The Book of Form and Emptiness

The Book of Form and Emptiness follows the contrasting ways that Annabelle and Benny cope with the loss of Kenji. The intimate emotional landscape of a family and the repercussions of a sudden change are explored through both externalized and internalized grieving, with Annabelle and Benny embodying opposite strategies. Because Annabelle and Benny are struggling to maintain their relationship and their individual lives, these conflicting forms of grief become the main conflict of the novel. Only when Annabelle and Benny accept Kenji’s death through a ritual Zen Buddhist blessing do they are reconnect as a family.

For the first year after Kenji dies, Benny hears a single voice coming from the box that holds Kenji’s ashes. His later statement to Slavoj of having a “phantom father,” similar to phantom limb syndrome, reinforces that Benny continues to feel his father’s presence in his life. As Benny’s coping mechanisms become increasingly internalized through the overwhelming voices of objects that fight for his attention, Benny proceeds through the stages of grief while simultaneously self-isolating from his mother, school, and his support community. Only when Benny gains confidence in his creative abilities and recognizes his own agency can he quiet the voices and help Annabelle with her own grief. This shift in attitude signals Benny’s full acceptance of Kenji’s death. He continues to hear some low-level voices, which represents the fact that Benny will never fully forget his father. He is much calmer about his relationship to the voices and accepts his new family dynamic.

Annabelle’s grief manifests in external ways, primarily through hoarding. Because Benny is plagued by the voices of inanimate objects, Annabelle’s coping mechanisms causes a direct conflict with her son. She struggles to understand her role as a mother following Kenji’s passing. She must readjust to his absence and fill in the role that Benny expects her to fill, such as remembering to buy milk for Benny’s cereal, which had always been Kenji’s job (49). Her estrangement from Benny coincides with his developing maturity and transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, as well as his struggle with his own grief.

Despite the medical help that Benny receives at Pedipsy, and despite Annabelle’s attempts to clean up her home and help Benny, they remain in a stalemate, in which neither is moving past their grief or mending their relationship with one another. In fact, as the narrative progresses, each gets worse. They have to accept the help of other people in their lives to heal: Aikon provides the catalyst that reunites Benny and Annabelle through blessing Kenji’s ashes; Cory helps Annabelle return to the library, and Alice and Slavoj help Benny discover his creativity and maturity. The novel’s lesson is that, everyone deals with grief differently—there is no “right” way to grieve—but to get through it, people must accept the help of their loved ones and community.