NOTE: Starting where
you left off (around page 117 for you, I think), end with the part where Okusan
and Ojōsan leave to visit relatives.
Answer TWO of the
following:
Q1: Why do both
Sensei and K distrust (or frankly dislike) women? What seems to repel them
about the opposite sex, and what basis do they have for these views? Do you
think this is a cultural bias, or something based in their historical moment
(the early 20th century)? In other words, does it reflect the way men looked at
women in general at this time, or is it a uniquely Japanese/Eastern point of
view?
Q2: Why does Sensei
fall in love with Ojōsan? What about her contradicts his general dislike of
women (as discussed above)? Also, what do you make of his comment that “I felt
not the slightest physical urge toward her daughter”? Is that love?
Q3: How are K and
the Narrator somewhat alike? What qualities and/or actions make them seem
curiously similar, and why might this explain Sensei’s unusual tolerance for
the younger student? Might this also explain Sensei’s attempt to ‘save’ the
Narrator at the very end of his life?
Q4: When Sensei
proposes inviting K to live with him in the boarding house, Okusan “opposed my
plan...Bringing in someone like K, she said, would be bad for me.” Sensei seems
totally oblivious of her point, and even once K and Ojōsan strike up a
friendship, he claims not to notice. Is he truly this oblivious? Or do you
think he wanted the two to fall in love to ‘rescue’ him from his own inability
to marry her? Did he want to create a love triangle in order to “infuse in him
my own living heat”?
Q1: I think that they dislike and distrust the "otherness" of women. Sensei seems to appreciate the aesthetic nature of Ojosan, but seems also to despise her humanity. He describes a moment where her personality shines through, "She answered with a laugh—that laugh of hers which I hated so much."(Soseki, Natsume. Kokoro (Dover Books on Literature & Drama) (p. 154). Dover Publications. Kindle Edition.) He derides her laugh several times. They seem to bond over the otherness of women - no part of them is drawn to the humanity of women, be it physical or intellectual. I think K's relationship with Ojosan indicates that this is particular to these specific men, and not endemic to traditional Japanese culture. They are like 12 year olds trying to figure out girls, without any particular interest in actually figuring them out.
ReplyDeleteQ2: I think Sensei has no idea what he is attracted to. I think he has no idea how women think or feel and is completely lacking interest in how Ojosan thinks or feels. This is not love. This is objectification. Is this a traditional Japanese relationship?
I don't think so. There are clues, later on in the book that seem to indicate that this aesthetic focus on love is not necessarily traditional, though it might be what love looks like from the outside.
Q1: I think both Sensei and K distrust and dislike women because of individual reasons. This cannot be blamed on the Japanese or traditional culture. These two men appreciate women and find them attractive however non of them seems to be physically drawn close to them. They both act as cowards in that they console each other amidst their ignorance about women. It seems odd and complex for them to have grown around a different sex and at marriage they have to associate and commit to a different sex that they know less about. That freaks them out. I conclude that they dislike the opposite sex because they know less about it and do not seem interested in knowing more.
ReplyDeleteQ2:Sensei falls in love with Ojosan's personality and humor. Sensei's general dislike for women is because of the ignorance about women.And here comes Ojosan who introduces the good experience of being around the female sex and influences the chemistry between Sensei and herself to heighten. He falls in partial love with a portion of Ojosan and he fails on the other. That explains why he does not feel any slightest physical urge towards her. Which normal man would not want to touch or have a feel of the woman they are in love with except Sensei. His weird because he finds women weird. He is not sure of what he exactly wants.
Shaynee
ReplyDeleteQ2: I personally feel like he falls in love with the thought of her only, knowing that he loves the way she looks and all her apperrances but has no interest in getting close to her which to me I feel like kind of keeps it interesting and maybe why he likes her the way he does, I feel like he doesn't love her to that level but does like looking at or seeing her.
Q4: I feel like it's kind of fifty fifty on that because at one side I feel like he wouldn't want anyone else having or marrying her but himself but at the same time I feel like he just wants to get out of the situation with her and her mother and he knows by having his friend move in with them that he could fall in love with her and he wouldn't have to worry or deal with them.
Lily Hedges
ReplyDeleteQ1: I think the reason Sensei and K distrust and dislike women can be attributed to their upbringing; They grew up in a male dominated culture, in which women were seen as objects, as dangerous mind-trapping creatures. Males were raised out of the home, and go to university, whereas women are relegated to the position of wife, mother, housekeeper, and bed-warmer. If a woman asserts herself or deviates in any way from their preconceived ideas of what a woman is, she is not worthy of trust.
Q4: I think Sensei invited K to live with him because he wanted to be near to him; It is fairly obvious when reading the text that Sensei is in love with K, and simply cannot express this; not only because of the emotionally repressed nature of Japan at the time, but also because homosexual relations were not accepted. K living with him, but also living with Ojōsan allows a sort of immunity to prying questions, and allows him to hide his feelings better. If Sensei can transfer his feelings to Ojōsan it would allow him to still love K, and spend time with him, but also maintain the appearance of heterosexuality.
Q1) Both Sensei and K express a dislike of women. K's dislike seems to stem from the discovery that women are not of the equal standing as men and this greatly disappoints him. He says that upon learning that the are not as educated as he wanted to believe, that he just simply turned his back on them. Sensei, on the other hand, is quite different than K on this matter. I believe that Sensei's dislike comes more from his distrust of people in general. I don't believe that there is any hint of homosexuality but rather his distrust of people makes him closer to K because of the history they share. Sensei is very cautious and paranoid around people such as Okusan because he believes that she is plotting to have him marry her daughter and he simply does not want to play into her plan. This is why Sensei is hesitant in answering her questions of marriage and quite frankly why he does not trust his boarder house.
ReplyDeleteQ2) Although Sensei does not trust people in general, Ojosan has caught his attention. It begins simply with Ojosan making it clear to Sensei that she is not a child. Then Sensei sees that effort that she is putting into pleasing him with the awful flower arrangements and her practice on the koto. It is these subtle things that catch the eye of Sensei and sparks his curiosity to observe and learn her. He inevitably begins to fall for her as a person but not on a physical level because he enjoys the time he spends with her and the effort she is putting into being a perfect female. I believe that Sensei fell in love with who Ojosan was because he is a very complex person. It may stem from his lack of a sex drive, but I believe that he honestly had no intentions of becoming physically intimate anytime soon. I believe that he is so in love that he is completely past all physical properties and wants to connect spiritually and emotionally. That is true passion and I believe that we all know that this is what Sensei is trying to discover in himself.
Jacob Moses
Matt Crouse
ReplyDelete1) I think the distrust or dislike for the opposite sex at that point in time was pretty common in all humans, and not just Sensei an K. They were all raised completely apart from each other and never a part of the other’s lives until it was time to marry. So it’s obvious to see why they weren’t exactly seeing eye to eye.
2) Sensei loves everything about Ojosan... other than her physical body. He is in love with her personality and the way she makes him feel when they are together. He just doesn’t think about the physical aspect of the two of them. He fell in love with her also because of the effort she put into being a good wife for him and he noticed and appreciates that.
Q1. They both distrust women because women were not seen as equals in this time period and that disappointed K because they getting a wife wouldn't benefit him in his eyes, the Sensei dislike of women I believe comes from his general dislike of most people he encounters.
ReplyDeleteQ2 Sensei falls inlove with Ojosan because of her understanding and way of thought, he loves her personality and the obvious effort she makes to please him, he just does not have that physical attraction that he thought he wanted.
Tanner Lyon
Q1. In this time period, I don’t think women were allowed to contribute to the “man’s” world (i.e. academics, professional careers, etc.) As I stated in class, I think women were meant to be looked at and not heard. Essentially, they were considered objects to be owned and controlled. This idea is purely traditional. It’s very clear that Sensei and K appreciate Ojosan appearance and aesthetic, but I think when she laughs and when she becomes animate is when they realize she is not an object, but a human being. When you something you’ve been taught doesn’t stay within the boundaries of your understanding, it can be frustrating or even irritating.
ReplyDeleteQ4. When I was first reading about Sensei inviting K to come live with him, it immediately threw a red flag for me. However, our discussion in class really opened my eyes to the possibility of a love triangle. I definitely never considered K to be of *intimate* interest to Sensei. Seeing how Sensei shows so much attention to K and how he totally feels guilty even after K’s death really drives it home for me. However, since they are still in such a traditional era, I think his inability to love K really fuels his contempt for basically the entire situation. Passion can make a person do crazy things without considering the consequences.
2. I believe he fell for her because she showed him so much time and talked so much to him that he finally realized she could be a good fit for him. He generally thought that everyone was against him and yet she would still show him the time of day that she believed he deserved. He started out not wanting anything to do with her, up to the point that he lusted with his entire being for her. It started out wanting to observe from afar, however it turned into wanting her all to himself.
ReplyDelete4. Sensei is not oblivious to her point, he is just more not caring for her point. He believed that he could get past the whole 'alpha male' that she was pointing toward, up to the point that K confessed his love of Ojosan to Sensei. After that point, I believe Sensei's eyes were open to the fact that bringing K in was a horrible idea, and that if he does marry Ojosan, then he would have a way out of the family he felt 'stuck' in.