The Bonfire

When I reached the end of this story, it seemed clear to me that the theme of this simple story was Mujou. Despite how short it is, it's chock full of little details of occurrences that, despite their beauty, vibrancy, or significance in the moment, proceed to then fade away into the background as the author describes yet another event. The old wanderer's appearance serves as a contrast to the group of lively children who built the bonfire, and his mini bout of reminiscence makes the reader feel all the more strongly the fleeting nature of life; the aged and worn wanderer was once himself a vibrant child, and knew happy times by a fire. The fire the children built seemed to represent life itself, along with the impermanence of it--how long it took for the materials to be gathered, and the fire to be kindled (that it only came alive when the children stopped expecting it); how, when the fire did light up, the children had to leave; that it continued to burn after its creators had left, and eventually dies. The coming and going of the lone wanderer at the vast beach at night, and the fact that no one would ever know how he enjoyed the fire the children built that night since any traces of his presence and the fire had been washed away by the 'eternal' tides, illustrates just how insignificant any event is in the grand scale of time, which continues to flow day after night, bonfire after bonfire. This story gave off the feeling of mujou splendidly by narrating the seemingly mundane. In the end, the individual's presence is forgotten by even the land itself.

Q: What do you think of the lines, "What a shame it would be, he said, to burn [the old mirror frame]. But an older boy said, That will burn best of all."?