Images of the Aged in Modern Japanese Novels - Essay Example

Your Date Images of the Disabled and the Elderly In Modern Japanese Novels Japan is an aged state, with a large part of its population being elderly. There are bound to be conflicts among the elderly and the young, this has been depicted truthfully by Ariyoshi Sawako in ‘The Twilight Years’. Similarly, the angst of a father who has to deal with the fact that his child is brain damaged is shown in ‘A Personal Matter’ by Oe Kenzaburo. Both the novels depict the conditions in Japan as they are and represent the society as well as personal relationships with clarity. The novels were written post-war, and depict the transition in the society. The novels are contradictory in that while Oe represents a nuclear family, Ariyoshi depicts a Japanese family with all the three generations living together, however, the transition, though slow, towards a modern society is shown through protagonist’s thoughts. The two novels thus can be compared through their depiction of Japanese families. We shall first discuss ‘A Personal Matter’ by Oe Kenzaburo. Nobel Laureate Oe Kenzaburo (received Nobel Prize in 1994), is a famous novelist who first entered the literary scene in 1958. Despite his initial successes, the real international reputation came to him with ‘A Personal Matter’, a story written with the perspective of a young father, Bird, who has to deal with the fact that his child is a “monster”. The story draws inspiration from Oe’s personal experience. Oe’s son, Hikari, was born with a severe brain-damage disorder. The story is almost an outlet for Oe to show how he dealt with various feelings when he had to decide about his own “monster’s” future. No doubt, he chose the protagonist’s way. Bird is a rebellious character to begin with (maybe that is what makes him choose the right path in the end); in the opening chapter, Oe shows how Bird thinks that a child is like a “cage”. Bird thinks that marriage itself is a cage but with a child, that open cage is now shut down. With his skeptical view of marriage and child, a brain-damaged child proves an ultimate shock. He just cannot believe that his own child is a “monster”. He is afraid to raise the child; he pities him and resents him. His conflicted emotions that arise as the child’s father and as a normal human being leads the events in the story. Bird goes through feelings of disgust to acceptance in the novel. Initially Bird wants to kill the baby, something that even Oe contemplated for Hikari. When he finds himself unable to do that, he thinks of allowing the child to die a natural death, though through feeding him meagerly, in order to kill him from malnutrition. Bird feels a sense of shame for being such a coward, something that he resents considering his dreams of going on an adventure trip to Africa. Little does Bird know what his future holds for him; he through his extraordinary journey will turn into a person with extraordinary courage. Bird finds dealing with the fact of a “monster” baby too overpowering, so he does what normally human would do, ignore the situation, and try to escape. This is exactly what Bird does when he tries to escape the situation through alcohol , as he has usually done when he has “cast himself adrift on a sea of whisky like a besotted Robinson Crusoe” during tough times, and by getting back with his ex-girlfriend, Himiko. They think of escaping together to Africa. Bird finally decides to stop trying to escape and decides to face the situation head on. He abandons the idea of running and accepts the situation. He decides to give a good life to his child. In doing this, Bird becomes a hero because he finally decides to do the right thing and in saving the life of his child, he also establishes the importance of family values. Oe Kenzaburo is vivid in his description of how important a role society plays an individual’s decision. Japan is not a self-centered society, the family system, though degrading slowly, exists. Even though Bird belongs to a nuclear family, but he has still been fed about the family system. Maybe this is the reason why Bird chooses family over individuality. The problem with being influenced by society is that even though the same society forces family values on you, it also mocks at people with abnormalities. Bird is only too aware of that, that is one of the reason that he doesn’t want the society to mock at him too for bearing a brain-damaged child. The author has been a success in writing the story because he has detailed on every emotion that Bird goes through the difficult phase. It is obvious that Bird does not think of the society very highly, instead he is more so self-centered. He worries about losing his freedom and about being tied down by society rules, the birth of a brain-damaged child who would need his extra support increased his anxieties. The author shows how pathetic humans can actually be when faced with such difficult situations, however, since the writer chose to present an optimistic end, one can only wonder how many would have actually taken the same path. Bird is a typical antihero, whom you cannot but hate and love at the same time. Oe with his exceptional way of writing build on an interesting story that is as dark and serious as it is optimistic and bright. Oe knows exactly how the protagonist feels since he went through the same emotions, this clear understanding of how the society behaves and how the person concerned feels, brings out an extraordinary tale of a normal person. The other novel that concerns us is ‘The Twilight Years’. Ariyoshi Sawako, born in 1931, was again a prolific writer whose style is simple and involving. Ariyoshi wrote about the sufferings of women set in different situations, just as this novel. Though the novel has its title indicating the story of an aged person, but it is important to note that Ariyoshi has chosen to depict the ‘curse’ on women in Japanese society who don’t just shoulder the financial burden of the family but also the emotional burden, and in doing so face a breakdown situation many a times. ‘The Twilight Years’ is set again in a post-war era. The story deals with the suffering of Akiko, who works as a typist at a Japanese law firm in Tokyo. She is married to a disgruntled salary man who simply does not understand the ways in a dying-to-be-like-West Tokyo. Therefore, while Akiko does all the housework and works, he chooses to be an extra emotional burden on Akiko. The main story begins when Akiko’s mother-in-law dies; she becomes the one responsible for caring her father-in-law, Shigezo. Shigezo’s unnecessary demands as he slips into senile dementia bring Akiko to a point of breakdown. Akiko has to deal with the extra burden of laundry, groceries and other daily tasks, while at the same time take care of her father-in-law. The father-in-law is not represented in a good light for not just is he being a burden but he is choosing to be a burden. Akiko’s responsibility towards the elderly denies her the freedom that she deserves. What the author tries to suggest is that even though elderly need to be taken care of but it should not be the sole responsibility of woman, and should be shared by the male members of the family as well. The only reason Akiko decides to take care of her father-in-law is because she thought that she was bound by the society rules of women dealing with all the domestic problems on their own. So even though unwillingly but she decides to care for her father-in-law. She has to care for him like a child, changing his diapers, feeding him, and bathing him like a baby. She takes care of him but does not feel a sense of attachment, maybe which is why no one sheds tears when Shigezo dies. Ariyoshi has shown how difficult it is for women in Japanese to live, the burden of domestic work, and the burden of financial state of the household is enough to crush any man. If it were not for the strong will of Akiko, the burden would have crushed her too. The author describes the daily tasks in detail only to emphasize on the amount of work done by Akiko. Ariyoshi shows a strong sense of disgust for the way society behaves; she fails to understand the discriminatory ways and unleashes her word power in full force through the novel. Ariyoshi also succeeds in describing the various aspects of human nature. While Akiko is represented as a strong woman, but her (selfish) desire to be free of the burden of her father-in-law becomes clear when she does not shed a tear when Shigezo dies. Ariyoshi thus though represents Akiko as a woman of strong metal, no matter what, but she is very clear about representing her characters as human. Ariyoshi is skeptical of the way Japanese society treats women. The story deals with the powerful topic of elderly care and women inhibition. If the two were dealt separately, the readers would have obviously been sympathetic towards both the issues equally. However, here with the two topics interrelated, things get complex, and readers enter the same moral dilemma as Akiko does. It is not easy to choose between two morally right topics especially when they are set in a contradictory situation. Ariyoshi has provided a beautiful description of how women deal with their overbearing duties and how the will of a single woman saves so many people from breaking down. If it were not for Akiko, Shigezo would have been left to die and this would have been a morally haunting thing for the male members. However, because of Akiko not just is Shigezo taken care of but other members have to not deal with any of the horrible sites that Akiko deals with. ‘The Twilight Years’ is a wonderful read not just because it is written in an interesting way but also because it brings the reader to question to their own morality. This novel excels in its capability to awaken the society. Both novels are written by giants in the Japanese literature circle, so expecting a novel that deals with problems in society is nothing much to talk about. However, the novels still surprise us because they don’t just entertain us but they also have the capability to shake us and question our role in the society. Both the authors describe human nature with such subtlety that it is unnerving. When we are exposed to our real face this is exactly how one should feel. This is their contribution as writers and as intellectually aware individuals who have the capability to bring about reforms. Both the authors succeed in their task to represent the reforms that should be brought out in the society and in individuals. Oe shows how a normal person through one single step can become extraordinary. Ariyoshi on the other hand excels in her description of woman as superpower who does each work with such honesty. The authors suggest the changes and when one reads the novels, one is sure to carry forward the changes suggested. The two novels discussed represent Japanese society in its totality. Since Oe chooses to focus more on an individual’s expectations and desires, Ariyoshi’s completely different take on a society as a whole provides for two delightful readings. Written in post-war era, the novels show that Japanese were suffering from a moral dilemma because of the changes in the society. When a society changes, it has its first effect on individual persons, the two are so interrelated that despite all the talks of individualism one can never detach from the society completely. This attachment to society is in fact the reason for the conflict represented in the two novels. Japanese literature owes the contribution by these two great writers and the two novels serve the purpose of introducing Japanese society to strangers. They do not provide a rosy picture but that does not mean they are completely negative about the society system in Japan. They just show human conflicts and society structure as they are and that is what makes the two novels a jewel. Read More