Post by Kyra Benjamin on Oct 30, 2015 7:24:14 GMT
Unrelated, the beginning where the narrator chases after the Kappa is reminiscent of the beginning of Alice in Wonderland.
But I want to talk about the Kappa punishment of crime and related to that, the fragility or sensitivity of the kappa. Pep said that for capital punishment all that is done "is that the title of the offense is announced to the criminal." And this itself kills the criminal because the kappa is more finely tuned in the matter of his nervous makeup. It is also mentioned that kappas can use this on each other as Gael said he almost died when someone called him a robber and Mag said someone he knew died after being called a frog.
I feel like maybe Akutagawa was criticizing/mocking the importance of appearances in Japanese society. The way you look outwardly and how others think of you is everything. Everything you do is seen as a reflection not just yourself, but also all those in charge of/related to you be it family, friends, teachers, employers or what have you. Because of this people are always making sure not to do anything that will cause them to be seen in a bad way, which in itself probably causes a lot of mental stress. And should they happen to slip up and be labelled negatively the amount of social backlash and shaming can be severe enough to kill them, through suicide.
Question: Why do you think people would interpret this as a children’s book? (This just doesn’t seem like a story for children.)
But I want to talk about the Kappa punishment of crime and related to that, the fragility or sensitivity of the kappa. Pep said that for capital punishment all that is done "is that the title of the offense is announced to the criminal." And this itself kills the criminal because the kappa is more finely tuned in the matter of his nervous makeup. It is also mentioned that kappas can use this on each other as Gael said he almost died when someone called him a robber and Mag said someone he knew died after being called a frog.
I feel like maybe Akutagawa was criticizing/mocking the importance of appearances in Japanese society. The way you look outwardly and how others think of you is everything. Everything you do is seen as a reflection not just yourself, but also all those in charge of/related to you be it family, friends, teachers, employers or what have you. Because of this people are always making sure not to do anything that will cause them to be seen in a bad way, which in itself probably causes a lot of mental stress. And should they happen to slip up and be labelled negatively the amount of social backlash and shaming can be severe enough to kill them, through suicide.
Question: Why do you think people would interpret this as a children’s book? (This just doesn’t seem like a story for children.)