Comparing A Wise Old Woman And Tolstoy's

In both of these stories, “The Wise Old Woman” by Yoshiko Uchida and “The Old Grandfather and His Little Grandson” by Leo Tolstoy, there are characters who mistreat and disrespect others. Eventually, they appear to have a revelation and see what they are doing is wrong. But why did they do these things in the first place? Did they actually gain empathy? Both of these characters had similar motives.
Both are very narcissistic and apathetic. Each takes actions that harm others but benefit them. The son and wife did not want to clean food off the table, so the son treated his father like a dog, despite the father’s implied love. The young lord wanted a strong village, but by achieving this goal, he disregarded the elders’ contributions to the village, brought grief upon families, and killed many innocents. Both did such selfish and awful because they were only considering how their actions affected and benefited them, and gave no thought to how they harmed others.

They both had revelations about life that came about similarly, further proving their self-centeredness.

Each had the realization that they shouldn’t treat elders this way as soon as it affected them. The young lord only decided to treat elders well after one helped him keep his rule on the village, paying no attention to pleas for mercy beforehand. The son and wife were only able to have sympathy for the grandfather after they were faced with the idea of themselves being in that same situation. This shows that both characters are unable to feel sympathy unless a situation affects or if they are threatened with being put in that

situation.
There was a major difference between them, though. The son and wife listened the first time someone expressed the sentiment that what they were doing was unfair. The young lord disregarded all protests from the villagers, either not wanting to consider them, or simply not caring. This shows a tremendous difference in who they are as characters. The son and wife care deep down; the young lord does not.
The consequences of each character’s actions are vastly different. The young lord’s decree led to innumerable deaths and preventable grief; the son and wife’s actions led to the sadness of one man. Since the son and wife do care but are incredibly inconsiderate, they would not be able to commit mass murder with no remorse, unlike the young lord. That is a difference in traits; the young lord is truly psychopathic, while the son and wife are merely unthinking.
This folktale may be told in Japan to teach children to respect their elders. Respect is important; this much is apparent just by the language. When greeting a friend, you would simply say こんいちは (konnichiwa) but when greeting an elder, you would say こんいちはございます (konnichiwa gozaimasu). Similarly, when saying goodbye to a friend, you would use さようなら (sayoonara), but when saying goodbye to an elder, you would say しつれいします (shitsureeshimasu). This difference in language addressing elders shows respect, so this tale would be told to children to teach them elders are wise and deserving of respect.
Both characters are at first motivated by selfishness, but the son and wife gain empathy and perspective, while the young lord still thinks people only have worth if they benefit him in some way. This shows that characters can have similar actions, but upon analyzation, completely different thoughts and internal development. Both the son and wife and the young lord had similar motives, but developed differently.