Post by Mina Kaneko on Nov 4, 2015 4:15:16 GMT
"The Izu Dancer" is a beautifully written short story by Kawabata Yasunari. It's poetic and understated- all moments of desire and loneliness underlie the events that take place, but nothing is showy or contrived. The main theme is that of loneliness and intimacy (or companionship), two dichotomous forces that go hand in hand. At first, the story seems to be about lust, or at least attraction- the narrator is intrigued by a young girl, the dancer of the traveling troupe of performers. He has encountered her along his travels, and hopes to see her again; he succeeds when he sees them at a tea house and accompanies them on their journey. While at first he expresses excitement at the prospect of having the young girl's company for money, he spends time getting to know the performers, whom he later learns is a family. He also learns along the way that he had mistakenly understood the young girl to be much closer to his age, when in reality, she’s barely reached puberty. He treats this with good humor, however. While he remains intrigued and touched by her, his feelings about her change: she looks to him as an older father figure, and although there is an element of sexual tension, there, the narrator’s relationship has become much deeper with her and with everyone than he had perhaps initially imagined.
Our narrator learns their personal histories, while we too slowly learn his: he doesn’t have a family, lives in a dormitory, and ultimately reveals that he is terribly lonely. This loneliness lies beneath his kind and stable countenance, but comes through easily in moments in which he feels left alone, as when the women won't come to see a movie with him, or let him take the young girl alone. By the end, however, he has been moved by his experiences- while he may find himself in solitude, he seems warmed by these people who have depended on him and whom he too, relied upon and grew closer to. In the end, although he is weeping, he feels a “quiet fulfillment,” saying he “floated in beautiful emptiness,” sinking in to “an enfolding harmony” (148). He contentedly relies on his new companion, saying it seems natural that he should, and that it seems natural that he should be escorting the old woman going to Ueno. He’s unabashedly overtaken by tears (as he mourns his goodbye to the dancer and the family), but he also finds a peace within this reliance on one another in the face of struggle and solitude.
Discussion question:
How come the narrators feeling of harmony/sadness at the end is also paired with "feeling nothing"? [He says he thought of nothing; his head “turned to clear water,” and was “falling pleasantly away” – “Soon, nothing would remain” (148)]
Our narrator learns their personal histories, while we too slowly learn his: he doesn’t have a family, lives in a dormitory, and ultimately reveals that he is terribly lonely. This loneliness lies beneath his kind and stable countenance, but comes through easily in moments in which he feels left alone, as when the women won't come to see a movie with him, or let him take the young girl alone. By the end, however, he has been moved by his experiences- while he may find himself in solitude, he seems warmed by these people who have depended on him and whom he too, relied upon and grew closer to. In the end, although he is weeping, he feels a “quiet fulfillment,” saying he “floated in beautiful emptiness,” sinking in to “an enfolding harmony” (148). He contentedly relies on his new companion, saying it seems natural that he should, and that it seems natural that he should be escorting the old woman going to Ueno. He’s unabashedly overtaken by tears (as he mourns his goodbye to the dancer and the family), but he also finds a peace within this reliance on one another in the face of struggle and solitude.
Discussion question:
How come the narrators feeling of harmony/sadness at the end is also paired with "feeling nothing"? [He says he thought of nothing; his head “turned to clear water,” and was “falling pleasantly away” – “Soon, nothing would remain” (148)]