him changes nothing.

In fact, the father's image becomes increasingly blurred.

In other words, the author is depicting the fact that,

.

2. The dictionary is a 'symbol of knowledge'

Saku-chan opens many dictionaries.

Normally,

if you don't understand a word, looking it up in a dictionary solves the problem.

For example,

• gravity

• cell

• Democracy

and the like can be understood by reading the explanation.

However,

"Father"

is different.

In the dictionary,

there is only a general explanation of a father.

The reason is that what Saku-chan wants to know is

not fathers around the world, but her own father

.

This is important.

There are things that can be explained by knowledge,

and things that cannot be explained by knowledge.

A father is the latter.

3. Why do memories fade away?

What is impressive in the work is that

the more one tries to remember their father,

the more the father's image fades away.

This is a phenomenon close to actual human memory.

When you try to remember things from the past,

You might remember only the events,

• voice

• scent

• expression

while they fade away.

Saku-chan, too,

remembers the color of the kimono and the tabi socks.

But he cannot recall the face.

In other words, he,

does not possess the father himself,

but only the 'traces' of his father.

4. The true nature of 'unforgivable'

There is a question that appears many times in the work.

However, Saku-chan cannot answer.

Because,

he doesn't even know what he is angry about.

This is a very human psychology.

As time passes,

You forget the reason you were angry.

But only the scars remain.

For example,

someone who was bullied in the past,

might remember only the pain even after forgetting the details.

Saku-chan is the same.

The anger toward her father,

remains even after losing its reason.

5. The meaning of 'Know that not knowing words is a shame'

This is the greatest irony of this work.

The young Saku-chan wrote in her dictionary,

she wrote.

In other words,

she believed that if she learned words,

she could understand the world.

In fact,

Saku-chan is a writer.

She is a professional with words.

However,

Now that I have mastered language,

the only person I cannot understand is the father I want to understand most.

In other words, the author is

posing such a cruel question.

That is what it means.

6. The true meaning of the title 'Food for the Wastebasket'

If you read it normally,

it is just that a failed letter was thrown into the trash can.

However, symbolically, it has a deeper meaning.

Saku-chan

• read the dictionary

• read books

• searched through memories

• wrote letters

and tried to understand her father in every way possible.

But what remained in the end was

the paper thrown into the trash can.

In other words,

even the feelings she had held onto for ten years

Once put into words, it becomes trash.

That is what 'Trash Can Fodder' is.

7. Why Iyo-san's remark is so intense

The end.

Saku-chan collapses.

And the next morning.

She is stirring a pot that contains nothing but tofu.

Then Iyo-san says to her:

In fact, this one remark turns the entire work upside down.

Because,

Saku-chan had been struggling with

• father

• memory

• words

the whole time.

However, Iyo-san,

skips all of that and speaks only to the essence.

That is what she says.

In short,

the pain of not being able to understand her father,

and the pain of not being able to write the letter,

are ultimately Saku-chan's own problems.

These words,

pull Saku-chan back to reality.

What this novel is truly depicting

If I were to summarize it in one sentence for the curious,

this work is

a story about how 'even if you know many words, you cannot easily understand the people who are important to you'

.

And if I may take it one step further,

it is also 'a story about facing the sadness of how people want to remember those they have lost, yet they forget them anyway.'

.

That is why 'Trash Can Bait' is a story about a father, but at the same time,

a novel that depicts memory, language, regret, and the limitations of humanity

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