The Samurai's Garden By Gail Tsukiyama

Throughout life many are faced with obstacles that are difficult to overcome. These obstacles can change a person and their life as shown in The Samurai’s Garden, by Gail Tsukiyama. In the novel Matsu and Sachi go through life on a difficult path before finding happiness. When looking at Matsu’s and Sachi’s gardens, one can see that they are a representation of their lives, which is important because the gardens represent their personalities and struggles in their lives. Matsu’s, the heroic samurai, garden highlights his personality and the struggles he faced throughout his past. Matsu lives a very private life because of these struggles. With the arrival of Stephen, Matsu is forced to be extroverted rather than his usual introverted self.

Matsu may be reserved, but through these connections Stephen finds that “Matsu’s garden whispers at you, never shouts; it leads you down a path hoping for more, as if everything is seen, yet hidden”(31). Although Matsu keeps his past secretive, he leaves parts of it spread throughout his garden, which link together and tell his story. Throughout the novel there is emphasis of the strength of the samurai because of Matsu’s ability to overcome struggle. For instance, Matsu explains to Stephen that a samurai has a difficult path before reaching his afterlife which can be represented by a bridge. Matsu explains that after the long, rigorous path “when you reach the top of the bridge, you can see your way to paradise” (58). This symbolic bridge holds an important place in Matsu’s garden and is the main symbol of his difficulties. Partnered with the aspect of struggle, the representation of Matsu’s personality peeks through his garden. Not only has Matsu concealed his struggle within his garden, but his true personality is revealed through the garden’s beauty. For example, Matsu gives his garden a

Sachi creates a riveting garden with rocks which create numerous patterns which leaves one wondering what the story behind it is. For example, Stephen is left in awe when first viewing the garden because there had been no greenery whatsoever. After taking in the view of the garden, Stephen explains that “Her garden was a mixture of beauty and sadness”(43). Due to the lack of greenery the aspect of sadness, representing her struggle, was obvious; however, the beauty was discovered through time. Sachi’s scars were a constant reminder of her struggle of leprosy; therefore, she did not want anything else to act as another mental note. For instance, Sachi makes sure Matsu does not put any flowers in her garden. Sachi explains that “I needed my life to be simple without any beauty to remind me of all I had lost”(150). Sachi believes that her struggle took all beauty away from her, but later finds that beauty can be found even in the most unexpected places. This desire for no beauty in her garden and a simple life acts as a representation of Sachi’s personality. During one of Stephen’s occasional visits Sachi teaches him that nothing is ever ruined. For example, when Stephen is hesitant to touch Sachi’s garden Sachi explains to Stephen that rocks cannot be ruined. Sachi goes one to describe that “you can only rearrange them, and who knows if it won’t be for the