She represents freedom and independence, she stood for courage and outspoken lines, undoubtedly shaped the
Japanese literature forever. Her controversial books are breathlessly read
worldwide, no surprise, she made Japanese women “free”, she gave them an “independent
thinking”. It took years since her perception of the world was fully understood,
yet, she was outstanding writer, sadly passed away recently, left
unquestionable heritage behind.
The women she writes about dream of
being independent, the independence stands for freedom, Taeko always underlined
that it must be intellectual and spiritual freedom, otherwise, the women she so
eagerly fought for always remind victims of their own ‘lack of choice”, “fragile
breakthrough”. It is a marriage that makes women “immobilized” – it shall be
understood by the fact that their decision are stuck – the bravery halted and
diminished by the male dominance, strong personality features which stops women’s
attempts to be decisive. “Crabs”a short story won a very prestigious literary
prize – Akutagawa Prize.
The women she portrays are drifting, the reality of the daily life and illusion interacts, sadomasochistic desires grow stronger and become
more and more destructive, the heroines thinks and considers death … as a way of purification of her needs and means of escapism from a weary life she’s
got. Her psyche is nothing but madness, the surrounding world is a picture of
evil, hostile, it rejects her as an independent particle of the society,
therefore is so afraid of loneliness, woman hates her own being – glorifies male
strength for that reason, she hates other women, blames them for self-destruction,
depressions, breakdowns and desolation, eventually, the woman leaves the love she
needs, she self-sacrificing herself to please the man. The weakness and the
doubt is seen at the every step of her being, the novel “The last Time”
describes the fear, the waiting game, the unavoidable end of life, the end that
was once desired, when finally arrived, must be postponed … but how?
“…Oh, I wish my spirit and my body would
never be separated! I wish they could stay together, even after I die! This
wish become so strong that she forgot for a moment about her plea for extra
time!...”
“- You know You can’t escape”,
“- I know, that’s why I’m asking. At
least three or two days…”
The escape means lots of notions, it
may be an escape of a boring reality one has to live in, it might be an escape
from the life one wish live no more, the relationship that is so destructive,
so overwhelmingly dull and unfruitful that the “death” and ‘to die’ thoughts
are the most welcome. The incomprehensible
situation the main character is talking about forces the reader to think, to
reconsider the reasons why some choices and decisions are made, sees the human existence,
once rich in success and happy, suddenly, distracted, unhappy and deceitful. Fragile,
willing to die. Her heroines are wit women, they are not “dull dolls’, they all
have some sophistication, despite of it they want to escape from the life they
live in, they want to be “ahead of it”- it is impossible of course. The man, the male
dominant figure determines woman’s life, completely and unquestionably;
“… After she finished dialing her
husband’s office number and heard the phone ringing, she realized that it would
seem rather odd to simply ask Asari what time he was coming home. Staring at
the edge of the telephone, she though she would have to pretend to be
consulting him on the amount of the condolence gift. …
-
Mr.
Asari of the sales section, please?
-
Who
is calling, please? …”
No answer is an answer as well – it stands for fear, uncertainty, doubt, perhaps. Or rather rethinking that – there’s no
sense of calling anyone, this matter
shall not be discussed by phone, anyway, she knows him … the time to be “on time”-
varies, yet, he is always in. Trivia. The western patterns are present, the
willing to communicate, being more open (as Western women are) – is desired,
but, new in Japanese culture. Simple questions to tighten and made the
interpersonal relations better, hardly uttered, as well. The western pattern doesn't go with Japanese close demeanor. Our heroine is limited to her husband,
her unfortunate faith, there’s no close circle of friends she could socialize with
– no so-called girlfriends to hang out with … loneliness and total
subordination, instead.
“… I have to get rid of these things
right now! I have to take care of all of them right now”. There were six set of
sheets and pillowcases and another set for the guests. Since she herself would
be gone it would be all right to get rid of two sets. She hesitated to throw
away one of Asari’s three sets of pajamas, but considering little time left, it
had to be done. She noticed the socks she had taken off, and when she added it
to the other dirty linen, the plastic bag bulged. But she was sure her husband wouldn’t
notice a garbage bag, nor would he want
to examine it if he did ….”
The demeanor we see and feel between
the lines is totally incomprehensible, the emotions are violent, the symbols
(clothes, linen) explicit and obvious. Getting rid of things is a catharsis, symbolizes
that something new will soon happen. The beginning of a new start after the
ease of life! As is clearly seen the heroine is looking for “space”, space for herself,
she declines, she has once been admired, loved, but it all has its end. The society – she belongs to – leaves her on
her own, she has only got Asari, he is a symbol of her social place, he
determines her existence. It might be weird – but this “unique and different”
place of women in Japanese culture had been dated back in centuries, that’s why
the western pattern doesn't match the match.
“… Noriko kept thinking about what
to wear the next day when she would leave the house for the last time. More than
anything, she wanted to die with a struggle; she wanted to leave a clear
impression that she had no been resigned to dying. She wanted to spew out blood
as horribly as possible, and leave as much blood stain as she could. She would
struggle until the last breath, … she realized then that the crimson blood wouldn’t
stand out against mourning black. She was glad she wasn’t going to die in the
black kimono…”
This attempt, this evil attempt of
suicide, since centuries was rooted into Japanese culture, the code of virtues
one had to follow. The sorrow and hollow souls reflect books of Osamu Dazai,
who tried to commit double suicide a couple of times before finally he succeeded. In
this particular case the notion “I want to die” may also reflect the genre “I
novel” and perception of women in Japanese society. The sadness, the rejection,
the lone life with a person who is close by might and sometimes is unbearable. The
thoughts are so bad, so sadomasochistic
- difficult to explain between the lines. Underestimation of women’s
feeling, the lack of closeness and love led our heroine to destruction. Vein
and selfishness, perhaps.
“… Asari wouldn’t have much trouble
of finding a partner, being a childless man of forty with a steady job, even if
he did have a poor chance of promotion and drank a bit too much … he wouldn’t
waste much time. … Judging from his past and his personality, Asari wouldn’t
seek desperately another marriage, but at the same time he wouldn’t give up the
idea altogether. It wasn’t that he would feel he had to get married; he would
go ahead and do so without thinking too much about it …”
It is a grief and bitterness, but,
also a struggle to find one place in the society, by the man one would love,
to whom one will sacrifice, yet, if it doesn't figure out, the way out seems to
be obvious – a suicidal act. Women in Japan
The love one wants cannot sometimes
be given, the relationship one is in, becomes a routine, nothing but being side
by side, close by, friendship, cool partnership.
“… When Noriko had met Asari for the
first time seven or eight years before, he hadn’t tried to conceal anything
about his first wife. Asari had divorced his wife, a woman who was conscious of
traditional Japanese taste, three or four years before, he said
Noriko is different, she wants to be
noticed, she wants to be loved, the daily boredom doesn't appeal to her
anymore. The marriage is something she wanted, it gave her a sense of being, “protection”,
“stability”- a normal life. Love between two people shouldn't cool off, instead,
if you love someone – don’t you always feel the same …. The main protagonist –
Noriko thinks. She would like to be frivolous, she wished her mind escaped from
evil thoughts of suicide and blood. The dark
site of her personality doesn't want to fall asleep. When Asari returned from
the bath, she announces that she is going to visit one, and so does leave.
“… Suddenly Noriko heard whistling from
the other side of the divider. It was a clear, energetic, straightforward song
that children had sang in a popular musical. (…) it was probably a diligent
young man who works in a factory. He must have worked a late shift. (…) he had
nothing to worry about and nothing to do but go home and sleep. Noriko felt
encouraged by the tune …”
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