NOTE: For your edition
of the book, start around the passage where the narrator’s father is dying and he
starts talking to his brother about the property; finish roughly around the part
where Sensei moves into the house with the widow and starts falling in love with
her daughter.
Answer TWO of the
following:
Q1: Sensei writes
that “although I despised women, I could not find it in me to despise Ojōsan...I
felt for her a love that was close to pious faith.” Why doe she seem to fall in
love with her—and is it truly love? Can a man who claims to despise women
suddenly make an exception? And how did she convince him to reform his views?
Q2: Besides the fact
that Sensei intends to die, why does he finally decide to tell the narrator his
secrets? What does he have to gain from recounting the story of his secret
shame? Do you think the narrator understand it himself?
Q3: How are the
narrator’s and Sensei’s stories of coming to adulthood similar? Are both of
them “egotists,” as the narrator’s brother calls Sensei (and people like him)? Do
we begin to understand the hidden attraction of the narrator for his ‘teacher’
as we read his letter?
Q4: At the end of
Chapter 62 (in my edition), Sensei writes, “But I believe a commonplace idea
stated with passionate conviction carries more living truth than some novel
observation expressed with cool indifference.” Why might this be an idea we’ve
previously encountered in other works in the class? What idea is Sensei
actually trying to get across here?
Q1- Funny that this is the question for today because this particular one stuck with me quite a bit. This made me think of my quote from the Tao Te Ching on faith. In Kokoro Sensei describes true love as being like faith in that it consumes you and that it is felt with every fiber of your being. I would argue that in the way that Sensei describes what he felt that yes it was love, but do I actually think it was being in love? No, I think we can love someone and it can be true and the real thing, but I don't know that that is being in love. There is a significant difference in my eyes of the two. I think what made him love her was the fact that she made him feel worthy. She saw the good in him and in turn it made him see the good in himself.
ReplyDeleteQ2- He decides to tell him right before his father's death which seemed odd at first but now that I think about it more maybe it was because he knew the narrator's life was about to be turned upside down when he loses his father and he wanted what he says to him to not be lost in the grief and all of the responsibilities that he is about to take on. I think he also wants it to be this grand gesture that he is doing by writing to him and making a point of telling him that he is dying. It is almost like he needs to know his story will be told and not just told, but really heard by a captive audience.
Q1: The hardest of these questions is as to why Sensei finally feels in love yet he clearly distances himself from such romantic relationships throughout the text. One could argue that maybe because Ojosan is around and available or he just hasn't been around so many women and feels enticed by this one or he doesn't know as many women. I wouldn't agree that it is true love because we all know the kind of guy Sensei is and love doesn't describe him. It is probably lust that he has towards Ojosan. However, a times women tend to turn men's lives around by the way they care, their approach can be appealing and their splendid bodies too cause men's expectations to heighten. In my view, I guess the woman inspired Sensei to re-discover himself and also made Sensei feel worthy and lovable probably like no one before her had done.
ReplyDeleteQ2: Sensei and the narrator have long enough related their traits and characteristics. They have personalities that don't differ and I guess that is the reason why Sensei finally tells him his secrets so that the narrator learns from them and to impact his life positively howevr shameful and the narrator also seems to understand Sensei.
Q2. I definitely feel as though Sensei feels obligated to keep his promise to the narrator about telling him why he is the way he is. Arguably, in the Japanese culture, it is important to embody genuineness and candor. Therefore, I would conclude that Sensei feels as though he must fill the shoes of his culture and die with at least some dignity and honor. For the narrator, Sensei’s testimony could serve as a placeholder, meaning as the narrator matures, he can always reflect back on this particular time in his life and unpack everything Sensei had to offer him.
ReplyDeleteQ3. Sensei and the narrator’s coming of age story is so similar because they are essentially the same character but at different stages in their lives. I don’t believe them to be egotists; I think they embody(ied) innocence. As a young adult, I think the narrator and Sensei both are/were eager to believe in their interpersonal relationships and even humanity. However, I do think that these dual characters offer contrasting ideas as well. For instance, the narrator represents more Western ideas and values, whereas Sensei is very much tied to his Eastern culture. As a part of a younger generation, the narrator exemplifies the “go-getter” attitude that comes with being young, meaning everything is his to be discovered. I think Sensei struggles with this aspect of the narrator. Sensei probably wants the narrator to slow down and find things within himself rather than consuming everything around him.
2. He decides that it is finally time to answer all of the questions because he believed that his boundaries were off because of his death. That it didn't matter what he said at this point, since there was no way the narrator could make it to himself before his death. He is mainly doing this to appease himself and make amends for what all he had done to his family, but still blamed them for what he became because of it.
ReplyDelete3. They are similar in the ends that they were both bothered by how they were treated by everyone else. They all saw them as 'high beings that could get them to the top' but all they could do was what they knew and that was only a little bit. I personally don't believe that Sensei was an egotist, more of someone who looked out more for themselves, without harming others in the process.
Q1: The idea that this love might be platonic is foreshadowed by an earlier exchange witnessed by the narrator about why Sensei and Ojosan didn't have children. I honestly love how Sensei's relationship with Ojosan mirrors the narrator's relationship with Sensei. Again - I'm going to have to reread Gertrude.
ReplyDeleteQ4: The relationships in this book and the narrative of their stories are woven so tightly that I can't honestly keep clear in my mind the lines between them. I think the Narrator and Sensei are two peas in a pod. There are variances in their stories, of course, but their characters are so similar! Just consider how the narrator betrays his dying father when he puts Sensei first.