Comment on "Botchan"

In “Botchan,” I felt that integrity and kindness were a couple of themes that really helped with plot development. From the very first page, Botchan claims that he had always been a short tempered, reckless boy. But as the story goes on, we begin to realize that his actions and behaviors were motivated by the desire to do the right thing. He is a man of his morals, and regardless of what other people thought of him, Botchan never cared for what other people said about him. Because of his straightforwardness and childlike mentality, we become more attached to him and value his decisions and thought process that goes behind his actions. Another theme I was able to identify is the importance of family (whether it’s family by blood or by choice — this case it was family by choice). Botchan’s biological family did not treat him the way Kiyo did. And though he didn’t understand why she was so nice to him (and was almost repulsed by it), we can see the change that occurs in how Botchan begins to interpret Kiyo’s kindness. He begins to think of her almost as his mother, and starts planning his life that includes Kiyo in it. It’s interesting how much motivation Bochan gets from the thoughts of Kiyo.

What do you make of the fact that most of the characters were referred to by their nicknames given by Botchan? Even Botchan is a childhood nickname. I thought it was a noteworthy choice made by the writer, to give the characters fun and interesting nicknames because it evokes a sense of childhood, immaturity, and familiarity. That’s just my interpretation, but I’m curious as to what other people think about this. What purpose do you think these nicknames (i.e. Redshirt, Hanger, Pale Squash, Porcupine) serve?