Yoshiko Uchida The Wise Old Woman Analysis

In the folktale, "The Wise Old Woman," retold by Yoshiko Uchida, the plot and characters help you figure out the theme. The theme helps you learn a larger lesson about life, human nature, and the experience of a specific people and culture. "The Wise Old Woman" took place during medieval Japan and is about a young and cruel lord that decided to banish all elderly people because they had no use to him. The lord made a decree that basically explained that once an individual turned seventy-one, he or she was carried into the mountains and left to die. Later on, a farmer does not want to take his mother into the mountains so he hides her in the bottom of his house. Furthermore, another evil leader was threatening to take over unless the village does his demands. His demands were very difficult tasks for the young and all hope was lost until the elderly mother was told by her son and each time had a solution. Eventually the young lord finds out about the mother and her solutions, then at that moment, he declares that all elderly should be treated by respect and

The theme started to develop when Lord Higa threatened to conquer the village. The only way for the village to not get conquered by Lord Higa was to fulfill demands that seemed almost impossible for the young villagers. However, when the young farmer explained to his mother what had happened, she knew the solution. In paragraph twenty-seven Yoshiko Uchida explains, "but his mother did not seem troubled at all. Instead she laughed softly and said, “Why, that is not such an impossible task. All one has to do is soak ordinary rope in salt water and dry it well. When it is burned, it will hold its shape and there is your rope of ash! Tell the villagers to hurry and find one thousand pieces of rope."' This explains that elderly are very wise and can have a solution for any problem. As you can see, the plot had a huge role in creating the