Akutagawa
In all of Akutagawafs rather dark themed short stories which were assigned, there was clearly a strong emphasis placed on the supernatural. In the conclusion of the first story, gThe Clownfs Maskh, I got the impression that what initially seemed to be a harmless comic mask could possibly have been haunted and not of this world, and was eerily portrayed as the cause of the main characterfs death. In gThe Immortalh, images of the afterlife found in the Shrine of the Mountain Deity (e.g. the Assistant Prefect, the Little Devil) add to the storyfs supernatural theme. However, most of all, the inclusion of the haggard old man who is actually not of this world, and this cha
Other than the assigned readings, the only other work of Akutagawafs Ifve had the chance to read has been gThe Spiderfs Threadh (Kumo no Ito). This greater respect for the dead rather than another human is a rather interesting aspect of the story. As is mentioned in the bookfs introduction, Akutagawafs fascination with the macabre and ghost stories of the Edo Period since his childhood undoubtedly influenced his writing. While I felt gThe Spiderfs Threadh had a clearer moral to the story when compared with the majority of the assigned readings, I got the feeling that Akutagawafs use of the supernatural in all of these stories is to not only to deepen the setting or establish a darker tone, but to drive home the point (whether it be a moral or not) Akutagawa wanted to make, and/or heighten the impact of the story on the reader. The realm beyond this world is an insecure topic for most of us, and I believe Akutagawa plays on this weakness of ours to not only take his literature to a higher level, but to make the reader contemplate even more on the story as well. Akutagawa describes the afterlife, and especially hell in rather ghastly detail, even despite the fact he supposedly wrote the tale with children as his intended audience. It is not until the woman confesses that she must raid the corpses in order to survive that the man decides to rob the woman of her clothes. Finally, in the story gWithin a Groveh, it should be mentioned that the account of incident in the grove given by the deceased husband is introduced with the title gThe tale of the spirit as told through a mediumh. However, in this story as well, there is substantial emphasis placed on the supernatural. racterfs act of turning the paper into silver and gold coins were rather strong symbols of Akutagawafs focus on the mystical. In gRasho Gateh, the man initially respects the corpses found inside the structure and sees the woman as a very evil person for disturbing the dead.
Common topics in this essay:
Little Devil,
Spiderfs Threadh,
Kumo Ito,
Clownfs Maskh,
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Edo Period,
Akutagawafs Ifve,
Mountain Deity,
spiderfs threadh,
gthe spiderfs,
emphasis placed,
assigned readings,
gthe spiderfs threadh,
placed supernatural,
emphasis placed supernatural,
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Acceptance Essays
