Scattered All Over the Earth

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-5

Chapters 6-7

Chapters 8-10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 6-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 6 Summary: “Hiruko Speaks (Two)”

Hiruko arrives in Oslo, and after some fuss at the border desk because of her passport, she is allowed in. Once in the city, she asks for directions to Shinise Fuji, the real name of the restaurant she previously called “Nise-Fuji.” When she arrives at the restaurant, no one from the group is there and Tenzo is not around. She asks for a hotel and is pointed to a nearby hostel. After checking into the hostel, she returns to the restaurant and finds Nora. They sit inside, but Hiruko cannot keep up with all Nora has to say about Tenzo and excuses herself to the bathroom. When she returns, Tenzo is there, speaking with Nora. Hiruko introduces herself to Tenzo, and they speak in her native tongue. She notices, however, that he speaks with an accent and like a foreigner.

Nora leaves them to speak and goes to book a room at the hostel. Hiruko asks Tenzo why he speaks differently, implying that he is falsely presenting himself as someone from the “land of sushi.” He admits that he is faking it and that his real name is Nanook. He explains that he is from Greenland and that his time working in sushi restaurants made his act easier. He tells Hiruko that though he lied, he never lied to Nora, and just let her believe what she wanted to believe. At Hiruko’s encouragement, he decides to tell Nora the truth and is happy when she thanks him for giving her someone to speak with.

Akash arrives at the restaurant, having been asked to come by Knut. She explains that Knut’s mother, whose surrogate son from Greenland is missing, bought herself a ticket to Oslo to be with Knut for emotional support. Knut did not want to see his mother and had asked Akash to take his place, paying for the ticket. Hiruko explains to Akash who Tenzo really is, introducing Nanook. Akash grows angry at the deception, but when Nora returns, Hiruko and Akash step out to give Nanook the time and space to admit the truth.

Nora soon joins them, and everyone agrees to return to the restaurant at ten the next morning for the contest. When Hiruko asks Nora how she feels about Nanook’s deception, Nora tells her that although she is hurt, she believes that she can still love Nanook. She also explains that Nanook’s travel troubles stem from a recent terrorist attack in which a racist ultranationalist detonated a bomb in a government building, killing many young Norwegians.

The next morning, Nora and Hiruko return to the restaurant and meet a frantic Nanook and Akash. The contest is canceled when the host is accused of killing a whale. The contest is meant to feature whale meat, a traditional dish in Norwegian culture. However, a dead whale with no external injuries washes up on shore that very same morning, leading many to believe that Breivik, the nationalist contest host, killed the whale. The police bring in Breivik for questioning and soon ask to speak with Nanook. Akash, Nora, and Hiruko go with Nanook to the police station and witness a large protest outside, as the hunting of whales is very unpopular. Despite their anxieties, Nanook is declared innocent and released.

Chapter 7 Summary: “Knut Speaks (2)”

Knut is getting ready to fly to Oslo when his mother calls him the night before his flight and asks to have dinner with him. When he refuses, she attempts to manipulate him by claiming to be sick. Knut agrees to buy her groceries and goes over, seeing that she is fine. He remains secretive about his trip to Oslo. She expresses concern for the student from Greenland whom she was hosting and who vanished while on a vacation trip across Europe, but he quickly accuses her of having an overbearing savior complex toward the student.

When Knut returns home from dinner, his mother calls to tell him that she will join him in Oslo. She wants to visit an old friend in the city. He makes excuses as to why he cannot see her on the trip, saying he has research and that he even has a girlfriend he will be with. She remains undaunted, saying that he will have to introduce her to his girlfriend when they get dinner the next night. Even though he desperately wants to witness Hiruko speak her language for the first time in years when she meets Tenzo, he cancels his trip to avoid his mother. He offers the trip to Akash, saying that he will transfer everything over, even though this means buying a new ticket.

The next morning, Knut’s mother calls from the airport, wondering where he is. He tells her that he took an earlier flight to the city and gives her a random hotel name for where he is staying. He remains vague about his availability, saying he will be busy. When he hangs up, he settles down on the couch and watches a show about the influence of Hokusai’s ukiyo-e prints on the French impressionist painter Claude Monet. Knut learns that, wishing to paint Mount Fuji, Monet went to Oslo and painted Mount Kolsass instead.

Akash texts Knut to tell him about Tenzo’s true identity as Nanook. She notes that despite the deception, Hiruko is doing well and thinks that the distinction between native and non-native speakers is not as important as she once considered. Knut also begins thinking about the distinctions between native and non-native speakers, noting that the grammar and vocabulary of non-native speakers are often more developed because of the process by which they learn the language. While they may learn through textbooks, native speakers often learn and mimic those around them, not always following the standard conventions of the language. When Knut sees reports of terrorism on TV, he reaches out to Akash but hears nothing back. Akash soon calls back to leave a voicemail assuring Knut that everyone is fine. Knut thinks of Monet’s water lilies and compares their fractured colors to the beauty and pain of Hiruko’s Panska. His mother calls again, asking about dinner and Knut lies, saying that he had to fly back to Copenhagen for a symposium he forgot to attend.

The next day, Knut feels as though he remembers learning about Monet and Mount Fuji before the program and searches through magazines, finding an article about how underwater seismic blasts, meant to find oil beneath the seabed, are deafening whales and dolphins. As a result, their language goes unheard and, with no communication, they begin dying. He calls Akash, hoping to speak with Hiruko, but she tells Knut that Hiruko is already home. She gives Knut her work number and tells him that they all agreed to go to Arles at the end of the month, to search for Susanoo, who Nanook tells them about. Knut tries to reach Hiruko at work multiple times before finally catching her. She takes the day off but comes in to prepare for her upcoming classes. She tells him of the trip, of speaking with Nanook, and of finding her own Mount Fuji in Norway.

Chapters 6-7 Analysis

Hiruko spends much of the novel trying to find someone who shares her native tongue, and though she places much of her hopes on Nanook, she is ultimately let down. Her disappointment does not last long, however, as Hiruko comes to realize that sharing her language, even if the other person is not a native speaker, gives her meaning: “‘I’m really glad I met you, though,’ I went on. ‘It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand everything I say. I feel as if these words I’m saying aren’t just a meaningless flood of sounds, but a real language. And that’s because you’re here” (125). In Nanook, Hiruko has finally found someone to hear her speak in her native language. Thus, his “inauthentic” performance of identity has given Hiruko an authentic way to get back in touch with a part of her own identity that she could no longer access. Though Nanook is not as knowledgeable or fluent as Hiruko, his ability to understand some of what she says opens a new door for her. With the notion of Language as a Source of Identity, Hiruko has built her own identity around her mother tongue and Panska. However, with no one to talk with and no one to even listen and understand her when she speaks her native language, that part of her has begun to disappear. She believed for so long that she needed to speak with another native speaker to give her language meaning and protect that aspect of her identity, but when the moment comes and does not produce such a person, she still finds satisfaction. Nanook represents possibility, and an outlet for Hiruko, as he gives meaning and structure to her words.

The contest Nanook is set to take part in is canceled—a moment that further satirizes the fetishization of cultural authenticity. The contest’s host, a Norwegian ultranationalist named Breivik (a surname he shares with the real-life ultranationalist terrorist Anders Behring Breivik), advertises an event featuring whale meat, with Nanook as the chef. Killing whales for food is a long-standing cultural practice in Norway, but as the whales are now endangered, it has become illegal to hunt them. Breivik’s decision to use whale meat is a deliberate provocation intended to assert the primacy of his notion of cultural authenticity over any environmental concerns: “It was difficult even for ultranationalists like Breivik to explain the difference between Norway’s traditional values and those of other European countries. In fact, Norway’s long relationship with whales was about its only distinguishing feature” (132). This performative stubbornness is one response to Cultural Hybridity and Cultural Erasure. With globalization erasing many of the cultural distinctions between nations and instead crafting a broader continental, European identity, the use of whale meat stands as one of the few distinctions left as every other distinction has been shown to be an illusion. Even so, pressure from the rest of the world threatens the tradition, as judgment from more dominant cultures seeks to stop the hunting of whales.

The episode with the whale impacts the characters not only because of the cancelation of the contest but also because of the attention it brings to Nanook. The contest is canceled because a dead whale washes up on shore and Breivik is suspected of having killed it for the contest. Nanook, as a contestant, is called in for questioning, and Hiruko worries about how his identity as an immigrant may impact his treatment: “We may be sure he had nothing to do with the whale’s death, but immigrants always have to worry about being arrested for some silly reason or other. So it’s best for him to have friends around him” (133). Hiruko recognizes how in this situation, The Stress of Diaspora, is very high for Nanook. As an immigrant with no permanent residence in Norway, he is on shaky legal ground, and if there is any suspected activity by him, he is likely to be held under more severe scrutiny and punishment. With this happening in the aftermath of a terrorist attack, and with ultranationalist fervor rising, it is a scary situation for Nanook to be in, and the others recognize that he needs support, not only in case something goes wrong but also to show Nanook that he is not alone.