Draft 1
Aaron
November 11th
The story took place twenty years after the World War II, during which huge amounts of western modernization and values fluxed into Japan. Consequently, they brought some sort of friction against the traditional Japanese values. There are many contradictions in the story: Toshiko and her husband, Toshiko’s son and the new born baby, kimono and American-style suit and etc. The author, Mishima, who committed suicide in 1970, was trying to arouse public attention of the invasion of western culture and the diminishing traditional values. In this story, Toshiko’s son is likely to be intenerated as the traditional Japan while the newborn infant can probably be seen as the new Japan influenced by western culture. Therefore, the story is trying to show readers how the new Japan would “kill” the traditional Japan. Take a further look into the main character, Toshiko, we can conclude that her paranoia and her husband’s indifference exactly reflect the contradiction of indigenous values and extraneous ones.
From the beginning of the story, it is easy to find that Toshiko is a traditional woman, dressed in Kimono. She does not like the new “American” ways. She feels uncomfortable when she sees her husband dressed in “American-style suit, puffing as a cigarette”, “gesturing flamboyantly”. There is a sharp contrast in the behavior and dress of Toshiko and her husband. Her husband is extravert, pompous and dandy, very much Americanized while Toshiko is reserved, sentimental and traditional.
Toshiko, like Mishima, feels disgraced about how things are changing and she still maintain the old traditions from her dress to her mind. That is also why she would hope, as every traditional woman, that her husband could spend more time with her rather than his social circle. By contrast, her husband likes being socially active and gradually loses the concept of family. That is the influence by the negative western culture and values, which does not only change the way people dress and talk also erode their mind and make them abandon the value they once cherish, such as family.
Yet, it is somehow surprised to find Toshiko independent of her husband, which is not the traditional image of a Japanese woman who is inferior to her husband. Probably the independence is originated from the values which she finds no one can share with her. She notes that “their life together was in some way too easy, too painless.” It implies that Toshiko and her husband do not have much in common. They cannot talk deep and communicate spiritually. On most of the situations, they live superficially and separately. That is why Toshiko finds “it would have been difficult for her to put her thoughts into words”, since they do not live in the same world. Her traditional thoughts cannot intercept with her husband’s westernized values.
Then there is the incident in the story about Toshiko and their nurse. The nurse was hiding her pregnancy when all of a sudden she gave birth to a baby boy. The doctor wrapped the newborn in newspapers as if it were trash. Toshiko did not think this was right and she went to get the baby a flannel while her husband was rescuing their good rug. When Toshiko’s husband was at a night club with his friends he told his story as if he did not care and Toshiko felt embarrassed and disgraced at her husband’s indifference and callousness and how things are moving farther and farther away from Japanese old traditional values.
Throughout the story Toshiko pictures the newborn baby, wrapped in newspapers, and without a father. She was immersed in her wild thoughts and being paranoid. Toshiko thought of the child three times in the story: when she was at the party, when she was sitting in the taxi and when she was alone in the park. Toshiko feels that because the baby was not treated with respect at birth, so the baby will not lead a successful life. The baby boy will be inferior to everyone else. She could not help thinking of her own child and thought of the horrible encounter of her child and the new born infant in the future, which further leads her willing to sacrifice for her own child. She is over sentimental and paranoid. Yet, on the other hand, it also reflects that she believes in the old traditional values of Japan such as a sense of honor and responsibility.
At the end of the story Toshiko was walking through the park. She saw a homeless man lying in newspapers on a park bench and it suddenly reminds her of the newborn baby. That was the image of the child she pictured in her mind. “She did not feel the least afraid and made no effort to free herself” because she is willing to sacrifice for her own baby and redeem the callousness of the society, which result in the miserable life of the child. The birth of the nurse’s baby boy who was wrapped in newspapers can be interpreted as a birth of a new society, the Japanese society after WWII, the society Mishima depicted, as Toshiko feels that this society is filled with not sense of honor or responsibility, a culture that has lost its morals. Toshiko is the incarnation of Mishima, who sacrificed himself for the depravation of the society in face of the influx of western cultures.
Aaron
November 11th
The story took place twenty years after the World War II, during which huge amounts of western modernization and values fluxed into Japan. Consequently, they brought some sort of friction against the traditional Japanese values. There are many contradictions in the story: Toshiko and her husband, Toshiko’s son and the new born baby, kimono and American-style suit and etc. The author, Mishima, who committed suicide in 1970, was trying to arouse public attention of the invasion of western culture and the diminishing traditional values. In this story, Toshiko’s son is likely to be intenerated as the traditional Japan while the newborn infant can probably be seen as the new Japan influenced by western culture. Therefore, the story is trying to show readers how the new Japan would “kill” the traditional Japan. Take a further look into the main character, Toshiko, we can conclude that her paranoia and her husband’s indifference exactly reflect the contradiction of indigenous values and extraneous ones.
From the beginning of the story, it is easy to find that Toshiko is a traditional woman, dressed in Kimono. She does not like the new “American” ways. She feels uncomfortable when she sees her husband dressed in “American-style suit, puffing as a cigarette”, “gesturing flamboyantly”. There is a sharp contrast in the behavior and dress of Toshiko and her husband. Her husband is extravert, pompous and dandy, very much Americanized while Toshiko is reserved, sentimental and traditional.
Toshiko, like Mishima, feels disgraced about how things are changing and she still maintain the old traditions from her dress to her mind. That is also why she would hope, as every traditional woman, that her husband could spend more time with her rather than his social circle. By contrast, her husband likes being socially active and gradually loses the concept of family. That is the influence by the negative western culture and values, which does not only change the way people dress and talk also erode their mind and make them abandon the value they once cherish, such as family.
Yet, it is somehow surprised to find Toshiko independent of her husband, which is not the traditional image of a Japanese woman who is inferior to her husband. Probably the independence is originated from the values which she finds no one can share with her. She notes that “their life together was in some way too easy, too painless.” It implies that Toshiko and her husband do not have much in common. They cannot talk deep and communicate spiritually. On most of the situations, they live superficially and separately. That is why Toshiko finds “it would have been difficult for her to put her thoughts into words”, since they do not live in the same world. Her traditional thoughts cannot intercept with her husband’s westernized values.
Then there is the incident in the story about Toshiko and their nurse. The nurse was hiding her pregnancy when all of a sudden she gave birth to a baby boy. The doctor wrapped the newborn in newspapers as if it were trash. Toshiko did not think this was right and she went to get the baby a flannel while her husband was rescuing their good rug. When Toshiko’s husband was at a night club with his friends he told his story as if he did not care and Toshiko felt embarrassed and disgraced at her husband’s indifference and callousness and how things are moving farther and farther away from Japanese old traditional values.
Throughout the story Toshiko pictures the newborn baby, wrapped in newspapers, and without a father. She was immersed in her wild thoughts and being paranoid. Toshiko thought of the child three times in the story: when she was at the party, when she was sitting in the taxi and when she was alone in the park. Toshiko feels that because the baby was not treated with respect at birth, so the baby will not lead a successful life. The baby boy will be inferior to everyone else. She could not help thinking of her own child and thought of the horrible encounter of her child and the new born infant in the future, which further leads her willing to sacrifice for her own child. She is over sentimental and paranoid. Yet, on the other hand, it also reflects that she believes in the old traditional values of Japan such as a sense of honor and responsibility.
At the end of the story Toshiko was walking through the park. She saw a homeless man lying in newspapers on a park bench and it suddenly reminds her of the newborn baby. That was the image of the child she pictured in her mind. “She did not feel the least afraid and made no effort to free herself” because she is willing to sacrifice for her own baby and redeem the callousness of the society, which result in the miserable life of the child. The birth of the nurse’s baby boy who was wrapped in newspapers can be interpreted as a birth of a new society, the Japanese society after WWII, the society Mishima depicted, as Toshiko feels that this society is filled with not sense of honor or responsibility, a culture that has lost its morals. Toshiko is the incarnation of Mishima, who sacrificed himself for the depravation of the society in face of the influx of western cultures.
posted by Aaron Qi at 12:12 AM
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