Okyo's Separate Ways

The short passage Separate Ways, written by Higuchi Ichiyo is a story about a young orphaned boy who has lost everything. Kichizo was hired and adopted by the original umbrella shop owner who later passed away leaving new owners to carry on the business. The new owners treat him very poorly, which causes him to become depressed, alone, and miserable. Despite his life struggles growing up, Kichizo meets a young seamstress who was new to the neighborhood and they instantly became close friends. They would share each other’s goals and dreams by encouraging one another to pursue them. Their friendship has grown so strong that they were almost like brother and sister. Kichizo was always bullied about his physical appearance by the others at the umbrella shop and was taunted for his parent’s death. Okyo was the only one who did not judge, but accepted him as a person no matter what he looked like. She always stuck up for Kichizo and comforted him in his time of need. The two were so close, that Kichizo visited Okyo everyday eating rice cakes making him feel at home. Towards the end of the story, Okyo comes to a conclusion to leave her life as a seamstress to become a mistress with a

From now on, I won’t have anything to do with anyone. It’s not worth it” (Ichiyo 913). Not only does he close the door on the friendship they built together, but he shuts out everyone he will ever meet in the future. “People are friendly, and then they disappear. It’s always the ones I like” (Ichiyo 913). He seems to always be disappointed in the end when everyone ends up leaving him after getting close with someone. Time and time again, his trust has been shattered to pieces every time he begins to have a close relationship with somebody. He feels all alone in the world with no one to relate to anymore. At this point, he no longer trusts anyone and will begin to isolate himself from everyone to avoid getting hurt by people who truly cares for him in the