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Post by angelina kurganska on Sept 9, 2015 5:23:02 GMT
While reading The Bonfire, it seems that the main theme that caught my attention was the polarity between the characters that was used in the story.The young boys, all seemingly carefree, after spending some time trying to build a fire soon all returned to their homes after hearing their mothers' calls. The wandering old man, who appeared soon after they have left, stayed as long as he could, warming himself in front of the fire. The manner in which the man speaks about the fire with such gratitude shows us that he must have not been able to enjoy the heat of a bonfire for many days. The fire does not only warm the man, but lights within him many memories of the past. At one point the story says "The old man's heart returned once more to the days when he was a boy" (p.35). Despite the polarity between the characters in the story, the old man in turn is able to return to the carefree state that we saw the young boys in, even if for a short period.
Some questions that I had were:
1.On p. 31 it says "For this is the grove of Holy Rokudai that even now, after seven centuries, calls forth pity." What is the grove of Holy Rokudai and what happened 7 centuries ago? What is its significance in the story? 2. The author of the story never uses quotation marks and it is sometimes hard to distinguish the narrator's thoughts and the characters' thoughts, especially with the old wanderer. How does it help shape this short story?
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Post by Alexis Iguina on Sept 11, 2015 2:38:06 GMT
1. From a classmates response I learned that godai is the five elements: fire, wind, heaven or sky, earth and water. Based on my basic understanding of the Japanese language, perhaps rokudai means 6 elements. I'm not sure what the 6th element could be but maybe its something metaphysical and more spiritual than the other elements. Also, there was a book written during the Kamakura period called "Rokudai Shoojiki". The book narrated events during that time. Kamakura period was a time of strife and civil war. Perhaps there was a battle at the grove and so the author says it "calls forth pity." The author lived during the 1880s, thus according to his time, the Kamakura period was 7 centuries ago.
2. This helps with the flow. In a way, a punctuation mark creates a pause. Without it, the speaker thoughts seem more natural.
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