Case of Isobe from Five by Endo - Speech or Presentation Example

Task: Case of Isobe from Five by Endo Written Component I. Character Analysis Just like other normal stories or narratives, characters are meant to facilitate different components of stories. Without characters, stories would lack an important element known as plot. Without characters, facilitation of thematic components of novels and narratives are seriously affected. As understood in narratives and literature, each work of art has two main characters; that is major and minor characters. Major characters are referred to as protagonists and antagonists, depending on their views of the theme. In the story, Case of Isobe from Five by Endo, the authors have used more than one main character. One of the main characters in the story is Isobe. He represents the antagonists in the society. He is against the facilitation of positive or admirable plans, traits, or characters in the society. In short, he is against the protagonists, whose aim is to promote the good side of the society. Isobe has been used to facilitate one core theme in the story; mistreatment of women by men in the society. The first page of the story acts as a portrayal and introduction of his mischievous and undesirable practices geared towards limitation of his wife’s happiness. His first trait is that of dishonesty. He does not tell the truth concerning his wife’s situation and condition in the hospital. He gives his mother in law false hopes that her daughter would be well soon, when in real sense her days are growing fewer second by second. He is irresponsible since he does not carry out his duty as a husband. The authors inform the readers that he rarely talked with his wife. In case there was a conversation in the house, he would only respond using words such as “Uh-huh” or “That is fine” (Gessel & Endo 69). He is also sarcastic. He laughs at his wife as a show of hiding his sorrow and despondence. He is conservative. He does not show love or compassion to his wife at the hospital simply because it is against the Japanese culture (Gessel and Endo 66). Finally, he is hypocritical. Her hypocritical nature is revealed when he shows false emotions and despondence when his wife is at critical condition. He has been informed by the doctor that his wife will not stay longer since she has terminal cancer. He does not like Naruse, a volunteer at the hospital. All the above traits show that he was against her wife’s comfort, as a woman in the society. Since literature is always an allegory representing the entire society, the character has been used in the story to represent source of women’s hindrance to development in the society. His wife, Keiko, is another main character in the story. She suffers from terminal cancer, which later claims her life. She represents the positive sides of societal progress or development. She is cheerful and live unlike her husband. She is the one who initiates conversation in the house. This is brought by the authors through flashback on what used to happen in the house of Isobe when his wife used to be okay healthfully. She talks much with their adopted daughter while her husband is always quiet, with occasional interruption that depicts his lack of interest in the conversation. She is jealous of the tree that has lived an approximation of 200 years, yet still shows good form with healthy branches. She does the comparison of herself with that of tree and envies the tree. She is caring since she leaves behind instructions to her husband on how he should live to avoid and reduce depression due to her absence. She is loving. She loves her husband, and that is the reason why she wants him to live good life even in her absence. She is also brave. As she lies in her hospital bed wasting away gradually, she does not show any form of fear. She clings to the truth and belief that one day she will be okay and will get out of that hospital safe. The doctor is satirical. He ridicules Isobe when he suggests that he would try herbal medicine to heal his sick wife. He has been used to reveal the trait of Isobe as being conservative. He still believes sin the traditional herbal medicine when Japan has developed and manufactured and modern medicines are available. Naruse, in the story, is a woman who was also divorced at younger age. As mentioned earlier, Isobe does not like her because he believes that she would reveal something to his wife. He thinks that she will tell his wife his behaviors, as well as, the cause of her sickness. He is also afraid that she will tell Keiko the truth concerning her health. She has been used to show the uneasy trait presence in Isobe. Another minor character is Nurse Tanaka. She has been used in the story to show the optimism of Keiko. She does not give up even when there is less hope for her. The other character is Ma Tin Ang, a child who began to speak in strange ways at the age of four years. She feared plane. He hates the Burmese food, but prefers the Japanese ones (Gessel & Endo 80). He loves Japan. The author of this book has used several styles to facilitate and ease the issuance of his message to the readers. The first stylistic device used in the story is simile. The second paragraph of the second page makes comparison between the doctor’s revolving chair and Keiko’s impending death. The comparison is made by Isobe. “…but the sickening creak of his revolving chair sounded to Isobe like a declaration of his wife’s impending death” (Gessel & Endo 65). This devisce is meant to introduce death as a theme in the story. The authors have also used dialogue in the story. There is direct conversation between characters in the story. For instance, conversation between Isobe and his wife on her deathbed, which reveals several themes and character traits of the two parties involved. The conversation shows dishonest trait in Isobe, kindness, and jealousy in her wife when she feels envious of the tree. There is also juxtaposition in the case. In this case, two contrasting situations or behaviors are placed side by side. In the story, it is depicted when two nurses, in the hospital pass by Isobe with smiles on their faces. Isobe, on the other hand is not showing any sign or form of happiness in his face because of his wife’s health condition. The above is an example of perfect contrast presented in the story. This style has been used to show the human nature of Isobe who is one of the main characters in the story. There is also use of symbol in the story. The potato vendor, in the story, has been used as a symbol of the causes of cancer. He has been used as a causative agent of cancer. In literature, he has been used to represent certain factors that affect societies negatively, for instance, corruption, and poor leadership. The author of the book has employed pity tone. He pities the women in the Japanese society. He does this because they have not realized their potentials or woken from their slumber and unawareness of their rights. There is also personification in the story. The tree has been given human attribute of talking. Verbal irony is also present when the doctor tells Isobe that untimed issuance of morphine to Keiko would shorten her life, rather than prolonging. Medicinal drugs and medicine are meant to facilitate and improve the life conditions of patients; not to harm or shorten their lives. There is also use of repetition and local dialect in the story. Piping “yaki imo,” is an example of local dialect used in the story. In addition, to note is that the phrase has been used repeatedly in several instances. This is meant to underscore and accentuate the symbolic meaning of the phrase in the story. In the story, this phrase is popular with the vendor. The vendor, as stated earlier, is associated with the cause of deadly terminal cancer. Situational irony exists when the readers are aware of something unknown to the active or the next participating or acting character. For instance, when Isobe is called back by his wife before her death, he is not aware that it is the last time the wife is talking to him. She struggles to tell him something before her soul departs. Another aspect of situational irony is when Keiko’s mother is given false hopes concerning her daughter by her son-in-law. The reader is aware that Keiko’s condition is critical and his chance of surviving from the cancer is zero percent. The story is a postmodern text. This is because of the presence of different features of postmodern literature. For instance, intertextuality, whereby the author’s work is not purely from his or her imagination, but rather from certain historical or other factual occurrences. In the story, the author has derived his ideas from the Japanese Budhi society, which regard women with less respect. Biography of Endo The author of the above-discussed story was born in 1923 Tokyo, Japan. His parents later moved to Manchuria, at a place known as Dalian. His parents divorced and he lived with his mother at Kobe at his aunt’s house. He was baptized under the Catholic Church in 1934.he studied at Keio University. However, his study was interrupted and affected by the war, since he got a job and worked in one of the then munitions factories in Japan. During the time, he contributed a lot to the compilation of different journals. He lectured at Tokyo University before moving to Seijo University where he taught literature. He was referred to as a novelist; not a university professor during the period. He started his writing career after the completion of his studies at France. Besides, the Isobe from the five, he wrote other books such as Kakure Kirishitan. Components for Oral Presentation Characters in novels and other narratives serve various core purposes. The purposes are theme enhancement, plot enhancement and finally making the story interesting, that is, characters create humor in works of art. There are several instances in the story that we can use to illustrate the necessity of characters in works of literature. The first example is Isobe, in the second page. His intention to look for traditional herbal drug is portrayed in the page. From this, we can confidently conclude that he has been used to facilitate the theme of tradition or conservatism. The author has also used the same character to depict irresponsibility among men in the Japanese society. The main characters in this story are Isobe, Keiko, Doctor and Ma Tin Ang. As we can see, these characters facilitate the themes that are dominant in the story. For instance, Isobe facilitate mistreatment of women in the Japanese society, Keiko represents those who are optimistic that the society will one day be a neutral place. Such people are determined that even upon their departure or death, justice, and fairness will one day be found. The doctor is a portrayal of the interveners in the society, for instance, the judicial authority. They instill laws governing the behaviors of different individuals. There main aim is to ensure the protection of the poor and the oppressed members of the society. This interpretation applies to any of the current contemporary society. Most of the authorities instilling laws do this with an aim of protecting the welfare of those who are under deep and undesirable oppression by fellow members. As we can observe from the story, we can conclude that Endo is an expert when it comes to the use of various literary devices in putting his message across for the readers to comprehend with necessary easiness. We can see from the passage that the author has used a lot of situational irony. Before we proceed, we need to understand what situational irony is. It is the type of irony whereby the reader is aware of what is happening as the story flows where the characters in the story are not. An example is when Isobe tells his mother in law a lie that her daughter will get well soon, when she is actually under critical condition and the doctors have given up on her. In this case, we the readers know that Keiko is in critical condition and she will finally die. Her mother, a character in the novel, however, knows nothing about this. She is in the dark and believes the lies of her son-in-law. Work Cited Gessel, Van & Endo, Shukaku. Five by Endo: Stories. New York, NY: New Directions, 2000. Print. Read More