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Post by Alan Wong on Oct 20, 2015 2:58:48 GMT
Lemon by Kajii Motojiro is a story which centers around the actions and experiences of an unnamed, tuberculosis and anxiety stricken man. One night, this man comes across a grocery store selling lemons and buys one; this drastically changes his personality and affects his later actions. I think the lemon has such a dramatic effect because of the mindset the narrator has obtained due to his sickness. Throughout the story, the narrator constantly chooses to focus on descriptions of vegetables and plants. In other words, he is compelled by that which represents the life and vitality drained from him by illness. The lemon is like a culmination of all that he has lost: the lemon has a sheer yellow color and a perfect spindle shape. The lemon is perfect and contrasts with the narrator, who is clearly not. Also, I've heard that the color yellow in Asia sometimes represents courage or bravery. Because the narrator finds the lemon, he metaphorically finds the courage to live he had lost to sickness and is able to once again face life. The significance of the lemon is shown once more in Maruzen, where it is "placed upon the castle's peak" (p.153). Typically, what is placed on the top of a castle is a flag, which serves as both a beacon and a representation of what is important. Maruzen, which had become such a totally oppressive place to the narrator, becomes innocuous because the image of the lemon standing atop the pile of books is something which he can “see” from any distance. With this vision in mind, the man can now continue along his way.
Discussion Questions:
Why do you think the main character's attitude towards Maruzen changed?
Do you think he would have had the same experience had it been any other piece of produce (not the lemon)?
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Post by Caden Hong on Oct 21, 2015 5:01:33 GMT
The main character’s illness and his experience with his lemon changed his attitude towards Maruzen. Before the illness, he used to be a regular shopper at this department store. But after the illness he finds no joy there, but rather from things in life that did not matter to him before. I think perhaps being closer to death makes you realize that the important things in life aren’t necessarily things you can buy with money. It wasn’t so much about the lemon as it was about the experience of holding, smelling, feeling, and owning the lemon. I think this shift in behavior highlights a change in world view and interactive attitude. As a result, he takes on more of a critical stance on the department store and its oppressiveness, as he states on page 153. I don’t know what cultural significance (if there is any) a lemon may have in Japan, but I don’t think this story would have changed if the writer used a different produce. It doesn’t seem like it was about the actual lemon as it is about his relationship to experiencing the lemon.
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Post by Airy Yeh on Oct 21, 2015 21:17:21 GMT
I agree with you both, I think the main character came to dislike Maruzen because of his experience with tuberculosis/illness and the consequent shift in his mindset. According to the main character's descriptions of the lemon, he adores it completely because it gives him a sense of life. The lemon with its smell, shape, color, and scent, is a perfect representation of life. It is different from a bottle of cologne which might give a similar function as a lemon because the lemon is a product of nature. From his struggles with the illness, he probably thought and reflected about life and what gives meaning to it. He would have felt that the department store and all its magnanimity were cold, superficial, and somewhat meaningless. Excessive materialism and luxury do not serve him anymore as it used to because his perceptions, beliefs, and understanding of life has changed. I think he craves something that is close to nature and life because he feels its dear value now that he is suffering and might be close to death.
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Post by Wan X. Wu on Oct 23, 2015 3:58:01 GMT
Maruzen was place that carried luxury items, but with the main character's degrading health and going into debt, he no longer have the privilege to shop at Maruzen anymore. And being sick, I think the main character realized how precious life is, the lemon easily stimulated his 5 senses; it represented life to him and he realized how "dead" the item's inside Maruzen are. Since he was used to buying luxuriously from Maruzen, the lemon stood out more as a luxury at the grocery stand, because he don't recall seeing lemons at the grocery. I think only produce that the grocery stand don't normally carry would stand out like the lemon. So technically, other produce could replace the lemon as long it stimulates the 5 senses.
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Post by loveawake.ru on Mar 5, 2022 5:49:12 GMT
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Post by loveawake.ru on Mar 5, 2022 5:50:14 GMT
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Post by loveawake.ru on Mar 5, 2022 5:51:24 GMT
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