The divide between one’s true feelings and desires (honne) and one’s behavior as expected by society (tatemae) is a key element in Japanese culture, and the struggle to reconcile the two diametrically opposed concepts is a common theme among many Japanese works. In Kenji Mizoguchi’s film Sisters of the Gion and Higuchi Ichiyo’s short story “Child’s Play,” this conflict exposes itself in the form of the characters’ inextricable ties to the pleasure quarters, a setting which illustrates how one’s place, both physical and societal, can create a sense of confinement. Furthermore, contrasting how characters in the two works react to their relationship with the quarters reveal how outside experience can influence one’s views on a place. The quarters …show more content…
Even when she is abandoned by her patron, she claims that, because she “brought him happiness,” she can “face the world with her face held high.” While Omocha views being a geisha as a job and manipulating men as a game, Umekichi’s fundamental values revolve around obligation and duty—her role as a “full-fledged” geisha was the result of the generosity of her patron, which demands absolute loyalty as repayment. While she may be just as socially and financially confined by the quarters as Omocha, she does not find the quarters confining per se—her identity and sense of self are entirely tied to her profession, and thus the pleasure quarters are her home. Yet, those same quarters are not home for Omocha. Her preference for Western clothing over kimono and disdain for the profession show that, for her, the quarters are a prison, a place that forces her into a role she fundamentally disagrees with. Why, then, do the two sisters see the same place in such different …show more content…
Through her education outside of the quarters, Omocha was exposed to the world outside of Gion, and as a result, in everything she does and in everything she believes, she defines herself by that outside world. Her experience of seeing the quarters from the outside in led her to “understand certain things,” and it is those same things that now define her personality and views on men and society. Though Omocha attempts to explain how geisha are mere “playthings” for men to her sister, Umekichi’s absence of outside experience truly limits her ability to understand Omocha’s goals. Even when Omocha is brutally injured in an attack by two men, Umekichi can only chide her for “treat[ing] men like that” and causing such “terrible things [to] happen,” in effect blaming Omocha for her own assault. Her unsympathetic attitude toward Omocha’s actions clearly does not stem from a lack of compassion, but rather from a lack of perspective. Understanding the importance of outside perspective and the effect of belonging reveals insights into “Child’s Play” as well. As mentioned earlier, there are only two exceptions to the back-street/main-street affiliations: Sangoro and Midori/Nobu. In the end, it is those same exceptional characters that do not cleanly resign themselves into their expected
Soon after Papa’s arrest, Mama relocated the family to the Japanese immigrant ghetto on Terminal Island. For Mama this was a comfort in the company of other Japanese but for Jeanne it was a frightening experience. It was the first time she had lived around other people of Japanese heritage and this fear was also reinforced by the threat that her father would sell her to the “Chinaman” if she behaved badly. In this ghetto Jeanne and he ten year old brother were teased and harassed by the other children in their classes because they could not speak Japanese and were already in the second grade. Jeanne and Kiyo had to avoid the other children’s jeers. After living there for two mo...
Though Stephen initially feels isolated both physically and psychologically due to his illness, through the calm beauty of Matsu’s garden and the comfort Sachi provides, Stephen finds his stay at Tarumi to be much less secluded. This proves that though one may feel alone at times, other people or things may help vanquish that feeling. In today’s world, isolation is everywhere – it is seen through due disease, intelligence, race, etc. Yet, people find that little things like human comfort, such as Sachi, or object reminiscent happiness, like Matsu’s garden, are enough help them realize they are not alone. This sense of aid shows that like the flower in the midst of the desolate landscape, something small is all it takes to erase negative feelings.
Ukiyo is a culture that strives to live a strictly pleasure-seeking routine. The largest flaw in this way of life, as Saikaku points out, is that its superficial nature forces people to live lives as meaningless and fluffy as its name, the “Floating World,” suggests. It is shallow in the physical sense, in that it focuses primarily on “beautiful” external appearances, and in the metaphorical sense, whereby individuals never really make deep-seated connections to anyone because of their addiction to finding these so-called pleasures. One particular character that Saikaku satirizes to embody this superficial nature of Ukiyo is the old, rotting woman found on the verandah in the episode of “A Monk’s Wife in a Worldly Temple.” He cleverly employs situational irony with this character to prove his point, as it is expected for the archetypal old woman to pass moral lessons to the younger generation. By the character’s own, sorrowful admission she claims that she “can’t forget about sex” and is going to “bite right into” (Saikaku 614) the protagonist; completely the opposite of what the audience expects her to say. This satire highlights the extent to which the Ukiyo lifestyle socially conditions individuals; the old woman is so far gone down that path that she no l...
The rigging of the boats in harbor sparkled with flags. In the streets between houses with red roofs and painted walls, between old moss-grown gardens and under avenues of tree, past great parks and public buildings, processions moved” (Le Guin, 466). In essence, the city of Omelas is an allegory to Western culture. While both the city of Omelas and Western Civilization are the land of opportunity and freedom, Eastern Civilizations are plagued with child workers, sex trafficking and poverty. It is evident that suffering exists in all parts of the world but in the city of Omelas, such suffering is said to only exists in the basement of a building. “In the room, a child is sitting. It could be a boy or a girl. It looks about six, but actually is nearly ten. It is feeble-minded. Perhaps it was born defective, or perhaps it has become imbecile through fear, malnutrition, and neglect...the door is locked; and nobody will come. The door is always locked; and nobody ever comes” (Le Guin, 469). The child in the basement symbolizes all
The family's personal encounters with the destructive nature of the traditional family have forced them to think in modern ways so they will not follow the same destructive path that they've seen so many before them get lost on. In this new age struggle for happiness within the Kao family a cultural barrier is constructed between the modern youth and the traditional adults with Chueh-hsin teeter tottering on the edge, lost between them both. While the traditional family seems to be cracking and falling apart much like an iceberg in warm ocean waters, the bond between Chueh-min, Chueh-hui, Chin and their friends becomes as strong as the ocean itself.
Much about Kogawa's novel makes it difficult not only to read but also to classify or categorize. First, Obasan blurs the line between nonfiction and fiction. Kogawa draws from actual letters and newspaper accounts, autobiographical details, and historical facts throughout the novel, but she artistically incorporates this material into a clearly fictional work. In addition, Kogawa's narrative operates on multiple levels, from the individual and familial to the communal, national, political, and spiritual. Stylistically, the novel moves easily between the language of documentary reportage and a richly metaphorical language, and between straightforward narrative and stream-ofconsciousness exposition. This astonishing variety in Kogawa's novel can, at times, become bewildering and unsettling to the reader. But as many readers and critics have noted, Kogawa's style and method in Obasan also constitute the novel's unique strength. Kogawa writes in such a way that ambiguity, uncertainty, irony, and paradox do not weaken her story but instead paradoxically become the keys to understanding it.
Many stories talk about relationships, especially the ones between man and woman as couple. In some of them, generally the most popular ones, these relationships are presented in a rosy, sentimental and cliché way. In others, they are presented using a much deeper, realistic and complicated tone; much more of how they are in real life. But not matter in what style the author presents its work, the base of every love story is the role each member of that relationship assumes in it. A role, that sometimes, internal forces will determinate them, such as: ideas, beliefs, interests, etc. or in order cases external, such as society. In the story “The Storm” by American writer Kate Chopin and the play A Doll’s house by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen I am going to examine those roles, giving a special focus to the woman´s, because in both works, it is non-traditional, different and somewhat shocking, besides having a feminist point of view.
Omelas begins amidst a festival in the seemingly utopian city of Omelas. People are in a holiday spirit on this day, as they are every other day in Omelas. Mirth and good cheer seems to be the moods of all of the citizens. Though blissful, these people are by no means ignorant: They were not simple folks, you see, though they were happy...They were not less complex than us. The seemingly perfect city offers something to please every taste: festivals, good-natured orgies, drugs that aren’t habit-forming, beer, and so on. The citizens of Omelas have a complete love of life. There is no war, no hunger, no strife; in short, Omelas seems like the pinnacle of perfection.
Sugita Kojo of Tayama Katai’s “The Girl Watcher” (1907) and the chair maker in Edogawa Rampo’s “The Human Chair” (1925) react to new ways of life in a similar, vulgar manner. Both stories include aspects of society new to that time: Trains and chairs, respectively. These pieces from the Meiji & Taisho period, a period where stories began to express the character’s thoughts, depict the importance of understanding novel and foreign aspects of daily life by showing how these modern ways of living may be used inappropriately.
Throughout Kazu Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go, he choices to depict children as outsiders to the world which can be furthered by the setting in Britain’s countryside because it helps give a sense distance from true reality. In the framework throughout his novel Ishiguro focuses on three main characters Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy. These three students are seen by others to have an advantage because they were lucky enough to be raised at Hailsham by the guardians. Over the watchful eye of the Guardians the children were able to grow accustom to being different than others. This can be seen when the characters all mature and grow after they leave Hailsham and become accustomed to life at the cottages. There newly found freedoms at the cottages lead them to question many of their previous schooling standards and beliefs. These freedoms can be seen by every student trying to hold on to their sense of individuality through small and random collections. This suggests that humans attempt to create an appearance through their own belongings and incorporate into their own lives. The students at Hailsham are encouraged to seek creativity and individuality in the things they create which could include sculptures, paintings or poems. These many collections that each student holds close to themselves offers them a small chance for control in their life because they can pick and choose the pieces they would like to incorporate into their individual collections.
He was in great conflict with the ideas of the white men and the missionaries. Okonkwo saw that their beliefs had not only changed the daily life of the Ibo, but it also changed the people themselves: “He mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women” (Achebe 183). The author uses strong diction to compare the men before and after colonization. This quote also portrays Okonkwo’s opinion towards the cultural collision. He values strength and masculinity immensely because of his fear of appearing weak like his father Unoka. When he describes that the men of Umuofia changed to be soft like women, this shows how much he dishonors the Western ideas and how it has taken over the village. He made an attempt to get rid of the Western influence by urging the tribe to fight like men, but they refuse to. He was determined and still attempted to furthermore encourage the people of Umuofia to revolt against the new culture. He realizes that his attempts to return the village back to the way it was before were futile. He knew that Christianity was tearing his people apart, but knew he was incapable of making change to help his people. Okonkwo then starts to feel hopeless and abandoned by his clan, which causes him to commit suicide by hanging himself: “Obierika… turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and said ferociously: ‘That man was one of the greatest men
...s a bigger and harder step not very many citizens of the world today are willing to do. Loosing the happiness that one gets in exchange from injustice in the world is an action that is unthinkable to humankind. The right ethical decision has to be made to entirely resolve the issue, but making that right ethical decision is impossible with the other factors of life such as personal happiness. In “The One Who Walks Away From Omelas” the reader is taught the importance of making the right ethical decision and can relate these morals in their own community. One cannot just choose to ignore, one cannot just choose to observe and still do nothing, and one cannot just simply walk away. The reader is taught the momentous moral of not being a bystander, the importance of moral responsibility, and the great significance in learning to overcome the ethical issues in society.
In The Long Christmas Ride Home, a play by Paula Vogel, a family deals with the difficulty and consequences of family relationships. These family relationships are tested and presented through a play which fuses American and Japanese traditional theatre. Through the utilization of Japanese Bunraku influence, Vogel’s play explores the themes of infidelity, sexual identity, and grief to create an immersive experience into the struggles of this family.
In post-World War 2, Japan was in a state of change as it was attempting to embrace the Westernisation of their country. Yukio Mishima was one person who was completely against this change. Yukio Mishima regularly portrayed his views through writing, and in A Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, as we see the character Noboru vehemently disagree with the Westernisation of Japan. Through out the novel the readers discovered that Yukio Mishima and Noboru could share a lot of similarities, which would explain why Mishima portrays Noboru’s views and curiosities in such detail. The readers also see that almost every character in the novel experiences some sort of isolation. Westernisation is also portrayed as revolutionary thing in Japan, but Mishima uses the child gang to show that he completely objects to this idea.
From an early age, Okonkwo was ashamed of his father, Unoka, who was unable even to feed his family. The unpredictability of receiving enough food at a young age was enough to inspire fear and embarrassment in Okonkwo who associated this embarrassment with his father and was given further justification for these feelings when he went out into Umuofia, discovering that the other villagers held similar opinions of Unoka. When he was old enough, Okonkwo began farming his own yams because “he had to support his mother and two sisters […] And supporting his mother also meant supporting his father” (25). Okonkwo’s self-reliance was admired, valued in the community where “age was respected […] but achievement was revered” (12); this admiration gave him feelings of security, and the respect of his peers pushed him towards greater self-respect, distancing him from his father. The security and respect became related in his mind as he viewed his acceptance in the community as his life’s goal and Okonk...