Literary Analysis of “The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket” by Yasunari Kawabata

The story “The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket”, written by Yasunari Kawabata, is a children’s fiction story that is written in a third person narrative point of view. The author, who sets himself as the narrator, is describing what he sees as he stumbles upon a group of young, neighborhood kids as they frolic along the bank of a stream near dusk time. He points out the extreme care that the children take in creating their lanterns, and he sees the passion and enthusiasm they have while apparently searching for bugs along the bank and in the bushes. As the story goes on, the author moves from a tone of describing and being literal, to a more serious tone that causes some serious thought. He seems to be attempting to convince the audience of something emotional.

The setting of this story obviously takes place on the campus of a school as the narrator is walking around the campus. The time period is unclear to the audience because there is no illustration of when this story might have taken place or been written in the writing itself. However, based on the names of the children that he states at the end of the story, we are able to conclude that this story was written and takes place in an Asian country, most likely Japan. As the narrator is walking throughout the play area of the school, he seems to be enjoying himself and enjoying the relaxation that the scenery brings. “Walking more slowly and listening to that voice, and furthermore reluctant to part with it, I turned right so as not to leave the playground behind” (341). He is surprised when he turns the corner and notices a rather large group of lights that were seemingly floating around the bank. His inquisitiveness gets the best of him as he makes his way down to the bank...

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...ind one. The audience can interpret this in many different ways, however I believe that there is one way that the narrator has intended it to express. He is attempting to get young Fujio to understand that in life, there are many girls that seem like they are perfect for him, represented by the grasshopper. They look beautiful and seem to be very precious, however, they are truly just one of millions. He is hoping that Fujio will realize that he wants to find his bell cricket. That special person that is very much different from the rest. However, he warns, “…even a true bell cricket will seem like a grasshopper. Should that day come, when it seems to you that the world is only full of grasshoppers, I will think it a pity that you have no way to remember tonight’s play of light, when your name was written in green by your beautiful lantern on a girl’s breast” (343).