Separation between lovers, sisters, or close friends can instill vivid emotions from characters in a novel. Emotions are often evoked through the sense-impressions, thoughts and memories of principal characters. At the same time, departure develops characterization, placing emphasis on a medley of styles and voices employed by writers. Both The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea (hereafter referred to as Sailor) by Yukio Mishima, translated by John Nathan, and Like Water for Chocolate (hereafter referred to as Chocolate) by Laura Esquivel, translated by Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen, reveal a stark contrast between characters’ departures. In Mishima’s novel, departing is an emotionally painful affair between Ryuji and Fusako; whereas through magic realism in Chocolate, departure acts as a release from a tyrannical household, taking readers to a more personalised understanding of characterisation and gender stereotypes central to the narratives. This essay will compare the importance and consequences of departures in both novels.
The dramatic and emotional effect of Ryuji’s parting from Fusako in Sailor insinuates the incompetence and hollowness of women in a post-war Japanese society. Although Fusako accepts that Ryuji’s departure is temporary, she is positively traumatized. Fusako is in desperate need of a masculine figure, as she muses, “tomorrow, the thick fingers twined in her own would plunge over the horizon” (Mishima, 1965, pg. 73), allowing us to acknowledge the full extent of Fusako’s fear of abandonment. Ryuji’s, “thick fingers” symbolises his protective and dominant nature, while the hyperbole, “plunge over the horizon” is suggestive of Ryuji forgetting her over the vastness of the sea. The use of col...
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...ama Elena in Chocolate, and departures influence women to display an honourable degree of strength – birthing, reanimating, and recovering – in the novel. The departure of characters in Sailor, however, enables Mishima to explore Japanese in a moral and cultural decline when Emperor Hirohito surrenders. The misery that washes over Fusako after Ryuji’s departure projects her character as an epitome of the artificiality and absurdity of life in post-WW2 Japan. Nevertheless, Fusako’s development as the powerful and oppressive breadwinner of the household establishes recognition of the invincibility of women. In the eyes of this analyst, I can conclude that in times of hardship, female characters are the ones advocating values of their own with utmost control, and to that extent, successfully approach and react to the event of departure with determination and empathy.
...rays three themes of love. First of all, the character of the Chauvelin exhibited a great love for his country, even if it meant dying for it. In addition, the type of family love resided between Marguerite and her brother, even though parting separate ways, where their love is described on page 45 as, “the same deep, intense love.” Lastly, Marguerite and Percy’s relationship showed the intimate love of another person, between a couple. Overall, this book renders the different types of love, which leaves the reader yearning to follow the character’s good examples. In-between the lines, this beautiful story weaves a charming picture of true love and what the consequences of such feelings may behold, either good or bad. Analyzing love may sound sappy, but in the long run, will help individuals personally decided which relationships to keep or liberate themselves from.
Mishima, Yukio. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea. Trans. John Nathan. New York: Vintage, 1994.
In “Sailor,” one of the main characters is named Ryuji. He is a sailor, and later a father, and plays a central role in the novel. In “Waves,” Ryuji is used as the name for a character again. However, this Ryuji is not seen often in the action -- he is instead a medium through which the two main characters are forced to communicate. The Ryuji in “Waves” is also a young boy, while in “Sailor” he is a weathered man. In both novels, the Westernization of Japan is used as a motif. In “Sailor,”Fusako is the proprietress of an import shop and her home and lifestyle are both very Western. This Westernization is something that would lead to the eventual downfall of Ryuji. In “Waves,” Churiko, a more western-thinking, college-educated girl, is the character that creates the problems which must be overcome. It seems that Mishima is trying to communicate to the readers that Westernization is not a good thing for Japan. In real life, we know that Mishima did think this was true. He would commit ritual suicide for his beliefs about the emperor. The sea is of course of central importance in both novels. Surprisingly though, the two novels do not share the same view of the ever-changing force. In “Sailor,” Ryuji describes the sea as, “another kind of prison.(16)” In “Waves”, Shinji, the main character, feels surprisingly free when he first ventures onto the sea: “ ‘I'm free!’ he shouted in his heart. This was the first time he had realized there could be such a strange sort of freedom as this.(150)” Another contrast between the two books deals with the ending. In “Sailor,” it is the fulfillment of love that causes the death of Ryuji, the heroic seaman. When Ryuji finds Fusako he stops his work as a man of the sea and chooses to work in her store to make her happy. In “Waves,” the young lovebirds are not destroyed by the sea as Ryuji was, they are united by it.
In three dynamic pieces of literature, the desperate yet hopeful characters gallantly endure the struggles of achieving their dreams as they experience the pain of desolation and the life-fulfilling happiness of a friendly companion. Through hostile resentment, the intense repulsion created by generations of territorial disputes tears apart two vengeful foes, Ulrich and Georg, in Saki’s captivating tale. Whereas in Remarque’s gory war novel, the pure terror of battle brutally slaughters the once innocent minds of soldiers as they undergo changes in their heart and soul within themselves. Although impervious to the influence of the reclusive residents tied to the ranch, as they quest for their shared aspirations, George and Lennie forge an invincible friendship in Steinbeck’s calamitous novelette.
Pain is a certainty in life. Presenting itself in a number of variations, from emotional to psychological to physical, pain and its damaging effects are inescapable. In Ruth Ozeki’s magical realism novel, A Tale For the Time Being, a mysterious lunchbox washes ashore a Canadian island to be found by one of its inhabitants, a struggling author named Ruth. Inside the lunchbox, Ruth discovers an old wind-up watch, a stack of letters written in French, and a diary disguised as Proust’s Á la recherche du temps perdu. The diary is found to trace the painful, intimate thoughts of a sixteen-year-old Japanese girl named Naoko (Nao) Yasutani. Mesmerized by the diary and the accompanying letters, Ruth reads on, slowly unearthing Nao’s steady rise from her depressive and insufferable existence. Through its graphic and raw depiction of three parallel, suicidal lives, that of Nao Yasutani; her deceased great-uncle, Haruki #1; and her father, Haruki #2; A Tale for the Time Being presents a strong case for the necessity of societal pressure, arguing that the pain, suffering, and victimization that arise from nonconformity are essential to the advancement
In every story, there is a protagonist and an antagonist, good and evil, love and hatred, one the antithesis of the other. To preserve children’s innocence, literature usually emphasizes on the notion that love is insurmountable and that it is the most beautiful and powerful force the world knows of, yet Gen’s and Carmen’s love, ever glorious, never prevails. They each have dreams of a future together, “he takes Carmen’s hand and leads her out the gate at the end of the front walkway… together they… simply walk out into the capital city of the host country. Nobody knows to stop them. They are not famous and nobody cares. They go to an airport and find a flight back to Japan and they live there, together, happily and forever” in which their love is the only matter that holds significance (261). The china
Mishima, Yukio. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea. Trans. John Nathan. New York: Vintage, 1994.
Saikaku, Ihara. Life of a Sensuous Woman. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. (Vol. D) Ed. Damrosch. New York: Pearson, 2004. 604-621. [Excerpt.]
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.
• Mishima, Yukio. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Trans. John Nathan. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1965.
A common misconception is that change always equates to progress, yet sometimes change can strip a society of its fundamental characteristics. Japan endured similar events, surrounding World War II that resulted in an increasingly Westernized country that lost it’s integrity and beliefs. In this allegorical novel, The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea, Yukio Mishima uses the characters Fusako, Ryuji and Noboru whom symbolize the different states of Japan to illustrate the plague of Westernization and convey the value of tradition in Japan.
Saikaku, Ihara. Life of a Sensuous Woman. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd Ed. Volume D. Ed. Martin Puchner. New York: Norton, 2013. 591-611. Print.
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
In the collective society of Japan there is a certain stigma about women like Fubuki that set them apart. Choosing to work past the age of marriage is not necessarily the accepted (find a better word) in Japan because no matter the situation, collectivism and honor always come first. “Wish for work. There is little hope, given your sex, that you will get far up the ladder” (Nothomb, 1999, pp.66-67). She has worked so “far up the ladder”, so far up from what society said she should do, and it makes Fubuki is one of the biggest faces of individualism and hypocrisy shown throughout Fear and Trembling and the first time the reader see this is when Amélie and Tenshi were reported for their wrong doings. “I can see why and I disapprove of your reasons,” she says “I’m the one who had some reason to feel indignant about your attitude. You had your eye on a promotion to which you had no right” (Nothomb, 1999, p.37). Her constant use of possessive pronouns creates a selfish-like tone. “I can see why I disapprove… I’m the one who had some reason to feel indignant” (Nothomb, 1999, p.37). And that selfish tone highlights the hypocrisy that can be found within the Japanese society despite their claim of being a collective society. Fubuki goes on to say, “I’m twenty-nine years old. You’re twenty two. I’ve been in this position since last year. I fought for it for years. Did you think you were going to get a comparable job within a matter of weeks?” (Nothomb, 1999, pp.37-38). The tone of victimization (?) is created and this is constant throughout the whole book, “Do you think I can’t see what you are doing? You made these incomprehensible mistakes to get your revenge on me!” (Nothomb, 1999, p.45). The use of (another phrase) the word “you” reader can also see that Fubuki constantly uses Amélie’s mistakes to make her seem like the victim.
In every direction the sea rages and growls, tumbling its inhabitants in an ever-lasting rumble. Glory, honor, and duty are washed upon the glimmering golden shores of the Japanese empire. The sturdy land-bearers clasp hands with those thrown into the savage arms of the ocean. This junction of disparate milieus forms the basis of an interlocking relationship that ties conflicting elements and motifs to paint a coherent, lucid final picture. In The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea, Mishima incorporates the impact of contradictory settings of land and sea, combative ideologies of the Western and Eastern hemispheres, and inherent dissimilarities amongst the characters’ lifestyles in order to reinforce the discrepancy between his ideal Japan and the country he observed.