The Theme Of Fantasy And Reality In Akutagawa's Cogwheels

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In Akutagawa’s last story Cogwheels, the main character struggles to find a distinction between fantasy and reality. The main character’s behavior illustrates some of the essential concepts and problems of modernity - assuming autonomy that seeks to reject tradition and community, and shifting focus toward the future. The careful diction used in the passage quoted above highlights the autonomy of the main character. Constantly throughout the story, the problem of distinguishing fantasy and reality is shown through the character’s difficulty to connect himself with society. For most of the passages, he is in his hotel room attempting to write a story. He is alone and disconnected from society allowing him time to let his imagination and thoughts …show more content…

It seems that he is mostly skeptical about his future. Likewise, it is like Marinetti’s Manifesto of Futurism, there is a focus on the “omnipresent speed”, which is illustrated through the main character’s focus on the ideas that flow from his pen (Futurism 147). He forgoes thinking about his family to focus on the thoughts that pour from his mind onto the paper. Therefore, all he has is the life he is creating in the present moment, and he is not separate from his thoughts. This is a rejection of tradition or the past; the old should die. Any of the connections he has had formerly should be cast aside, all that should matter is anything that flows from his pen. It is a focus on the present, but it is on his present “self”. This may be the main character’s way to understand reality, that if he forgets all his connections with others, he can focus on himself and distinguish reality from the present moment without getting confused with former or weaker realities. Altogether, the focus on the future is a part of autonomy for the main character. Throughout Cogwheels, the main character struggles with different concepts and problems of modernity in order to distinguish fantasy from reality. Through acknowledging his modern self, he assumes his autonomy and actively rejects tradition and community – especially through his family. In doing so, the main character focuses

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