Looks like some good posting so far. Check for my comments on your postings; I'll be evaluating some of them, indicating which responses I deem strong, adequate, and insufficient.
Kawabata's The Moon on the Water is a fascinating glimpse into the life of Kyoko, a young Japanese woman with a tubercular, bedridden first husband. The story takes place-- through an interweaving of current time with flashback-- both during and after World War II, a time of fear, anxiety, and great upheaval in Japan. Consider that hundreds of thousands of Japanese were killed when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima near the end of the war.
Because Kyoko's first husband falls ill only three months into their marriage, it's clear that most of their time together has been one of great suffering. Tuberculosis is an extremely painful and debilitating illness that requires constant stability and rest.
Kyoko, therefore, becomes her husband's full-time aretaker. She even remarks to her second husband that, despite not bearing any children during her first marriage, she feels as if taking care of her first husband was quite similar to raising a child:
" 'But it was like looking after a child all the time" (665). We learn, through this admission, that Kyoko really had very little, if any, life to herself, for much if not all of her time was consumed either directly caring for her husband or thinking about him.
This does not, however, seem to overburden Kyoko, as she comes across as a loving and quite devoted wife. A reader may, though, upon close inspection, find hints revealed in half-concealment that it was no easy task to look after her severely sick first husband.
But through all the obvious darkness of the story-- with the death of her first husband suffusing the entire piece with a pale, melancholy light-- there is also a romantic nostalgia, a deeply haunting sense that love-- Kyoko's love for her first husband, and her first husband's love for her-- outweighs and overcomes any of the more somber and heavy tones.
Questions for Discussion
What I think will work better, is if I make each one of these prompts its own Blog entry-- that way we can keep them better organized. So look below this posting; there should be eight more, one for each prompt.
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i just wonder if anyone has the same feeling like me toward this line, "your chest hurt you so. Even this must be heavy." on page 665 line 5. this line clearly expresses her heaviness feeling towards her husband's death.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I prefer the layout of Wordpress because it's generally more organized and free. However, the trade off is that it does require you to have your own hosting and limited knowledge of PHP and setting up a mySQL server.
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with the symbolism in Kawabata's story both in the characteres and objects. My favorite symbol was the power of death and it's life changing perspective in Kyoko's character. The first husband's death was devasting to Kyoko but his ability to make such an impact on her thoughts, more so after death, is still empowering even thogh it's just a story. Kyoko's ability to cast aside her pain and sorrow in order to reflect on her first husband's views and alter her own is great. That took much strength and amazes me how death can lead people to reflections back in their memories and eventually to life altering changes. I really enjoyed this story.
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