Memoirs of a Geisha - Essay Example

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA Introduction Arthur Golden’s Memoir of a Geisha, published in 1997, narrates the life story of Nitta Sayuri, as once a geisha inKyoto, Japan. The novel has raised a controversy when Golden was sued by Mineko Iwasaki, who claimed that her story was used, revealing her identity without her approval, and some aspects of geisha life were misrepresented. Iwasaki deemed such as a breach of contract and defamation to geisha’s community. Although the novel accounts for a geisha’s life, through the memoirs of a woman, its story setting illustrates the culture, norms, and mores in Japan, as well as the conditions of women and societal stratification, during the second World War. In the latter part of the novel, the setting describes the dawning of the 20th century. Overall, Golden echoed the cultural, social, and political historical events in the East Asia through the memoirs of a typical entertainer. This essay functions as a review of Arthur Golden’s Memoir of a Geisha through an in-depth analysis of the novel’s literary elements and historical explorations on Japanese culture. Historical Context Around 1600, until the late period of 1700s, geishas were men who used to perform and sang theatrical and artistic presentations.1 They were known then as professional entertainers and disciples of the visual arts. Later on, women entered into the world of geisha and became more prominent entertainers than men. Female geisha apply distinctive make up, wear elaborate hairstyles and fine-looking silk kimonos, and abide by the doctrines of obis and rules of propriety. They live in the abode of whoever bought them and finance their education. Their education and artistic training includes performing tea ceremonies, serving food and beverages, playing music and singing, conversation, and dancing. A geisha community has staffs who manage booking appearances and performances of geishas on private gatherings. In the advent of modernism, geisha has been becoming a remnant of Japan’s old society. Most female Japanese are now interested to and preoccupied by emerging career opportunities than becoming heirs of and perpetuating cultural traditions. In writing the Memoirs of a Geisha, beside from his academic studies on Japan’s cultural traditions and arts, Golden crucially used the information he elicited from a legendary geisha. He gathered such personal and historical details to bring a fictional novel into birth. That novel is now considered as a historical fiction because it tells a story of a fictional person from a far flung era, which is entirely different from the era in which the novel is written. Like other historical novels, Memoirs of a Geisha depicts cultural conflict and transformations. Although, “memoir,” as a literary genre, is fictional, Golden still stick with the actual form of memoirs by expressing them in the first person, picturing the life events and experiences of the narrator, and reflecting back, through introspection, over a long span of time. Similar to any other Japanese literary works, Memoirs of a Geisha has a number of nature imagery. Japanese arts and literary pieces describe or portray natures and things, including bodies of water, plants, and insects. Haiku, a Japanese poetry, describes and uses the elements of nature as metaphor for moral lessons in life. Golden used such elements to create an aura for his novel in line with Japanese artistic, cultural, and literary traditions. For instance, Sayuri expressed her feelings through a picturesque description of nature, when she met a client who knew her hometown, Yoroido: “Well, I felt as a bird must feel when it has flown across the ocean and comes upon a creature that knows its nest.”2 In describing the affliction, due to illness, of her mother, Sayuri used expressions that implied her family’s means of earning a living: “Just as seaweed is naturally soggy, you see, but turns brittle as it dries, my mother was giving up more and more of her essence.”3 Throughout the novel, Sayuri reflected on the essence of her life. Golden employed metaphors of landscapes in illuminating the physical and psychological aspects of Sayuri’s experiences. Mahema told Sayuri, for instance, in their first meeting, “All we can do is flow where the landscape of our lives carries us.”4 After learning the death of her parents, Sayuri said, “It was amazing to me how completely the landscape of my mind had changed.”5 At near the end of the novel, Sayuri described her transformation: “I could almost sense my life expanding just like a river whose waters have begun to swell.”6 Golden illuminated the social conditions in pre-war Japan through Sayuri’s perseverance and endurance of the oddities in her life. Likewise, Sayuri’s physical and life transformations illustrated the transformation of Japanese society from pre-war to modern era. Golden pictured Sayuri’s relationship with Mameha to show the power of perseverance and finally, to deliver an element of hope and success into the narrative. Even though Sayuri’s fortunes surged, the underlining patriarchal nature of pre-war Japan was highly evident. That is, only through procuring the acceptance and interest of rich men that Sayuri and other geishas can achieve a bountiful living. This patriarchal theme was implicated in a number of instances throughout the novel. Perhaps the most prominent of which is Sayuri and Mameha’s encounters with the Baron. Despite of their exasperation with the Baron’s behavior, Sayuri and Mameha can hardly do anything because of their lower social position. The downfall of Hatsumomo signified the historical events during World War II, wherein Japan was in great poverty and economic depression. It was further implied in the novel that Japanese government, in 1943, forced the geisha district to close. Thus, Sayuri once again faced poverty, along with other geishas. Indeed, this was an issue for many Japanese during the war years.7 The novel also explored the reconstruction period in Japan. When the war has ended, Sayuri returned to Gion and witnessed the reopening of the geisha district and some small, incremental progress during the American occupation. The social structural changes were also illuminated in the novel: higher ranking geisha, such as Mameha, has no longer have rich dannas to support them; and Nobu and other rich men’s lives were turned upside down in post-war Japan, since their fortunes were destroyed. The novel ended with Sayuri moving to New York, relaying her experience in the present tense. This immigration indicated the America’s past progress in the post-war period. Themes and Styles The story of the Memoirs of a Geisha is similar to any other fairy tale story we knew since our childhood. Sayuri, the principal character, sprouted from a poor family of a fisherman. With her mother’s grave illness, her father can hardly provide for their daily needs. Upon the death of her mother, her father sold her and her sister, Satsu, to a broker. Sayuri was brought into a geisha house where she learned the arts and trades of geisha’s entertainment. With patience and perseverance, Sayuri was transformed into a successful, a sort of queen, and highly treasured geisha. Like other typical fairy tale stories, the presence of a wicked antagonist (Granny), the element of vengeance (Hatsumo), the prince charming (the Chairman), and the magnificent castle (Waldorf Towers) are very glaring elements of the novel. Fairy tale and folklore stories have been part of daily life affairs. They often aid in understanding and learning the values and morals of life events. These kinds of stories spontaneously perpetuate, pass down, and go back from one generation to another because, besides entertaining, they have universal themes, which are germane to the daily affairs of living. They impart practical lessons which serve as guidelines in coping up and adapting in the world. Even at the present, fairy tale motifs are seen in commercial shows and advertisements to attract prospective buyers or clients. Some elements of Memoirs of a Geisha are facsimiles of that in Cinderella’s story. Even though the novel is all about Sayuri’s life, Golden used a “Translator’s Note” to introduce a pseudo author to his readers. Sayuri was only presented as a fictional character, moving through Golden’s account of journey towards happily ever after ending. As a Cinderella facsimile, Sayuri’s tale began as a poor fisherman’s daughter, who was separated to her sister, prior to the death of her mother. Sayuri found her self in the Gion district of Kyoto. With emptiness in her heart, she underwent geisha education and learned the trades of entertaining. Then, she was sent to okiya and lived under the dominion of the Nittas (mother, granny, auntie). She was an outcast to her new family, particularly to Hatsumomo and Pumpkin, because of language barrier and her fishy smell. Mother Nitta was only after the money while Granny Nitta always charges arduous tasks to Sayuri. Sayuri felt she was turned into a vagabond family servant and a nanny to Hatsumomo. In the death of her parents and the elopement of Satsu, Sayuri accepted her fate, as becoming a geisha of Gion. However, Mother Nitta had given up on her, making her fate more uncertain. In such agitated time, Sayuri met the Chairman who motivated her, by giving a handkerchief that connoted his affable intension. She said, “In that brief encounter with the Chairman, I had changed from a lost girl facing a lifetime of emptiness to a girl with purpose in her life."8 After the death of Granny Nitta, Mameha, a highly respected geisha, acted as Sayuri’s fairy godmother. Mameha took care of Sayuri and sent her back to geisha training. She supported Sayuri to defeat Hatsumomo and be absorbed, once again, to the okiya. Through Mameha’s cleverness, Sayuri became a successful geisha. With Mameha’s aegis, Sayuri has paid her debt and rise from rags to riches. Sayuri, with jewel adornments and fine-dressed kimono, has drawn the attention of rich men who always seek her company. Sayuri’s motivation to becoming a geisha was not merely for financial affluence. She longed for the affection of the Chairman; becoming a geisha, however, means putting emotions out from oneself. Sayuri’s unique gray eyes are the counterpart of Cinderella’s glass slippers, which sent her prince (the Chairman) in search of. At the latter part of the story, Mameha’s role as a fairy godmother to Sayuri was further emphasized when the Chairman confessed that he asked Mameha to find the girl with gray eyes. When the war in Japan commenced, Nobu saved Sayuri by putting her into poverty under the guidance of a kimono maker. Sayuri became a peasant and lost her physical charisma. She also went back to Gion district through Nobu’s encouragement. In the end, Sayuri has finally met her prince (the Chairman) in her new castle (in New York) and lived a happy life. Movie Adaptation Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha was adapted into a movie under the same title. The movie producers enlisted well-known professionals in the film industry, including Itzhak Perlman, Doug White, and Yo-Yo Ma, to work on the project and ensure a box office hits. However, the choice of Chinese actors that annoyed the Japanese created a controversy, though the director selected the best candidate for each character in the novel, regardless of race. The movie was marketed in line with the Golden’s controversial book to attract movie goers, particularly those who have read the novel. Personally, I find the snail-pace presentation of events in the movie and the Japanese accents of the actors as the film’s little bits of minuses. According to Marshall, he chose Chinese actors, instead of Japanese, because he wanted the best candidates to portray the key roles, without giving priority to their nationality. Nevertheless, it is still doubtful; if his concern was for the quality of acting, why he didn’t chose American, British, or other famous Hollywood actors. The casting also caused agitation in some Chinese community because of nationalist sentiments, particularly, the misconception that geishas are prostitute. Others perceived such negative reactions rooted from the rarity of famous Chinese actresses who portray prostitutes in big Chinese movies. Generally, the movie showcased the structural plot, thoughts, and essence of Golden’s novel. The differences that one may note, perhaps, are only due to the way specific scenes depicted in the movie were dissimilar to that of one may imagine through reading. Conclusion Memoirs of a geisha recounts Chiyo’s life story which began in 1929, along with the social norms and political conditions that predominated her days and nights as she grown into a sophisticated art disciple and companion to powerful rich men. Through the novel’s twist and turn, Chiyo was renamed as Sayuri as she found her way in okiya, where she competed with Hatsumomo to gain favor from the aging owners of the house. After knowing the death of her parents and the elopement of her sister, Satsu, Sayuri has finally accepted her fate and envisioned herself of becoming a highly respected geisha. She realized her dream through the aegis provided by Mahema, a well-known geisha. When the war has reached Japan, the Gion district was not spared from physical and economic destructions. The secluded geisha community was heavily affected by World War II. Sayuri went back into poverty and learned to cope with the atrocity of war. In the end, Sayuri has successfully found her prince (the Chairman) and lived happily in her new castle (in New York). BIBLIOGRAPHY Ebrey, Patricia, Walthall, Anne, and Palais, James eds. Modern East Asia: From 1600: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009. Golden, Arthur. Memoirs of a geisha: a novel. New York: Vintage Books, 2005. Read More