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Does The Snow Country: Place Or Emotional/Psychological State?

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The Snow Country: Place or Emotional/Psychological State in Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country

Snow country is a place in a Western Japanese country, which we can consider as the setting of this story. The expression does not mean where snow falls. Though an area, Yasunari Kawabata, the writer of the book writes in such a way that it portrays more about a love affair, human feelings, emotions, loneliness, and a state of a person in isolation. Likewise, the novel reveals how a human relationship can be complicated and arduous at times to understand. It tells about individuals in a relationship of love, trying to love, and struggling to connect to one another, but difficult to get in touch. The closer they are, the more the …show more content…

Likewise, when both are apart, then winter comes again, which brings coldness, then isolation sets in them. The togetherness brings warmth and intimacy, while the distance apart between them brings sadness, the loneliness which indirectly makes the word “Snow Country” to be a metaphor. Therefore, what is happening in Snow Country as a place externally, reflects what is going on in these characters internally. Moreover, Snow Country happening internally in the lives of these parties, especially Shimamura and Komako, is revealed in many ways. For instance, Komako falls in love with Shimamura, but it is expected of a geisha not to have any serious, extended romance with her guest. An affair of the moment, no more. Nothing beautiful about it. You know that—it couldn’t last” (22). Nevertheless, she broke into tears because Shimamura disappointed her when he came the first time. “had not written to her, or come to see her, or sent her the dance instructions he had promised” (15). This kind of attitude is purely emotional, and this hurts her emotions. Similarly, on Shimamura’s second visit, Komako kept track of the number of days Shimamura was away in her diary. Shimamura evaluates this as a waste of effort which Komako ignored, though it hurts

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