A Souvenir of Japan

He on the other hand was a bored fellow, and she was something different and rare in his country. “But the most moving of these images were the intangible reflections of ourselves we saw in one another’s eyes, reflections of nothing but appearances, in a city, dedicated to seeming, and, try as we might to possess the essence of each other’s otherness, we would inevitably fail” which I interpreted as passion is not a substitute for true love and because this relationship was based on false pretences therefore it was bound to fail. Not only was he trying to convince her of his love for her, but he was also trying to convince himself. And regardless of his unearthly quality she still did not want to let go as described in the following “I should have liked to have had him embalmed and been able to keep him beside me in a glass coffin, so that I could watch him all the time and he would not have been able to get away from me”. Her thoughts when he was gone seem to be conscious of his misdeeds such as staying out late with friends, but she dared to wait for him as a loyal lover. She knew that her lover was an outcome of those belief systems, but she continued to admire him even still.

I felt that the turning point was the development of the main character towards the end of the story, when she comes to realize that this relationship is hurting both of them and that although they had gone through a lot together this relationship had lost its hope. It was evident in the following that their relationship was just based on lust and passion and nothing else “We were living in a room furnished only by passion”. Actions such as those led me to believe that she was denying herself the truth, she was very aware of the setting and their belief system in Japan. He seemed to confuse sexual satisfaction with love, and that’s where the misinterpretation of this relationship began. I sensed that this native was also stuck, and continued this relationship based on his guilt. In the beginning of the story he seemed to be convinced that he was in love “But his dedication was primarily to the idea of himself in love”, and because he was so convinced of this notion he passed this belief onto the main character.