Theme Of Fate In Memoirs Of A Geisha

1374 Words3 Pages

The Power of Will
Franklin D. Roosevelt was once quoted saying, “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds”. Within this universe of endless possibilities, it is physically impossible for anything to stay completely constant. Human beings, as a part of the universe, are no exception. Individuals are, however, able to separate themselves from the rest by their thoughts, feelings, and actions. At any given moment, they are able to change their course of existence, possess the will and mental freedom to act and perceive in a goal directed manner. In Arthur Golden’s novel, Memoirs of a Geisha, Sayuri Nitta recalls her experiences throughout her journey of becoming a geisha. Sayuri Nitta, whose original name was Chiyo Sakamoto, is a strikingly beautiful girl who grew up in an impoverished fishing …show more content…

In Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha, Sayuri demonstrates that when the forces of fate and free will come into collision, the lack of determination to grasp control of one’s life will lead to a …show more content…

Sayuri was still known as Chiyo at the time of her first encounter with the Chairman at the bridge, who she believes demonstrates that “something besides cruelty could be found in the world” (108) simply for giving her ice cream and a handkerchief. Following this magical and life changing event, she vows to “suffer through any training, bear up under any hardship, for a chance to attract the notice of a man like the Chairman” (110). However, she understands that in order to overcome the limitations imposed upon her, she will need to sacrifice her individuality to fit the mold of how traditional geisha act, speak, and dress. She states, “Since meeting the Chairman on the street that day back in the spring, I had longed for nothing so much as

Show More
Related

  • Hangzhou Short Story

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    In many scenarios, it is the younger generations who represent new times and challenge old tradition to be left in the past. Considering the reading of “Hangzhou” by Chang, Shitai, the fortune teller exhorts Chanyi, the illustrator grandma, to adapt to the modern generation where their “own ideas of love and power” (Chang 103) will decide the faith of their future. Taken by surprise, Chanyi disagrees, rationalizing and remaining silent on the topic. In similarity, Alice Walker relates to this reaction by echoing the illustrator of “Everyday Use” as she is informed of her daughter’s name change from Dee to Wangero. Asserted by Dee, it was a burden to be named after the people who oppress her” (Walker 318). This proves to the reader that in both families an adaptation is required by the mother. Therefore, both families have been driven to the similar situations regardless of their origin or ethnicity. Modern times request for new changes, a difficulty that families must

    Read More

  • Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    The language they obviously speak is japanese but for the sake of the reader it was in english. As a student, an intensive study of the language was necessary. They placed a great importance on language though, at least for a geisha, it always had to be completely proper. Names also had a great importance since they had to be changed when becoming a geisha. In combination with checking the almanac, they made sure to choose the name that would bring success in the coming years so for Chiyo her new name was Sayuri

    Read More

  • Samurai

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, Katsu’s tale allows one to delve deep into the day to day life of an unemployed samurai during the end of the Tokugawa era. His life can be observed to see the immense privilege the samurai status held. Not only that, he displays the values of a samurai warrior and although he does not act like an honorable samurai, he is an honorable warrior. Katsu displays the tenacity of both samurai privileges and values during the late Tokugawa shogunate. Although his life may not exemplify the ideal samurai, it does in fact allow one to observe the life of an ordinary samurai.

    Read More

  • The Guardian King Fudo Myo-o: The Immovable One

    1671 Words  | 4 Pages

    At a mere 16 3/8 inches, the Fudo Myo-o at the Art Institute at Chicago is not the first object in the Japanese collection to catch your eye. Yet, when you pass by it will stop you in your tracks. The Fudo Myo-o is like nothing you’ve ever seen. His bulging eyes fasten onto your own, a gaze so vicious you cannot tear away from it. His piercing stare draws you in and his stance seems to beckon you to come forth. His furrowed brow and protruding fangs created a facial expression so intense it feels almost as if he is trying to tell you something. His arms seem to have, at some point, been holding something and they are open as if they are welcoming you and offer some kind of promise. Fudo sits upon a rectangular foundation, which gives the impression that his is some kind of deity or god-like figure. The Fudo Myo-o has fabric draped over his left shoulder and is wearing lavish jewelry reminiscent of a Bodhisattva. His jewelry also hints to the viewer that he must have some level of nobility. He also has shell li...

    Read More

  • Memoirs of a Geisha and the Bluest Eye

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    Memoirs of a Geisha by Aurthor Golden and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison are two thought provoking books with a unique style of writing. Memoirs of a Geisha has a beautiful poetic grammar which captures readers imagination and brings the story to life. Morrison on the other hand uses combined voices to give varied perspectives with out resorting to authorial intrusion or preaching. Memoirs Of A Geisha and the bluest eye both contain graphic realism combined with a dramatic flair, which is the key as to why both of these books have been a great success.

    Read More

  • Kokoro and the Parallels of Historical Events

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history artists have used art as a means to reflect the on goings of the society surrounding them. Many times, novels serve as primary sources in the future for students to reflect on past history. Students can successfully use novels as a source of understanding past events. Different sentiments and points of views within novels serve as the information one may use to reflect on these events. Natsume Soseki’s novel Kokoro successfully encapsulates much of what has been discussed in class, parallels with the events in Japan at the time the novel takes place, and serves as a social commentary to describe these events in Japan at the time of the Mejeii Restoration and beyond. Therefore, Kokoro successfully serves as a primary source students may use to enable them to understand institutions like conflicting views Whites by the Japanese, the role of women, and the population’s analysis of the Emperor.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Ann Patchett's Bel Canto

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    As humans, we are ignorant to our fate. We are forced to blindly walk into destinies in which we will never understand the full extent of; however, fate is cruel. It tortures humanity by abusing its power to give and take away, and its callous manner allows it to enjoy the suffering it imposes upon everyone. In Ann Patchett’s acclaimed classic, Bel Canto, fate constructs a bitter path in which its victims are bound to follow. After months of captivity, the hostages finally find beauty in their way of living during a time of horror, only for fate to brutally snatch it away in a matter of seconds. They are bonded by the beauty they create in their environment, “She prayed that God would look on them and see the beauty of their existence and leave

    Read More

  • Interior Monologue on Lady Macbeth

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    I believe there are two kinds of people in life; the kind that let things happen and the kind that make things happen. I prefer to think of myself as a person who writes her destiny not awaits it. So I ask myself, is it such a crime to want the best for you and your better half? Was it such a terrible deed, to lust after power and status like a young girl after a dashing beau. The victory, our status, my position, my power has fast become a reality, a reality which was being threatened by the growing suspicion of Banquo. It had to be done, his cut throat, seemed the only way, his murder the saviour of my triumph. But now see the error in my ways, the corruption in my thought. The guilt of one man’s blood was almost unbearable, the guilt of another is inescapable, growing, it is becoming vicious like a savage dog locked up waiting to be released. I am forced to bear it, alone I must I endu...

    Read More

  • Theme Of Fate In The Assault By Harry Mulisch

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many beliefs on the concept of fate. Some philosophers believe everything is destined to happen, and others express the contradictory: that everything happens by random, and people cause everything that happens. In The Assault, Harry Mulisch uses symbolism, and the circular structure of symbols to show how Anton Steenwijk is confronted with the idea that there is no fate, and that his life was changed because of the actions of human beings.

    Read More

  • Life of a Sensuous Woman and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

    1844 Words  | 4 Pages

    Empowering women continues as the Old Women’s story progresses where Saikaku articulately shows how women can fulfill their own desire and not give into what men expect of them. Old Woman’s young self choosing the exceptional letter writer samu...

    Read More

  • Life of a Sensuous Woman, by Ihara Saikaku

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...t pure?” (621). This rhetorical statement is the final stroke to his satirical masterpiece: it forces the reader to laugh at the outrageousness of the statement, which is the final key of his subtle attempt to expose the full absurdity that is the hedonistic Ukiyo lifestyle. By having the reader sit at the door step of the old woman’s hut and listen in on her stories with the various characters she meets, Saikaku is able to convey how Ukiyo’s superficial, unequal, and hypocritical nature is a breeding ground for corruption. Through Life of a Sensuous Woman, he paints only one conclusion: the dangers and pitfalls that Ukiyo poses to society far outweigh the thrill and pleasure of the “floating-world.”

    Read More

  • Freedom and Human Rights: When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

    1277 Words  | 3 Pages

    There were many events that happened in the past which people were fighting for their rights and freedoms. In the novel “When The Emperor Was Divine” by Julie Otsuka, she uses this novel to tell the readers about the importance of freedom and human right. In the story, she did not mention the name of the main characters, but the characters that involve in this novel is a Japanese family who get arrest by the American because of their ethnicities. First, their father got arrested by the American because the American doubted that this man was a spy from Japan. Then their whole family got arrested into the Japanese Concentration Camp in the desert. They were ordered not to go through the fence of the camp or else they will get kill by the soldiers who guarding the camp. This means that their freedoms were taken away by the camp. In the story, the girl’s personality was changed because of this camp. She starts to realize that this “camp” was nothing but a jail. So she started to give on her life and not to care about anything. She used to eat with her family, but now she never did; also she started to smoke cigarette in her ages of 14 to15. Also their human rights were being taken while their were in the camp. They were being force to admit to America for their loyalty. It makes all the Japanese people to feel low self-esteem for their identity. Therefore, the author uses this novel to show the changing of this family by the lack of freedom and human right.

    Read More

  • Temple Of The Golden Pavilion Essay

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    Yukio Mishima’s Temple of the Golden Pavilion, set in postwar Japan, gives way to a reflection of the postwar experience both the representation of military aggression and in use of symbolism of beauty, loss, and destruction. A story about Mizoguchi, a young, stuttering acolyte’s obsession with beauty lends itself to the conflagration of the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, based loosely on a true story about the Kinkaku-ji.

    Read More

  • Emotion in Japanese Film Fireworks

    1613 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bushido is a Japanese term for the samurai code of behavior that includes the ideal of self-control. Central to this ideal is the consideration that it is "unmanly" for a samurai to display his emotions on his face (Nitobe 94). This traditional aspect of behaviour penetrates deep into contemporary Japanese culture. By examining Fireworks, a Japanese film of the 1990s, we can observe how the idealized image of the samurai transplants itself into a contemporary gangster film (jakuzza-geki). Further, I will argue that Japanese ideal behavior (as descended from Bushido) implicitly calls for the cinematic presentation of emotion at a site other than the face. Using sequences from the film, I will explore how internalized emotion is presented in the form of graphic violence - allowing the main character, Nishi, to preserve his "samurai" dignity.

    Read More

  • Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard

    524 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the collective society of Japan there is a certain stigma about women like Fubuki that set them apart. Choosing to work past the age of marriage is not necessarily the accepted (find a better word) in Japan because no matter the situation, collectivism and honor always come first. “Wish for work. There is little hope, given your sex, that you will get far up the ladder” (Nothomb, 1999, pp.66-67). She has worked so “far up the ladder”, so far up from what society said she should do, and it makes Fubuki is one of the biggest faces of individualism and hypocrisy shown throughout Fear and Trembling and the first time the reader see this is when Amélie and Tenshi were reported for their wrong doings. “I can see why and I disapprove of your reasons,” she says “I’m the one who had some reason to feel indignant about your attitude. You had your eye on a promotion to which you had no right” (Nothomb, 1999, p.37). Her constant use of possessive pronouns creates a selfish-like tone. “I can see why I disapprove… I’m the one who had some reason to feel indignant” (Nothomb, 1999, p.37). And that selfish tone highlights the hypocrisy that can be found within the Japanese society despite their claim of being a collective society. Fubuki goes on to say, “I’m twenty-nine years old. You’re twenty two. I’ve been in this position since last year. I fought for it for years. Did you think you were going to get a comparable job within a matter of weeks?” (Nothomb, 1999, pp.37-38). The tone of victimization (?) is created and this is constant throughout the whole book, “Do you think I can’t see what you are doing? You made these incomprehensible mistakes to get your revenge on me!” (Nothomb, 1999, p.45). The use of (another phrase) the word “you” reader can also see that Fubuki constantly uses Amélie’s mistakes to make her seem like the victim.

    Read More

More about Theme Of Fate In Memoirs Of A Geisha

Open Document