Banana Fish and the Reality of Power: When Fiction Mirrors the World

I just finished re-reading Banana Fish, and it made me think deeply about the things happening in our world today. The issues that have appeared in recent headlines, including cases like the Epstein files and other instances of powerful individuals abusing their authority, feel disturbingly similar to what the story portrays. The core of the story is about power. Political power, economic power, sexual power. It examines how systems protect predators and weaponize vulnerable youth. The romance is important, yes, but it is not the point. It is the contrast. It shows what genuine connection looks like in a world built on exploitation.

What struck me the most is how relevant Ash’s character remains. He was not just a bystander to corruption; he was trapped within it. He was exploited, controlled, and treated as something to be used by influential men who relied on their status and connections to avoid consequences. In many ways, Ash reflects the reality of victims who are pulled into abusive networks and forced to survive within systems designed to silence them. His strength does not erase his trauma, and that is what makes his character so painfully real.

Reading it again truly broke my heart. It was difficult to go through certain parts because of how heavy they felt, yet it also clarified things for me about how power operates in real life. The story does not romanticize suffering; it exposes it. The fact that the author understood and portrayed these dynamics nearly forty years ago makes the work even more powerful. It feels less like fiction and more like a mirror we are still forced to look into.