Kobo Abe’s novel “The Face of
Another” is a tragic novel, it describes the desire to be normal, to regain the
lost identity after the tragic accident. The main character of the book “lost
his face” due to unsuccessful laboratory experiment, his face is disfigured, grotesque. He is forced to
bandage his face, eventually, after some time he started wearing mask, the mask
is like a wall, it isolates the scientist from people, from society, the mask
gives him a shelter as well, protects him from pitiful, sorrowful looks of
others. Even though he wears the mask he doesn't feel he is really “he”, he
hates the mask, the hates being lone, he hates the alienation he had to accept
because of his look, because of what he became. He doesn't want to meet people, he doesn't speak with his wife – she hates his look, she sees deformations that
put her off, look obnoxious, her “husband” is no longer her husband. The mask
which gives the scientist some kind of ‘protection’ has been made by him, scarcely anyone knows who is behind it, it is so well crafted. The man wants to precisely identify
his own identity, he wants to be himself – in every aspect of is life. His alienation
from society is a result of the accident and its aesthetic outcomes, namely,
no one is eager to accept the disfigurement, ugliness – the scarred face would
be an endless topic of gossips and rumors, it is better for the main character to
hide it behind the mask he so meticulously made for himself and withdraw from
the society he ones belonged to. The mask doesn't fulfill its role, it doesn't make the main character to look better, more "appealing to the eye"— in contrary
it is more disgusting than his scars. The scientists admits;
“…looked at my real face, the merciless
scar webs seemed the less read … . The mask had already become just as real as the webs …”
The main character wants to be
loved, he demands love from his wife, he wants to seduce her but drops it just because of the mask, he realizes that the woman he wanted to make love
with would know who he really is … due to this fact the love will not be a
simple intercourse between "two strangers"; when his wife finds out that her lover-to-be
is her real husband, the main character rejects a chance for intimacy, an
acceptance for what he really is. He keeps writing diaries, each diary has got
a different colorful cover; he describes everything, the process of making the mask,
the way people react on his face, the embarrassment he feels every time while
exposed to face to face contact with people, women in particular. He desires
women, he desires changes. The accident changed his face, damaged his face,
yet, his inner soul reminds the same, his character is distracted but his basic
human values are intact. He is a man, he
is a lonely man in a society which scheme pushes into having a proper
relationship, family, stability, and at the same time avoiding insecurity. The strong
sexual desire he feels toward women he encounters in a bus or a train is a
result of his solitary life. The desire is so strong that blocks him and forces
to withdraw in order not to fail and not to ridicule himself in front of women. He is
afraid that he would not be attractive enough to carry on a conversation, not to mention
a relationship.
“… I am probably addicted to
empty fancies precisely because of this abstracting – I, who am trying to find
some solution but shelve my own problems and shut up…”
The escapism is his option, his
choice, sadly, he doesn't have much to choose, one way or the another, simply. He
knows how he looks, the mask gives him “new identity” – new chances. He realizes that the look is a factor which attracts women, triggers the relationship, yet,
the mask doesn't have to halt it, he knows how he looks, he also know how he
can attract women and what he can give … he fantasies, dreams of it … and he is
not that far from reality. The mask is a curse – it created an unbreakable wall
between him and his wife – the relationship will always be side by side. The mask
gives him false image of “what could happen if …”; if he got use to live with
it normally, accept his imperfections, accept the fact that despite of the
scars he is a handsome man, forgot about the society and its aesthetic scrutiny.
The diaries he writes are very metaphorical, the mask he wears and the face
underneath it are like the colorful covers of his diaries – everyday different;
everyday different sets of emotions lead the way he goes, push for decisions he
makes. The mood swings are so frequent that our character loses himself. The book
is very sensual, Abe describes, sketches the mood of the character, he wants to
photograph “what is on his mind and what is in his head”. The fascination is
unquestionable, therefore so intriguing. Abe wants us to show how lost and
confused the lonely man is, he is ready for the most brute act of desperation
to make himself free from the lie he made for himself, it is how he perceives
the mask and his fate;
“…Since you have seen through it
already … you have dug your own grave by yourself…”
Inability to break the stigma of
scars and disfigurement, as well as, unwillingness
to accept the reality just as it is made a main character utterly unhappy,
utterly hopeless. He is ashamed by the fact that the image he gave people is
fake, the mask made up a person who doesn't exist, eventually, the way One
wants to be perceived shows the image of someone else, the pressure to keep it
alive is so strong that leads to depression, self-destruction and suicidal thoughts.
Therefore the scarred face represents damaged personality, that face is still
more real and more truthfully represents the character of the person than the
mask one wears. The main character will never be able to identify himself by
the phrase “I am …”; because he doesn't know who he is … the mask does.
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