Post by angelina kurganska on Nov 5, 2015 6:37:20 GMT
I think that the underlying theme in The Izu Dancer is loneliness. As the traveler starts his journey alone, he also ends it alone. In his journey through the mountains he is enchanted by a young dancing girl who is traveling with a group of wandering performers. He slowly follows their trail hoping to cross paths with the girl once again, until finally he becomes close with the traveling group and they all continue on the journey together. We learn that the travelers are one big family, including a young maid, and that the dancing girl is the daughter of the older woman. Although the traveling boy is still a high school student, he is from Tokyo and has money that he spends freely throughout the trip. The wandering performers on the other hand, spend their travel time just to find somewhere where they can earn a little money to get by the next day. They are not especially respected anywhere and many cities even prohibit them from entering. However the boy and the group form a tight relationship despite their statuses.
We see the theme of loneliness throughout the story. Although the family and the boy have already formed a tight relationship, he is taken to a different inn rather than staying with the family. The young traveler sits in his room surrounded by solitude wondering about what the girl is doing, yet he cannot simply go and see her. Rather he stays in his room peaking out of his window. Furthermore he is never allowed to be alone with the young girl as her mother would prohibit it. Although he is loved by the group of wandering performers and although they enjoy his company he wouldn't be accepted as one of them. The boy also says he "feels deserted" (p.137) when they tell him to continue on his own, and he rather stay behind and travel with the group then return to his solitude.
In the end the young traveler ends up going back to Tokyo alone. He weeps uncontrollably during his trip back, I think not just because he misses the dancing girl, but because he would rather be a wandering traveler in a big family like theirs, other than a lonesome student in such a big city as Tokyo. It is always mentioned that they come from a small place and I think this puts a contrast between the boy who is from a big bustling city and the family who come from a place where most likely everyone knows each other.
Question: In the last paragraph the boy is crying uncontrollably and says he feels his head turning to clear water, and that "soon, nothing would remain." (p.148). Do you think he has lost all hope to be reunited with the traveling family and doesn't have hope to visit them in the winter?
We see the theme of loneliness throughout the story. Although the family and the boy have already formed a tight relationship, he is taken to a different inn rather than staying with the family. The young traveler sits in his room surrounded by solitude wondering about what the girl is doing, yet he cannot simply go and see her. Rather he stays in his room peaking out of his window. Furthermore he is never allowed to be alone with the young girl as her mother would prohibit it. Although he is loved by the group of wandering performers and although they enjoy his company he wouldn't be accepted as one of them. The boy also says he "feels deserted" (p.137) when they tell him to continue on his own, and he rather stay behind and travel with the group then return to his solitude.
In the end the young traveler ends up going back to Tokyo alone. He weeps uncontrollably during his trip back, I think not just because he misses the dancing girl, but because he would rather be a wandering traveler in a big family like theirs, other than a lonesome student in such a big city as Tokyo. It is always mentioned that they come from a small place and I think this puts a contrast between the boy who is from a big bustling city and the family who come from a place where most likely everyone knows each other.
Question: In the last paragraph the boy is crying uncontrollably and says he feels his head turning to clear water, and that "soon, nothing would remain." (p.148). Do you think he has lost all hope to be reunited with the traveling family and doesn't have hope to visit them in the winter?
