Words and Pictures Across Cultures - Kokoro - Essay Example

?Running head: KOKORO Words and Pictures across Cultures School Words and Pictures across Cultures Introduction The Meiji era which spannedSeptember 1868 to July 1912 covered the first half of the Empire of Japan where the society transitioned from a time of isolated feudalism to a more modern era. Major changes in its structure, politics, economy, military, as well as foreign relations were seen in this era. The social background existing in Japan at the end of the Meiji era had a significant role in the emotional tone of the novel Kokoro by Natsume Soseki. This paper shall discuss how the social background in Japan is threaded into the narrative and how it has impacted on the status and behaviour of the characters. This paper is being carried out in order to establish the emotional tone of the novel and how events in the history of Japan have impacted on the novel itself. Body Kokoro is a Japanese novel by Natsume Soseki, published in 1914 in series form in the Asahi Shinbun, a Japanese newspaper. The word Kokoro translates to ‘heart’ and also implies other meanings, including ‘feeling’ (McClellan, 1957, p. 240). The work refers to the transition of society from the Japanese Meiji era to the modern era where such transition was displayed in the exploration of the friendship between a young man and an older man known as Sensei or teacher. The isolation theme is highlighted in this book and follows the themes in Soseki’s pervious work where isolation was incorporated into egoism and guilt, not so much on shame (McClellan, 1957, p. 45). Other important elements in the novel include the changes in Japan, as well as the changes in the roles of women, the intergenerational change in values, the changing impact of families, and the changes in one’s identity. The novel is divided into three parts. In the first part, the narrator who is a university student, becomes friends with an old man – Sensei. The Sensei is reclusive and is known only to keep company with his wife and with the student. The Sensei regularly visits a friend’s grave and remains closed out and secretive about his life. In the Second Part, the narrator finishes his studies and heads home to his dying father. In the third part, the narrator receives a letter from his Sensei where his teacher writes a testament on how he was cheated of his fortune by his uncle, and how he fell in love with a widow. The Sensei also narrates how he meets and befriends K who also falls in love with the widow. As Sensei proposed marriage, K committed suicide. Sensei lost much faith in humanity after the devastating events of his life and due to his guilt over his friend’s death. He then decided to take his life, soon after the suicide of General Nogi Maresuke. He was writing his friend to explain his decision. The social background during the Meiji era had a significant effect on the emotional tone of Kokoro. There is an enduring aura and feeling of melancholy in the book which slowly builds, significantly affecting people occupying positions of authority (Eto Jun, 1970, p. 55). Shizu’s mother died from kidney failure, and Sensei’s parents died when he was very young. Emperor Meiji died from an illness and his death soon triggered General Nogi’s suicide. In this act, he followed his lord into his death. This same act was mirrored in Sensei’s suicide as he took on the role of the living dead with his regular visits to his friend’s grave (Eto Jun, 1970, p. 55). In the end, he followed his friend to his death. As the imperial family was restored in Japan, a new capital was established in Tokyo and the differences between the two eras were seen in the relationship between the Sensei and the student. Tokyo represents the place where the Sensei significantly changes; and it also represents the place where the narrator also overlooks the traditional ideas on education and relationships (McClellan, 1957, p. 240). The narrator now adopts a worldly aura which is often preferred by the young Japanese citizens. Sensei refers to the significant differences in their viewpoints, differences which are founded on the generation gap between them. General Nogi’s suicide had a more significant effect on the Sensei than on the narrator. Nogi was a major beloved figure during the Meiji era as he gained much success in establishing glory for Japan through his overseas victories (McClellan, 1957, p. 30). His acts echoed in the consciousness of the older era. He was very much relevant to Sensei’s mental and physical consciousness. As Nogi’s era ended with the death of his Emperor, Sensei felt that his era was now ending and that he was incompatible with the modern age which seemed to be full of freedom and independence (Eto Jun, 1970, p. 61). The second part seems to represent a confusing time, the calm before the eventual storm or final revelation in the third book. In the second book, the narrator’s father’s health was slowly declining and the narrator’s future is also very much in limbo. He is confused about what he should do with his life and he is apprehensive about asking his father about his will’s contents. Through the death of the Emperor and the suicide of General Nogi, more uncertainty was added to the tale. The letter of Sensei and his testimony prompts the reader to reconsider Sensei and his wife, and to reconsider what would become to the narrator due to the letter (Fukuchi, 1993, p. 488). In his testimony, Sensei slowly bares himself. By the end of the novel, the reader and the narrator now understand how much the Sensei has bared himself. Soseki explored humanity and the psychological conditions of the mind and he did so in an intense and sophisticated manner which cannot easily be discounted. The way he interwove the emotional tone of the Meiji era into the story indicates how much the Meiji era affected him. Guilt has a significant role in the Japanese culture, however, taking responsibility for one’s actions has the more important value in their culture and their ideology. Sensei understood these traditions and roles. Sensei felt responsible for the death of his friend K, and this was seen through his frequent visits to K’s grave. He believed that he was being punished by heaven because of his actions and he could therefore never be happy (Fukuchi, 1993, p. 489). Sensei’s acts reflected the Japanese culture at that time; his suicide served as the apology or penitence for his actions – mostly to resolve his mistakes. He also wrote about the fact that he should die and how he never found the courage to kill himself before. His initial attempts were bound by his weakness and his lack of strength to support Japanese values of responsibility (Takeo, 1976, p. 114). In Eto’s dissection of Soseki’s work, Eto Jun (1970, p. 50) was able to trace Soseki’s sense of isolation to his philosophical crisis while he was studying in London. His exposure to the independent ideals of the West reduced his faith in the Confucian ideals and traditions of Japan; however he was able to retain his traditional ideals and eliminate the wholehearted acceptance of Western ideals (Eto Jun 1970, p. 58). This left him to be a lonely, but modern individual. All these combined ideals led Soseki to the understanding that the fallen man can only escape his failures by going mad, committing suicide, or by lingering on to bear his suffering and his sense of responsibility. Much discussion has been carried out on the reasons behind Sensei’s suicide. Eto Jun (1970, p. 58) declares that it was dually motivated by the Sensei’s desire to end his suffering, and it was also motivated by the general public’s desire to express his loyalty to the emperor. The latter reason seems to be supported in some regard by Sensei himself when he jokingly declares that his suicide was attributed to his loyalty to the Meiji era. Sensei also declared that his sense of isolation was attributed to his feelings of disconnection with the modern era, one which seems to be full of freedom, independence, and egoism (McClellan, 1970, p. 3). Other writers also have other interpretations of Sensei’s suicide, declaring that Sensei was conflicted about modern ideals and traditional morality (Fukuchi, 1993, p. 469). Fukuchi (1993, p. 469) further discusses that Sensei’s suicide recognizes the end of the Meiji era, an era which like Sensei is torn between the modern practices and traditional ideals. The story Kokoro epitomizes values of love, friendship, loyalty, guilt, and morality and provides the foundations of the cultural transitions which mimic individual conflicts between self interests and all the feelings mentioned previously (Grabas, 2010). This story is relevant as it covers the various changes in the values of contrasting generations; it is also relevant as it shows specific changes in the values which were apparent at the turn of the century when the old Japan was fast being taken over by the new Japan. The end of that era represents a time where the Confucian ideals of feudal Japan were overtaken by western and modern individualistic ideals (Grabas, 2010). This era caused much stress on society and this stress has been mentioned in various parts of the story; and it reflects the internal stresses in relation to their duties to self, to their clan, and their country. Soseki wrote his story involving various emotions like love, guilt, friendship, and morality, but he wrote his story in the changing social context existing at that time (Grabas, 2010). These changes were considered to be significant to various readers at that time. Japan is an island nation and as such its ideals and cultures is very much isolated from mainland cultures. Due to the persistent political and military threats from Korea and China, its relations with its nearest neighbours were always strained. Its contact with the west in the late 1500s had a significant impact on the feudal system of the country especially with the introduction of Christianity and gunpowder (Grabas, 2010). Decades of political and social issues in the 1600s prompted challenges on the Shogunate; this led to the foreigners being driven out and Christianity being banned in the country. Japan closed its doors to western influence until a Western military fleet arrived in its harbour refusing to leave until trade relations were formed. Japan was then seen as militarily and technologically vulnerable and inferior (Grabas, 2010). This prompted the Shogunate to consider the major changes which could be adopted by the country. Modern ideas and changes were introduced into Japan, but these were very much in contrast to traditional Japan. Japan’s Confucian ideas highlighted the importance of sacrificing oneself for the lord and for one’s country; but the West emphasized the individual and his independence. In the end, the contrast with the Japanese ideals led to periods of extreme militarism in Japan (Grabas, 2010). Eventually however, the transition was accepted by the people, especially the younger population. At the time the Kokoro was written, Emperor Meiji represented the last traces of the old Japan and upon his death, it seemed like the old Japan died as well (Schneider, 2010, p. 2). Even his most trusted general who also represented his traditional ideals followed him into his death, thereby paying homage to the old rule of the individual obeying and serving his lord (Schneider, 2010, p. 2). The deaths in the book were used in order to stimulate significant effects on the characters. It gave the story structure and meaning within the context of the societal changes during the transition period in Japan (Schneider, 2010, p. 2). Kokoro portrayed these meanings and transitions well, especially with the changes in the Sensei and the narrator in relation to their greater environment and community. The transition and confusion seen at the end of the Meiji era created the sense of loneliness and isolation in the novel Kokoro. Clay (2005, p. 107) observes that there is an irony which is seen in people’s desire to escape selfishness and betrayal because it seems to lead them to the same situation of self-ruin which also led to the same feelings of selfishness in the first place (Clay, 2005, p. 107). Sensei warned about people in the modern age who are still suffering from loneliness and certainly, in that era, such loneliness was considered to be significant. The inner conflict of Sensei, the author Soseki explored the psychological realm of some people’s alienation from society during the Meiji era impacted by modernization. This seems to be the author’s purpose all along -- seeking to describe loneliness in the modern world. Sensei’s conflict in other words, represented Soseki’s conflict within his transitioning Japan (Clay, 2005, p. 106). In Soseki’s novel, various elements of human mentality, including human against human conflicts have been managed through the morality of the characters – linking them with the changing traditional life of Japan to the modern world (Kakamura, 2010, p. 8) Most of the novel highlights the tragic love triangle between Sensei, K, and Ojo-san, focusing on their loneliness and miseries at a time when the Meiji period was slowly losing its power over a slowly modernising Japan. Soseki was born during the Meiji era, but for four years he was also able to gain his education in London (Kakamura, 2010, p. 8). At this time, he experienced much loneliness in relation to modernization. This loneliness played a huge impact in his novel Kokoro. In the Sensei’s relationship with his friend K themes of alienation are seen, as well as misery and selfishness, qualities which portrayed the negative side of humanity which can be seen in any era (Kakamura, 2010, p. 9). His novel manifested Soseki’s feelings about modernisation, including its enviable qualities. In his novel, Sensei was assimilated into the modern world and in some way, he could actually exist in both the traditional and the modern world based on his actions during his initial encounter with K and then towards the end of the novel. The situation which unfolded in the novel is not a concept foreign to other people or other countries. These changes have been seen in countries like the US or even England at some point in their history, and with these changes, individuals often undergo periods of confusion and uncertainty (Kakamura, 2010, p. 10). These themes are apparent in the novel Koroko, especially on the loneliness of the human heart. This loneliness is especially strong for Sensei and K and it even grows throughout the story, and this loneliness is the main cause of the downfall for the main character of the story. The loneliness which the people of Japan were going through in their period of transition was echoed deeply into the novel (Kakamura, 2010, p. 11). Most especially for Soseki, who was able to experience a taste of the greater modern concepts in the west, his loneliness was further exacerbated, bound in his confusion and his deeply traditional values. Conclusion The social background and history of Japan is threaded well into the novel Kokoro. The setting of the book was the transition of Japan from the old and traditional Meiji era into the new and modern western-influenced Japan. The setting was one of confusion and loneliness for many Japanese – both the young and the old who were torn between their traditions and their need to embrace the modern era. The social changes in Japan were represented in the novel through the relationship between the Sensei and the narrator with the Sensei caught within his emotional turmoil and his need to free himself of the feeling of responsibility he felt for his friend’s death. The torment which the Meiji era went through with the deaths of Emperor Meiji and the suicide of General Nogi were mirrored in the suicide of the Sensei. Just as the death of the emperor and the general caused the end of the old traditional Meiji era, Sensei’s death also brought about the end of loneliness and of traditional Japan. References Clay, C. (2005). Soseki and the Moral Imagination: Mon, Kokoro, and Michikusa. Eto Jun, A. (1970). Japanese Meiji Intellectual (an Essay on Kokoro), in Essays on Natsume Soseki's Works. Japanese Ministry of Education (1970). Fukuchi, I. (1993). Kokoro and 'the Spirit of Meiji' p. 488. Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 48, no. 4, p. 469. Grabas, P. (2010). Kokoro–a book review. Fine and Graphic Arts. Retrieved 02 June 2012 from http://fineandgraphicarts.com/wordpress/?p=251 Kakamura, K. (2010). Soseki’s Kokoro as a Cross-Cultural Study For Exchange Students from North America and Europe. Institute for Language and Culture. Retrieved 02 June 2012 from http://www.kilc.konan-u.ac.jp/~koji/pdf/Soseki%27s%20Kokoro%202012%20.pdf McClellan, J. (1959). The Implications of Soseki's Kokoro p. 368. Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 14, no. 3. Schneider, J. (2010). Book Review: Kokoro by Natsume Soseki. Retrieved 02 June 2012 from http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-kokoro-by-natsume-soseki/page-2/ Takeo, D. (1976). The Psychological World of Natsume Soseki. East Asian Research Center, Harvard. Read More