Haiku: Analysis of Harvest Son
Above is a simple poetic form called haiku that describes what Harvest Son, a story by David Mas Masumoto, is all about. However, there is much more to be read into the haiku than what a person's first reading of it allows. The history of the haiku is meant for spiritual meditation, especially that of the Japanese and Chinese religion of Taoism. Though consisting of solely three lines, each line forms some sort of scientific thinking that as a whole treats nature and humanity like an instrument. In "Harvest Son", Masumoto's auto-biography, the "heart" of the book surrounds the fact that his present family, along with his past and future families, is the machine that makes their vineyard and peach fields thrive. Haiku is also meant to express or indicate a moment in time, a sensation, impression or drama of an explicit fact of nature. In a way, it is like taking a snap shot of that specific moment of nature. The haiku included in "Harvest Son" does just that by capturing everything the Masumoto family lives for in a three line piece of prose. Though the verses are short, they give great details and thought to what the entirety of the book is about. In th
The "harvest" of the grapes, raisins and peaches are what the Masumoto family anticipates with great eagerness each year, but also with some anxiety for worry of the weather running their year's hard work with one swift storm. Without the use of "hands", as used in the first line of the haiku, the Masumoto family would likely not have been able to survive the hardships of the events leading up to the Vietnam War and the aftermath of it. "Fortune," in this case, is also what will bring the new generation of Masumoto's to prosperity and happiness. Masumoto's family is in the process of working their fields, preparing for the harvest, drying raisins and so on. With such hard work in the vineyards, blisters and "thick" calluses would be commonplace in their family. But since Masumoto returned, the ranch thrives with organic grapes and peaches and continues to prosper to present days. Kanji, the Japanese form of written art, is one of the other means of expression of thought in their culture, which young Masumoto learned while attending college in Tokyo. " This ties in the entire idea of the haiku, which is centered on family and working hard to earn success and well-being. However, with good luck, the Masumoto's are able to finish their harvest before a storm hits their land. "Under the Harvest Son" tells a lot about the work that is done on the Masumoto family acreage. Just as the word "harvest" is the centerpiece word of the prose, so is it what the whole of the book centers around. Truly, Masumoto's haiku is a great eye opener to what the rest of Harvest Son has to offer the reader; which is an experience of rare family relationships and labor which is depicted throughout the entirety of his memoir. They have no control over the weather, and the chance of a storm hitting them right before or during harvest is very likely. Harvesting is also the result or outcome of an activity. Without the energy and heat from the "sun," the grapes and peaches would never reach their full potential size and mouth-watering taste, nor would the raisins have the right amount of heat to dry properly.
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