Botchan

I agree with Kyra Benjamin on that Botchan never received the attention and affection from his parents that all children should have received or are receiving. He had mentioned a couple of times how he missed the presence of Kiyo, especially after he went to Matsuyama district (17, 42, 52, 60, 77, 83, 92, etc.). The constant torment and deception he saw from the students and the teachers made him realize just how warm and kind Kiyo was: "When you think about it, you really have to hand it to Kiyo. She was just an old woman without any education or social standing, but as a human being she was really noble. Even though she'd done so much for me, I'd never felt particularly grateful to her before, but now, that I had found myself on my own so far away from home I finally realized how kindhearted she'd been. She used to praise me for having an unselfish, upstanding character, but if anybody was going to be praised for being a truly fine person, she deserved it a lot more than I did" (41-42). He often thought of Kiyo, comparing her great character to the undeserving teachers, and dreams of being in Tokyo, ready with the souvenirs and Echigo Sweets wrapped in Bamboo leaves that he had bought for Kiyo. Kiyo was like a mother figure to him, and maybe, he wanted to have a wife with the many great attributes and qualities like Kiyo (Botchan had mentioned many times what a great woman Kiyo was, how there weren't many women like her, and how much he wanted to be with her), and therefore, he didn't firmly deny that he had a wife in Tokyo.