The Way Different Modern Life Issues Are Represented in Sanshiro Novel - Assignment Example

How issues of modern life are presented in Sanshiro novel The novel Sanshiro was written during the Meiji era, the time when Japan was opening to the external world and starting its modernization. During this era, Tokyo was undergoing transformation; from Edo to an imperial capital “Teito”. The publishing of the novel Sanshiro took place in buzzing environment. The twenty-three year old protagonist Sanshiro, is a student from Kyusu, the southernmost and a conservative island. Sanshiro moves from this island to Tokyo city to take a course of English literature at the prestigious Imperial University. His life while in the modern Tokyo city is very different from his childhood life. In the course of the story, Sanshiro opens his eyes and sees the “real world”, modern life in the town and his surroundings. This essay will analyze how issues of modern life are presented in the novel. In the first chapter of the novel, the innocent protagonist Sanshiro is seen to know nothing about modern life. The modern life is seen as different from the country life which is always full of innocence, peace, and simple virtue. Country residents are described as people full of honest and economical when it comes to monetary issues. The eyes of Sanshiro are opened to the issues of modern life through the assistance of his Professor, Hirota. As the story goes on, Professor Hirota becomes a father figure to Sanshiro. Sanshiro is highly attracted to Professor Hirota because his personality is that of a modern individual. As it is previously mentioned in this essay, modernization in Japan started during the Meiji era in the year 1868 which was characterized by an attempt of westernizing the country1. Tokyo, which was the capital city of the modernizing Japan, was referred to as the center of modernity and modern life. In the course of the process, some of the issues of modern life that were introduced in Japan were science and technology. In addition, this time marked the promotion of western culture. Modernity in Japan did not merely mean life westernization, because there were counter movements and opponents who supported promotion of traditional values like social harmony, traditional arts, and samurai loyalty. Through the help of professor Hirota, who is a very careful critic and observer, Sanshiro opens eyes to modern life issues and learns how to deal with these new life issues and environment. Sanshiro adheres to the advice given to him by professor Hirota an aspect that helps him deal with modern life issues. Professor Hirota warns him to take a lot of caution and be careful to avoid sacrificing his individuality. He tells him not to surrender himself to anything even to Japan2. Maintaining independence in modern life according to professor Hirota is more vital than advancing ones career. For instance, professor Hirota refuses to take part in the rat-race to advance his personality. What he only did was teaching language at the college and that was all. His character attracts Sanshiro because it makes him feel relaxed and forget the competitive ways of the world. Another issue of modern life represented in the novel is that of egoism. Hirota complains because of the increasing rate of egoism in the modern life. People gradually imported self-centeredness into action and thought when the society changed to modern life and egoism became extremely overdeveloped. The issue of egoism was extremely different prior to the beginning of modernism3. Simmel explains that when he a student, everything they did related to others. He further explains the egoism of metropolitan and indifference with many people being incapable of coping with the nervous stimulation to which they are exposed in the urban centers4. In order to accommodate the new issues of modern life which include contrasts and fast changes, the modern man leaves his capability of maintaining an emotional relationship and deep feelings and starts reacting with his head and has stopped reacting with his heart. Therefore, modern life underlies a delicate awareness and a prevalence of brainpower in modern man. Many people in the modern life are presented in the novel as having no warm relations with the other people. For instance, Nonomiya shows no relations with his sister Yoshiko. When Nonomiya receive a message that his sister is ill, he says that she is playing games. Surprisingly, it is not Nonomiya who shows this indifference towards modern life. For instance, Sanshiro and his acquaintances find a beggar begging desperately for monetary help but instead of helping the beggar, the group starts to discuss how the beggar is begging in an unsuccessful way. The same uncaring behavior is seen when they pass a young girl who is crying because of losing her parents. Everyone who sees her seems to be touched, but nobody decided to take care of the girl. Another negative feature of urban people is the opportunistic and ambitious character they have. A good example of such a person is Yojiro, a close friend to Sanshiro. Yojiro is represented in the novel as having opportunistic city mindset. According to him being educated is nothing based on the fact that Nonomiya is much educated but he earns less. This is similar to the current modern life. There are many jobless or poorly paid people out there, but they well educated with degrees and good certificates. This modern life issues are currently affecting many people with the cost of education, increasing while employment opportunities are drastically decreasing5. The calculating minds of people in modern life also affects their personal relationships6. For instance, Yojiro makes new friends intentionally and systematically and uses them if they promise to accomplish a purpose. At the end of the novel, Sanshiro finds a way of living. The author emphasizes that there is necessity of one to find his own way of life that suits his individuality. If your way of living does not give you self-confidence, and peace of mind, it is good to find an appropriate way of living. Sanshiro depicts this because he must find another way of living. Conclusion To sum it up this essay, has examined the way different modern life issues are represented in Sanshiro novel. The author discusses both negative and positive issues of “city” and “country”. Sanshiro who comes to the city for his first time, is forced to find appropriate means of dealing with modern life issues. Through the help he gets from friends and the experience he gains, he lastly opens eyes to the real life “modern world”. At the end of the story, he turns out to be a person who has learnt how to deal with modern life. Word Count = 1,100 Bibliography Simmel, Georg. "The metropolis and mental life." Individuality and Social forms (2003). Smith, Henry D. "Tokyo as an idea: an exploration of Japanese urban thought until 1945." Journal of Japanese Studies (2008): 45-80. Washburn, Dennis. "Manly Virtue and the Quest for Self: The Bildungsroman of Mori Ogai." Journal of Japanese Studies (2005): 1-32. Word count=1213 words Read More