Musui's Story Sparknotes

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Musui's Story is about a young man named Katsu Kokichi who lived in the early 1800’s during the Tokugawa period. Katsu was a young boy who grows into a very disgruntled man in a society that is based on class and economic status. He starts off as a young troubled boy into the man who soon adopts the name Musui. He grew up in a part of Japan that had many social classes, but he happened to be one of the highest ranked. He was born into a concubine, and then adopted into the Katsu family. Musui is very different than his other family members, he doesn’t seem to quite fit in like the others. In his youth he acted out and misbehaved as a student, a son, and even a friend. He was known for bullying while at school, and then while at home he would …show more content…

His attitude towards school, and his attitude at home was not much different than the attitude that was portrayed at school. He had a hard time focusing at school, because he had learned horse-riding and sword fighting at such an early age disengaging him from his academics. He despised his grandmother very much. "My grandmother by adoption had been known for her mean disposition from the time she was a young girl. It was said that she drove both of my adoptive parents to an early death. She was nasty to me, too, and nagged and scolded day after day.” (p. 14) He ran away from home twice, but the first time he left home he spent his time begging on the side of the road, until he got so close to dying. When returning home, he was punished for his bad behavior. The economy during this time period really conflicted with Kokichi’s social life, and family life resulting his bad behavior. His childhood was unbelievably bad and only gave us a sneak peek of what his future was going to be …show more content…

He got very caught up in sword fighting, and arranging duels and found himself in a bad position. He had gotten too caught up making an image for himself that was different than the true him in order to keep up with the other Samurai’s glory. Therefore, he decides to escape his financial issues and runs away from home yet again. This time though Musui was punished in a very different way. He was trapped in a cage for several years from the age of twenty-one to twenty-four. However, this did not exactly teach Musui his lesson, even in his older years he faced financial struggles. He spent his time in the “Pleasure District” where we continued to cause trouble. This is where he smoked, gambled, saw shows, and payed for prostitutes for his entertainment. He began to trade and become a merchant of swords. Where he began to make some money. Although all of Musui's life his money was spent instantly. He used majority of his money to keep up with his appearance and all of the Samurai, to try to pretend he was wealthier than he was. During this time, he sold swords for a living and creates a relationship for trade which brought together different sword buyers and sellers all around. We learned in class that trade is very important in a society. It is important, because without trade your economy can not grow. With trade among people, counties, and states it always for more wealth to be produced. Civilizations thrive off of one

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