The Sound of the Mountain - Essay Example

College: The sound of the Mountain Introduction on the Yasunari Kawabata lived in the year 1899 in a town called Osaka. He was the first writer to win a Nobel Prize in literature in the year 1968. His first novel got published at a time when he was in secondary school. From High school, he preceded Tokyo Imperial University where he graduated in the year 1924. He wrote another short called “The Izu Dancer,” that was published in the year 1925. The short story was published in Atlantic Monthly in the year 1925. Such was a big contribution in the field of arts. Ever since, he has authored very many novels such as Snow Country in 1956, Thousand Cranes in 1959, The Sound of the Mountain in 1970, The Master of Go in 1972 and Beauty and Sadness in 1975. He became the chairman of P. E. N Club of Japan, a position that he served for several years. In the year 1959 he goes the Goethe- medal award in Frankfurt. Kawabata met his death in the year 1972. An introduction to the book The Sound of the Mountain is a piece of art by Yasunari Kawabata between the year 1949 and 1954. The novel describes that the situation in Japan after the World War two. The novel has its setting in the suburb of Tokyo and the real town in Tokyo. The genre of the story is novel. It was first written in a Japanese language and later translated into English by Edward Seidensticker. The original title of the book was Yama no Oto. The English version of the novel had about 276 pages. The book was revised as a video in the year 1954. An introduction to the story The story rotates around Shingo’s family. The story is told from am an omniscient narrator who is Shingo, an entrepreneur who is sixty-one at the beginning of the story. From the onset of the novel, we find temporary lapse of memory in him. He can remember weird dreams in his walk and even in the night. He hears kind of noises that that wake him up even in the night. Shingo feels that whatever, the experience he is going through portends his death because he even coughs blood. As the story continues, Shingo starts relating the events that go through his life to his family. It appeared to Shingo that he was not a responsible father and husband, and therefore he feels that the problem that his family is undergoing is purely from his poor strategy as a parent. As the novel come to an end, Shingo questions his secretary over the extramarital affair that Shuichi because the secretary was used to him. However, as the relationship between Shuichi and Kikuko fades, Shingo gains interest in her. Shingo is in between two worlds of thoughts, he feels for her daughter and her daughter- in- law’s inability to get proper marriage at the same time he is admiring Kikuko. There is more complication of matters in the life of Shingo where infatuations ruin his life. He thinks that the older sister to his wife is more beautiful than the wife such that the woman continues to appear in his dream together with other people who died a long time ago. In a nutshell, the story is rumination upon aging. However, the manifestation of nature that appears in the life of Shingo brings to him new life as much as the hope may be lacking. The natural world appears to him in the form of a mountain, the flights of birds, the pine trees that he sees from the window of the train. Disunity in the family The story in the novel surrounds the family of Shingo, the aging man of 61. Shingo has a wife called Yasuko, two children, Shuichi, and Yasuko. Shuichi has a wife named Kikako and one daughter. Yasuko has two daughters whom she has moved on to their home leaving her husband whom she blames for being irresponsible and drug addict. From the beginning of the story, we see Shingo, a disturbed man because of what goes on in his family. He is not himself, and he feels that he is responsible for the disgrace that has befallen his family. Shingo’s son Shuichi is not himself from the time he came from the world war. Shuichi has married for two years to Kikako yet he is having an extramarital affair with the other lady. He has left his wife without taking care of her. Moreover, Kikako is disturbed and the only place she can find peace of mind is from her father- in- law, Shingo. On the other hand, there is also a break in the relationship between Yasuko and her husband. She has moved away from her husband claiming that he spends a lot of time in the at the drinking place at the expense of the family, and this makes her resort to going back to her father. However, in the case of Shingo, he feels that he is alienated from his existence; he feels that he is physically separated from his wife. From the story, it is apparent that Shingo is not entirely devoted to his wife Yasuko because had once fallen in love with the wife’s younger sister. Further to this he admires the wife to his son. In Shingo’s family, there is no genuine relationship among themselves. Shingo is guilty because he has not given his family attention and again because of the failure in the marriage of his children. The attitude towards women Kawabata portrays a society whereby women are looked down upon by men. One of the key factors that bring disgrace to the family of Shingo is how women are handled. Shingo pities the situation that his daughter- in- law but in a real sense he is in love with her. It is a great abuse in the family relationship because Kikako is his son’s wife, and he takes advantage that the child is irresponsible. Therefore, he wants to take control. Furthermore, Shingo is not physically close to his wife; such is illustrated from the visions that haunt him through the dream. In the dream he remembers the relationship that he had with a younger sister of his wife; it clearly shows that Shingo is not happy with the present wife. Furthermore, male chauvinism is also portrayed when Yasuko’s husband neglects her together with the children and is busy with his drug dealing affairs. In the entire novel, we don’t see him making any attempt to follow the whereabouts of the family. However, it forces Shingo to take care of the Yasuko together with the two kids in his old age. Towards the end of the novel, Yasuko and Kikako demands that Shingo open for them a business so as to enable them earn living. Another irresponsible behavior in men we see in Shuichi. He has a family, but he does not want to fend for them instead he goes for an extramarital affair. His father and the wife notice that he already has a child out of wedlock. The patriarchal society that Kawabata brings out in his story is a real reflection of what goes in Japan but not only in the family of Shingo. For that matter, therefore, the author has used the family of Shingo’s family as a reflection of what goes on in the whole society after the world war two. The problems associated with the aging Shingo does not want to accept that he has indeed grown old. Childhood memories continue to haunt him. For instance now that his wife has grown old, he feels that she is not beautiful anymore. This factor makes him look through his past life with a lot of obsession. The image of the older sister to his wife who died a long time ago while young haunts him through a dream. On the other hand, Shingo looks back at his family with a lot of dissatisfaction. He blames himself for delinquents that the family goes through. From the readers perspective, I feel that, Shingo wished he could reverse the whole situation from there he can ensure that the family sees his hand in shaping them for the best future. Moreover, Shingo’s taste for infatuation is a child- like. He admires the body orientation of his daughter- in- law, Kikuko. From his mind he wished he was young, he could have seized the opportunity that that his son Shuichi is wasting. From what goes in the mind of Shingo, we see that he is growing old. His brain is beginning to work, and he recalls the past years when he could spit blood, however, when those signs are gone he does not want to remember them. From that indication, it is obvious that Shingo does not want to accept the fact that he is growing old. Moreover, whenever Shingo experiences, strange dreams, he fears that they are signs of his deadly disease that will eventually cause his death. Shingo is not able to control his family because of his old age. His son is a reckless drunkard who does not care about his family, and he goes own having an extramarital affair. It is sad that the best thing that Shingo can do to better the situation is to admire the wife, his daughter- in- law. He cannot afford to put his son down and give him a piece of advice. It is obvious that Shingo is close to Kikako yet he cannot advise her not to abort his son’s child. Decadence in the society Kawabata presents a society that is full of rot and decay. One of the filthiness that the author portrays is immorality that breeds death. All the prominent characters in the novel are agents of evil. To begin with, Shuichi is married yet he goes ahead to have an extramarital affair with another woman. From the ugly incident, the narrator records that a child is begotten whom we are later to learn that is not Shuichis. Therefore, it is obvious that it is not only Shuichi who moves with the woman. On the side of Kikako, she decides that she is not giving birth to Shuichis child, and yet he has other affairs. She opts to abort the child who is a clear indication that the society presented by Kawabata is a total evidence of a rotten society. Another sign of the decadence of society illuminated by the novel, The Sound of the Mountain is drug and drug abuse. Yasuko has separated from the husband because he is a drug dealer. Yasuko decides to take away her children and go back to her father. Further to that she complains that her husband does not give them any attention instead he is busy with his drug dealing acts. The drug makes irresponsible parents. Furthermore, Shuichi is also brought out as a drug addict who will never take care of his family instead concentrate on other people’s families. It is probably taking of drugs that have made him change his character from the time he came from the world war. The element of decadence that I found so interesting in Kawabata’s piece of art is distasteful acts. Shingo is a secret admirer of her daughter- in- law, his son’s wife. It has never occurred to me that an average man can behave as such. Such an act is a taboo, and it reveals the extent to which the rot is in the society. Conclusion The Sound of the Mountain is a fictional story that portrays the situation in Japan after the world war two told from an old man’s point of view. The novel gives the reader an opportunity to know the culture of Japan and its usefulness to nature. Moreover, Kawabata offers the way women are treated in this society a full thought, and he comes out a person with a sincere concern for the community. Moreover, the story presents an accurate picture of what goes on in Japan following the cultural difference that is in the country. Moreover, the portrayal of the di cadence in the society is in a way to reveal how a particular class of people suffers as others enjoy. For instance, women experience in the hands of men. Work cited Kawabata, Yasunari. The Sound of the Mountain. New York: Vintage Books, 2013. Internet resource Read More