Themes of the stories - Essay Example

The story of Aoyagi The story of Aoyagi is a passionate and heartbreaking tale between Tomotada and Aoyagi. Tomotadais a young talented samurai in the service of Lord of Noto. As a young boy, his prince, taught him the art of war, and proved himself as both a scholar and a skilled soldier. Tomotada was much liked by his comrades and the prince due to his humble character. Due to his personality, he was loved and favored by his prince. Metamorphosis is a recurring theme throughout the story of Aoyagi.

This theme deals with the alteration or transformation of Aoyagi, the main protagonist. The family of Aoyagi, the beautiful girl, lived alone deep in the forest far from the eyes of human beings. During Tomotada’s journey in a winter season is the only occasion that the family is seen by a mortal. Little do we know that the three are not human beings but trees. Only after the marriage between Aoyagi and Tomotada is when we decipher that Aoyagi was a tree after she concedes the truth to her husband before her death.

Moreover, we later find out that even the parents were not human as Tomotada’s second journey to the home of Aoyagi’s parents reveals the humble aboard had disappeared and in its place stumps of three trees, a young and two old trees. Consequently, Aoyagi’s body disappeared in a strange manner when she was dying as it dissolved into the ground. Consequently, the themes of uncanny and paranormal can be deciphered from the story of Aoyagi. The strangeness of a human form being a tree hardly strikes Tomotada’s mind when he sets his eyes on Aoyagi and also when she dies and eventually disappears on the floor.

The ancient Japanese culture was not characterized by strange beings and thus this proves to be a paranormal instance that seems very unreal in the eyes of the courageous samurai. Uncanny is a theme, which represents an occasion when an individual or an object can be familiar yet unrecognizable and strange at the same time. The bravery of Tomotada in fighting for Aoyagi shows a tale of courage and love. The samurai shows great courage when he sets to travel to Hosokawa Masamoto on a private mission at the tender age of twenty in a season characterized by heavy snow and wind.

These weather conditions would have put his life at risk. Due to the extreme weather, he takes refuge in Aoyagi’s home, only for him to encounter the beautiful girl. He eventually falls in love with herrl and asks her parent’s for her hand in marriage. According to the Japanese culture, a samurai was not supposed to marry without the permission of his lord. However, Tomotada takes the risk of taking his wife-to-be home and vows to fight for her when she is taken from him. When the samurai is summoned to the palace, he decides to fight his master, thereby placing his love interest first.

Even after the her death, he still loved his deceased wife and thus decided to be an itinerant priest and performed Buddhist services as a remembrance of his wife and parents-in-law. ReferenceHearn, L. (2007). Oriental ghost stories from Kwaidan, in ghostly Japan, and some Chinese ghosts. Ware: Wordsworth Editions.