Post by Won Young Seo on Sept 30, 2015 2:03:30 GMT
Botchan's parental figures are interesting. The father is portrayed as a hypocritical old man who cares more about family honor and stuff than his children. He seems to prefer the older brother simply because the older brother is "successful" in society's eyes. He's also almost entirely references as "old man", showing just how little respect or care the narrator had for him.
The mother seems to at least care about the fact that the narrator's reckless nature would bring him trouble but she dies early on and very suddenly as well, and she preferred the older brother as well anyways.
The only "parental figure" who could be called a "positive influence" is Kiyo but even she is strange. She spoils him and seems to refuse to see the bad side of him despite how obvious it is. If the father is bad because he's constantly putting him down, Kiyo is bad because she refuses to discipline him. Of course, it's not her place to do so, but regardless, it can be said that the narrator never had a reliable parental figure.
Kiyo is also attached to him to a strange degree. Usually, the older child inherits everything in the home, from the house to the servants, but Kiyo attaches herself to the narrator and seems to even fantasize about what their lives together should be like, almost like she's his girlfriends or something. People tend to attach themselves to those who treat them nice and fairly, so the degree to which she's attached and given the old man's nature, it might not be too off-the-mark to say that the narrator lived in an abusive household.
Question: How might this have shaped the narrator's tendency to just go-with-the-flow and avoidance for anything he deems "troublesome"?
The mother seems to at least care about the fact that the narrator's reckless nature would bring him trouble but she dies early on and very suddenly as well, and she preferred the older brother as well anyways.
The only "parental figure" who could be called a "positive influence" is Kiyo but even she is strange. She spoils him and seems to refuse to see the bad side of him despite how obvious it is. If the father is bad because he's constantly putting him down, Kiyo is bad because she refuses to discipline him. Of course, it's not her place to do so, but regardless, it can be said that the narrator never had a reliable parental figure.
Kiyo is also attached to him to a strange degree. Usually, the older child inherits everything in the home, from the house to the servants, but Kiyo attaches herself to the narrator and seems to even fantasize about what their lives together should be like, almost like she's his girlfriends or something. People tend to attach themselves to those who treat them nice and fairly, so the degree to which she's attached and given the old man's nature, it might not be too off-the-mark to say that the narrator lived in an abusive household.
Question: How might this have shaped the narrator's tendency to just go-with-the-flow and avoidance for anything he deems "troublesome"?