The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea Analysis

The varying social interactions between status groups in Katsu Kokichi’s autobiography, Musui’s Story, convey a shift from the hierarchically strict Heian/Kamakura epochs to the more socially open late Tokugawa period. Throughout the work, Katsu illustrates his various dealings and communications with peasants, merchants, artisans and fellow samurai. While in theory a social hierarchy still presided, Musui’s Story dismisses the notion that social groups remained isolated from each other, as in previous Japanese eras, and instead reveals that people of Japan in the late-Tokugawa-era mingled with one another during their lives, regardless of their social status. Considering the

Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s play, The Love Suicides at Amijima explores the disgrace of Jihei and Koharu’s misbegotten romance, the underlying conflict of the hidden innuendos aimed at the Japanese social class and the sense of duty formed between two women from unseemmingly different backgrounds. In order to fully understand these themes, on must take into account the societal structure of Osaka, Japan in the 1720s. Within this culture, every individual was instilled the notion of familial obligation and had to adhere to the rules placed upon them by society. Chikamatsu Monzaemon does an ideal job of capturing these concepts within the play.

Musui 's Story is a samurai 's autobiography that portrays the Tokugawa society as it was lived during Katsu Kokichi 's life (1802 - 1850). Katsu Kokichi (or Musui) was a man born into a family with hereditary privilege of audience with the shogun, yet he lived a life unworthy of a samurai 's way, running protection racket, cheating, stealing, and lying. Before we discuss how Musui 's lifestyle was against the codes that regulated the behavior of the samurai, it is essential that the role of the samurai in Japanese society be understood.

In Giles Milton’s novel, Samurai William, the reader is taken to the other side of the globe to experience the history of old world Japan. Though out the book, Milton provides reason for complex historical events and actions, while still communicating the subtleties and mysterious customs of the Japanese. The novel also closely examines the wide range of relationships between different groups of Europeans and Asians, predominantly revolving around the protagonist, William Adams. The book documents the successes and failures that occur between the two civilizations, then links them back to either the positive or negative relationship they have. As the book goes on, the correlation is obvious. Milton shows us the extreme role that religion,

Throughout history artists have used art as a means to reflect the on goings of the society surrounding them. Many times, novels serve as primary sources in the future for students to reflect on past history. Students can successfully use novels as a source of understanding past events. Different sentiments and points of views within novels serve as the information one may use to reflect on these events. Natsume Soseki’s novel Kokoro successfully encapsulates much of what has been discussed in class, parallels with the events in Japan at the time the novel takes place, and serves as a social commentary to describe these events in Japan at the time of the Mejeii Restoration and beyond. Therefore, Kokoro successfully serves as a primary

‘Children of the Sea’ is a harrowing story written by Edwidge Danticat, a Haitian-American woman who expresses her personal trauma and horrors through her literature. ‘Children of the Sea’ opens with an undisclosed man writing a letter to his beloved as he travels across the sea from his home, where is lover is also writing letters directed to him. The letters they write to one another dictates the plot and reveals the two unnamed narrators lives.

Exile, is defined as a state of being barred from one’s native country. How could that even be possible; Being kicked out of a place of inhabitance. Many say that you’d have to do something unthinkable to have a punishment as grim as exile. During the lawless time of monsters and unruly Kings, the Anglo-Saxon era of poems make that all very practical. The creators of each poem discuss the personal endeavors of each exile and how they each come to their own acceptance, or not. “The seafarer”, “Wanderer”, and the “Wife’s Lament” use various literary devices to express the emotional toil, sorrow, and each theme of their exile.

The main character in Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro suffers from isolation as a result of being caught in this transition between ideals in which he can no longer fully believe and a contemporariness to which he is unfamiliar; this largely represents the divide between those who chose to follow modernization and the others who consciously chose to maintain a traditionalist lifestyle in the time of the Meiji Era; the loneliness and alienation that resulted from this are highlighted through the miscommunications between the novel’s characters. Sensei’s alienation is described through the mutual barriers to communication that the characters of the story face. Western societies value and encourage conversations in constructing relationships. However,

Yukio Mishima was a revolutionary author. His dramatic public suicide is the perfect capstone to a life full of turmoil and unrest. Mishima himself was as conflicted as his many stories and plays, which tend to play out the problem of which direction is Japan heading, and should the nation be developing that way. Mishima romanticized the samurai and nurtured a lifelong affair with traditional Japanese theater. At the same time, he admired the West and studied Western art and literature avidly. The influence is evident, from the decidedly 19th Century British feel of his novel, Spring Snow, to the many references therein to Western art, literature, film, and philosophy. Mishima was

Books have often been perceived solely as a source of entertainment, but they have a variety of purposes, books have enlightened the minds of millions. They have done so by creatively using the different aspects of culture around the world and heightening the cultural awareness of the reader. Arthur Golden sets out in, The Memoirs of a Geisha, the harsh lifestyle of a geisha. The main protagonist, Chiyo, lives in poverty with a dying mother and is sold to a businessman along with her sister, setting the perspective of a poor Japanese family before World War II. The author uses history as key component to explain the dynamics of family and gender roles during this era, the women of the household cannot object to the father’s commands. In this

The novel, The Sound of Waves, by Yukio Mishima, is a reflection of Japanese ideologies and characteristics that are infused in characters to portray a singular Japanese identity. He specifically uses the Bushido code which values Duty and Honesty along with other Japanese warrior traits as a basis for representing true Japanese characters in contrast to their Western-influenced counterparts (Bushido). However, he is hesitant in providing a fair comparison between the two. Yukio Mishima’s political views often conflict with the novel as he uses characters to relay his biased opinion of Japanese culture of being superior to western culture.

It is no secret that for centuries, the Japanese woman has been, to most observers, a model of elegance and graceful beauty. A picture of a kimono-clad, modest, and often silent woman has been plastered everywhere, allowing for the upmost passive subjection. If we look deeper into this image of woman, can we tell if this picture is complete? How do these women painted in representative images far in the modern world? The ideal woman in Japan is expected to be both a good wife, and a wise mother. Though these seem like reasonable expectations, there is a much deeper meaning to them that has shown signs of being outdated. During the 1800’s and 1900’s, women were subjected to society’s vision of them, and could not break free for fear of the

Japanese culture is one of the most well appreciated yet, sometimes intriguing and difficult to understand in comparison to certain other cultures. The differences between men and women, different religious ideologies and many symbolic beliefs are characteristics that makes this a culture of world-wide study by many people from other parts of the world. Because of its complexity to understand and learn, Japanese culture not only reflects this major differences in the present day, but it follows the tradition of the ancient culture. In fact, the author of The Sound of Waves, Yukio Mishima enhances the habits of the right and unique ways of this old culture in his main characters and there, touches several important themes found throughout

Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro illustrates the struggles of a young man (the narrator) who was alienated from his family and his loneliness as he pursues acceptance and love by building a friendship with an elder.  As a parallel to this, the elder (Sensei), sought an end to his social isolation through his love to a woman whose qualities were not tainted by modernity. K, Sensei’s childhood friend, had also hinted his struggles in isolation as he tried to keep to his idealistic principles. This paper will analyze the isolation and loneliness that was faced by the Japanese people during a period of significant modernization and how they approached it and attempted to solve the conflict between tradition and modernity.

A sociological thought piece, Chris McKinney’s The Tattoo is bursting with toxic relationships. Amongst these, McKinney uses the strained kinship between Ken Hideyoshi and his father to partially explain how people fall into cycles of violent behaviour. To understand the richness of the text, violence will be characterised as the intentional or unintentional application of force, and/or power resulting in psychological, emotional and/or physical harm, whether it is for the perpetrator’s advantage or not. Thus, a wide definition is given to encompass the numerous acts of harm occurring throughout the novel. Ken’s father is a man instilled with traditional values and beliefs. Therefore, strength and fearlessness are expected to be in Ken to make him tough and prepared to face the world. The reader witnesses these notions take root and unfurl into his father’s ideas of the epitome of hegemonic masculinity. Consequently, this essay will analyse the connection between Ken Hideyoshi and his father as it progresses throughout the novel by looking at how socialisation, hegemonic masculinity and family violence lead impressionable people into deviant lifestyles.