In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom - Sakaguchi Ango

Sakaguchi Ango's story "In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom" is a tale which captures the interplay between the beautiful and the monstrous through the juxtaposition of the bandit, the beautiful woman, and the blooming sakura. At one point, Sakaguchi writes that "Even now, no one knows that secret of the cherry forest in full bloom. Perhaps it was loneliness" (p.205). The cherry forest in full bloom is a sight which is visually stunning. At the same time however, this beauty is contrasted with the relatively short lifespan of the blossoms. The loneliness may be a result of the people's fear of the forest; the blossoms' beautiful (and short) lives come and pass without ever truly being seen, their blooming left unappreciated. In a way, the same idea is represented through the main characters. For example, the ferocity of the bandit is only matched by the beauty of the woman he finds one day. Similarly, the monstrousness of the woman (expressed by her macabre desire to play with human heads) is countered by the compliance of her husband the bandit, who wishes to please her and maintain a semblance of a happy lifestyle. The loneliness for the bandit and woman is present in the way they rarely interact and how each one feels solitude in the capital city and mountains, respectively. Moreover, at the closing of the story, the bandit is described as having become “loneliness itself” (p. 205). With the death of the woman, it is almost as if the bandit no longer has anybody who could understand him. Originally, her behavior was abnormal and perhaps the bandit understood that in some way, being a social deviant himself (as a killer and bandit). Now that she was dead however, there was nobody left for him; nobody in the city had understood him and he was in relative solitude in the mountains. Now, the realization came that he was truly alone.



Discussion Question: Do you think that the beautiful woman was just a woman, or do you believe that she was something more?