Thousand Cranes - Essay Example

After discovering his father’s affair with Mrs. Ota, Kikuji himself begins an inappropriate relationship with this woman that seems to disturb her daughter greatly. Additionally, this relationship does not bring him the sense of shame that he would usually feel from sexual encounters, but a ‘warm repose’ (Kawabata, 1952, p21). In this sense, the great contradictions of the novel can be seen. The purpose of this paper is to explore one of these contradictions, the stark contrast between the innocence of Yukiko Inamura and the dark birthmark of Chikako.

This contrast is evident from Kawabata’s use of language when discussing these two topics, and the associations made in the mind of Kikuji himself whilst deliberating on these topics. From the very outset of the novel, it is clear that Kikuji’s mind is pervaded by thoughts of Chikako’s birthmark and that he views it with distaste. In fact, Kikuji’s mother may have distilled in him this disgust for the birthmark, saying that “I actually wept when I heard” (Kawabata, 1952, p5). Whilst this disgust may be rooted in the fact that Chikako was having an affair with Kikuji’s father, it is the birthmark itself which seems to be considered “ugly” (Kawabata, 1952, p4) and is referred to throughout the novel with disgust and dark language.

For example, in a passage remembering the time that he saw Chickako’s mark, Kikuji recalls it with “uneasiness” (p6) and states that “a child who sucked at that breast, with its birthmark and its hair, must be a monster” (p6). This use of language with respect to the birthmark, particularly the word “monster”, allows the reader to understand that there is a negative connotation and link with evil in Kikuji’s mind. Later on in the novel, Kawabata shows that sometimes the negative emotions lead to thoughts of the birthmark for Kikuji, as well as the other way around.

“He felt a surge of something like anger. The ugly birthmark came to him again.” (p17) Again, we can see that there is a use of negative language, such as “ugly” and “anger”, and this affects the way that the reader views the birthmark. Indeed, a birthmark may not seem like a particularly evil or disgusting thing to many readers, but Kawabata cleverly uses this type of language to produce a disgust in the reader similar to that of the main character, Kikuji. This can be easily contrasted with the lightness of the words used to describe the girl with the thousand cranes kerchief, Yukiko Inamura.

Continuing throughout the book, the references to the birthmark remain symbolic of all that is evil and link the character of Chicako to negative and almost evil characteristics. “It was unreal, a product of that venomous jealousy. Of ugly suspicions, clinging to her breast like the ugly birthmark” (p67). Evidently, Kikuji is still very much preoccupied with the birthmark despite the suicide of Mrs. Ota and the other events of the novel, meaning that it is something which is very much a part of his psyche and perhaps has left him psychologically damaged.

The use of the word “venomous”, too, hints at something evil rather than just distasteful. Kawabata has been careful to ensure that every negative aspect of the storyline is associated with the ugly, evil birthmark of Chicako, and this incident is no different. The first introduction that the readers get to the prospective wife of the protagonist and the owner of the thousand cranes kerchief is that she is “beautiful” and “carried a bundle wrapped in a kerchief, the thousand-crane pattern in white on a pink crepe background” (p7).

This is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, white is symbolic of youth, freshness and innocence and pink of femininity. That these two colors