Post by Mina Kaneko on Sept 16, 2015 13:30:09 GMT
Sakaguchi Ango’s “In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom” is a macabre story told in a lighthearted, conversational tone that makes for an enjoyably bizarre read. It’s filled with unexpected moments, both in the plot itself (what’s literally happening, on the surface) and also in the emotional themes that underlie the story. What’s immediately striking and strange is the bandit’s fear of the place beneath the cherry blossoms. Far removed from the celebratory nature of “hanami,” the place beneath the blossoms is described as a haunting place, more like a nightmare than a dream, and one that is deeply disturbing – perhaps even more so because, we’re not even exactly sure what it evokes (as he says at the end – “perhaps loneliness” on 205).
The narrator himself tells us of this difference, right from the beginning. The story starts “Nowadays, when the cherries bloom, people think it’s time for a party,” in contrast to the fact that in “the old days—the really old days—nobody gave a damn about the view. They were scared to go under the blossoms” (187). The narrator identifies the Edo period as being when the shift in attitude took place, and I wondered how and why the admiration and reverence began.
Beauty in the story is few and far between in comparison to the gruesome, which the story revels in, but it seems to be a sort of yin to yang to the horror – in fact, beauty seems to evoke these feelings of fear. The life of killing (whether it be husbands, random people for their heads) appears easy, but it’s the beautiful that’s unsettling. For example, the narrator describes the bandit’s feelings for his newest wife by saying, the woman was so beautiful, her “beauty swallowed him” (191). At the same time, a moment later, we’re told, “But he felt uneasy. He did not know how or why this wave of uneasiness was coursing through his chest, but he could almost ignore it because her beauty had sucked the soul right out of him.” The narrator then goes on to describe how the bandit had felt something like this before, and he immediately realizes: “in the forest, under cherries in full bloom” (the exact line of which is the title of the story) (191). Beauty is paired with a feeling of unease. Cherry blossoms too, are admired for their beautiful but fleeting quality – there are only a few weeks in which they bloom, and only a few days or a week when they’re at peak bloom, and then the petals fall and cover the ground – and then they’re gone. This transience makes them special, and is largely what draws people to “hanami,” but most of the year the trees are without these flowers. This story seemed to use beauty and transience in a similar way; the beauty (as symbolized by the woman, the cherry blossoms) was much more rare than the several instances of the mundane or ugly, and by the end was extinguished. When the woman is dead, however, the bandit is relieved of his anxiety. Instead, we discover the bandit “no longer had to fear loneliness,” that “he was loneliness itself” (205). In facing loneliness and loss directly, he could do nothing else but be absorbed by it.
Discussion questions:
When the bandit considers killing his wife, he wonders, “Is she me? If I kill her, will I be killing myself?” (201). What does this mean?
In many ways, this story reads like a fable or allegory. What do you think it would be fable about?
The narrator himself tells us of this difference, right from the beginning. The story starts “Nowadays, when the cherries bloom, people think it’s time for a party,” in contrast to the fact that in “the old days—the really old days—nobody gave a damn about the view. They were scared to go under the blossoms” (187). The narrator identifies the Edo period as being when the shift in attitude took place, and I wondered how and why the admiration and reverence began.
Beauty in the story is few and far between in comparison to the gruesome, which the story revels in, but it seems to be a sort of yin to yang to the horror – in fact, beauty seems to evoke these feelings of fear. The life of killing (whether it be husbands, random people for their heads) appears easy, but it’s the beautiful that’s unsettling. For example, the narrator describes the bandit’s feelings for his newest wife by saying, the woman was so beautiful, her “beauty swallowed him” (191). At the same time, a moment later, we’re told, “But he felt uneasy. He did not know how or why this wave of uneasiness was coursing through his chest, but he could almost ignore it because her beauty had sucked the soul right out of him.” The narrator then goes on to describe how the bandit had felt something like this before, and he immediately realizes: “in the forest, under cherries in full bloom” (the exact line of which is the title of the story) (191). Beauty is paired with a feeling of unease. Cherry blossoms too, are admired for their beautiful but fleeting quality – there are only a few weeks in which they bloom, and only a few days or a week when they’re at peak bloom, and then the petals fall and cover the ground – and then they’re gone. This transience makes them special, and is largely what draws people to “hanami,” but most of the year the trees are without these flowers. This story seemed to use beauty and transience in a similar way; the beauty (as symbolized by the woman, the cherry blossoms) was much more rare than the several instances of the mundane or ugly, and by the end was extinguished. When the woman is dead, however, the bandit is relieved of his anxiety. Instead, we discover the bandit “no longer had to fear loneliness,” that “he was loneliness itself” (205). In facing loneliness and loss directly, he could do nothing else but be absorbed by it.
Discussion questions:
When the bandit considers killing his wife, he wonders, “Is she me? If I kill her, will I be killing myself?” (201). What does this mean?
In many ways, this story reads like a fable or allegory. What do you think it would be fable about?