People of The Setting Sun
Close inspection of The Setting Sun by Dazai Osamu allows one to see a particular family battle changing times that are affecting a whole nation of people. Paralleled in many ways by the author's own reality, we see how this deep message is more than just a fiction story. As a nation, Japan had just surrendered to the U.S. ending their participation in WWII. With the end of this battle, a new one on the home front began. In a sense, the tradition of Japan died with the war; there is a definite passing of a generation/era of people. The country is now caught in a state of shock as they try to piece together new lives. This is by no means a simple task when tradition is pulling from one side and an influx of modern ways and ideas are pulling from the other. Through the analyzation of Mother, Kazuko, and Naoji, the notion of a nation struggling to grasp a new modern identity while coping with the decline of a social order that has stood strong for so many years is unfolded from beginning to end creating mixed feelings of hope and depression for the people of the setting sun. Due to WWII, Kazuko and her mother must leave Tokyo and establish residents in nearby village. Kazuko's brother, Naoji, has been fighting in the war
Since the defeat, however, we no longer trust the older and wiser heads and have come to feel that the opposite of whatever they say is the real truth about life. She bears a child which acts as a symbol for a fresh start and new hope during a time when that is just what is needed. Being able to carry honor and class for so many generations, and now, to have it all stripped away leaves the both in a state of shock and disarray. Modernity is once again made evident with the role of Christianity in the novel. The death of the mother shows the passing of a generation, and the suicide of Naoji exemplifies the feelings of depression and hopelessness that float over Japan. The fact that he was born into a family of aristocrats eats at him. The birth of her child symbolizes the rebirth that you can have in Christ, as well as symbolizing the rebirth of a nation. Some of these feelings appear to have come from fighting and risking your life for a country and people, only to lose and have them turn their backs on you. The old die off with the memory of what was held deep in hearts. He seems to appreciate the new ideas and thoughts that make up modernity, but the powers at be that determine how those ideas will be filtered down become his enemy. The new, fresh minds of the day are rotting away in bars and brothels with physical pleasure being the method of choice as opposed to mental pleasure; there are also those like Kazuko, who are able to witness the full picture and make a critical decision on her own about what to do. " Kazuko has lived with her mother from beginning to the end. This act in the novel takes us into a deeper issue. The way Naoji handles these and the dying of the old aristocrats (his mother) is a very good explanation for his habits. She is among the last of a generation of good aristocrats; her ideals and morals about how life should be lived are dying with her, while the ways of the new times are rushing in with the new aristocracy.
Common topics in this essay:
Japan Kazuko,
Dazai Osamu,
Victims Victims,
Kazuko's Naoji,
Kazuko Naoji,
WWII Kazuko,
,
artist friend,
setting sun,
aristocratic family,
japan kazuko,
born family,
modern world,
wiser heads,
naoji takes,
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Acceptance Essays
