Analysis of Kokoro

 

Prompt: How was your understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of the work developed through the interactive oral?

Westward Expansion:

Analysing the devaluation of society as a consequence of cultural paradigm shifts as seen in Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro

In Kokoro, an enigmatic man, commonly referred to as Sensei, opens up to a university student studying in Tokyo towards the end of the Meiji era, a time of huge cultural remoulding in Japan.  Natsume Soseki contemplates the devaluation of society that comes as a consequence of cultural paradigm shifts, as seen in the transition from Feudal Japan to Imperial Japan. Soseki highlights the flawed notion of progress associated with westernization through the cyclical nature of society as seen through the beliefs passed down from one generation to the next, the juxtaposing perception of formal education between the two eras and the symbolic nature of death as a form of transition within the novel.

Soseki manipulates geographical setting in order to establish the consequence of cultural paradigms shift on the perception of formal education. The countryside symbolizes traditional Japan as the characters associated with it, the narrator’s parents, are aligned with the traditional values of Feudal Japan. Tokyo symbolises modern Japan as it is described as a vibrant and lively city and new; the characters associated with Tokyo are aligned with the values and beliefs of Imperial Japan. The use of setting can be extrapolated to view the juxtaposing attitudes toward university based education in Japan across the two different eras. The diploma is one such symbol that highlights the contradictory perception of formal education between modern and traditional Japan. Evidence of this is seen in the novel when Sensei cannot find his diploma, and when it is stated,“my father smoothed it tenderly…rolled up” (80). Soseki contrasts Sensei’s treatment of his diploma to the narrator’s parents’ reaction demonstrating the juxtaposition in their perspectives and the value each of them assigns to the diploma. The symbol of diploma could be said to represent importance of formal education in Imperial and Feudal Japan. Soseki’s use of diction exemplifies the importance of formal education during the Edo Period, as “smoothed” and “tenderly” connotate precaution and preservation. exemplifying how formal education is considered respectable and important in traditional Japanese culture. The contradictory reaction to the diploma is exemplary of how contemporary Japan does not respect nor value formal education. Further evidence of the lack of value of formal education can be seen in regards to job prospects. Soseki states, “This friend was himself actively searching for such a position, from financial necessity” (89). It is then also stated, “I’m in a different field from my brother. and we’re from different generations. Please do not go assuming it will be the same for me as for him” (89). Soseki demonstrates the narrator’s pessimism in terms of his job prospects, exemplifying how formal education in contemporary Japan is a facade which does not hold the same value in society, as opposed to traditional Japan . As highlighted by the contradicting perceptions of education between the two eras and their merit in society, Soseki states how education is devalued in society as the country experiences a cultural shift from traditional to western values.

Soseki characterises Sensei as a symbolic of the moral ambiguity during periods of cultural transition. Sensei is symbolic of the Meiji era, a period of transition between traditional and modern Japan. Evidence of which may be seen when Sensei describes himself as “an inconsistent creature” (122), perhaps outlining how his values do not align with one particular era, but rather overlap and contradict each other. Evidence of this is when Sensei wishes to tell the narrator about “the story of my [his] past”(122), which would require him to abandon his family, despite the fact that Sensei warns the narrator to not “make such an easy assumption an illness like his” (71). Soseki portrays Sensei’s moral indecisiveness through his juxtaposing intention demonstrating moral ambiguity as a result of cultural overlap.

 

Soseki comments on how moral ambiguity is a result of cultural paradigm shifts. Evidence of moral ambiguity as a result of transition  is seen towards the end of the novel, when the narrator is travelling back to Tokyo at the end of the novel on the train. Soseki utilizes the train between the countryside and Tokyo to parallel the transformation of the narrator into Sensei. When the narrator reads the letter on the train and realises that he should not have abandoned his family, he internalises Sensei’s burden and becomes Sensei, in the sense that, he ceases to be innocent. In abandoning his family the narrator severs his connection to the countryside. As a result, the narrator severs his connection to traditional Japan. As the train is the link between the two locations, it symbolises the transition between the ideologies of the two time periods. This shows how the narrator is in a state of suspension between the two time periods. Soseki demonstrates that despite his attempt to distance himself from his traditional beliefs and to embrace more contemporary beliefs, the narrator is instead left in a state of transition, unable to resolve his internal contention because he is subject to both cultural paradigms that conflict with each other . The inability to resolve internal conflict highlights how moral anguish is passed down from one generation to the next and movement towards westernisation does not resolve any moral anguish, if anything it creates it. In doing so, Soseki highlights moral ambiguity is the product of a cultural paradigm shift.

In Kokoro, death symbolises the transition of the beliefs and values rather than their end, thus there is no resolution to the moral ambiguity as it is inherited by the next generation. The graveyard, a form of geographical setting, deals with K’s death. The graveyard as a physical location represents the notion of death; it is where people go when they have reached the end of their lives. However, it may also be representative of the constancy of change. For example, the day the narrator goes with sensei to K’s grave it is stated that, “double cherry were misted with the first unfurling of green leaf.” The use of the imagery of blossoming flowers reflects the notion of rebirth, which parallels the novel because it is after K’s death that Sensei adopts his views and outlook on life. Similarly, the graveyard is the location of the first conversation that Sensei and the narrator have where Sensei shares his perspective and opinions of the world with the narrator. This literal transference of knowledge, especially between Sensei, who represents the Meiji Era, and the narrator, who represents westernizing Japanese society, shows that even in the age of transition, there is the constancy of knowledge and tradition that is passed through the generations. Therefore, even in a state of transition knowledge and beliefs are never simply lost, but rather inherited by the next generation. This shows how despite a culture becomes more westernised, it still retains the knowledge and the beliefs of previous time periods, which may be potentially detrimental to society when they overlap and contradict each other.

Soseki utilizes setting in a novel in attempt to incorporate the geographic location and historic events that initiate the mood to provide context in a novel. Aspects of setting such as Tokyo and the countryside may act as symbols that tie into overarching themes, or in this case, time periods such as the Edo, Meiji and Taisho periods. An important aspect of the novel Kokoro is the cultural alteration of Japan as it moves forward in time from the Edo period through the Meiji era to the Taisho era; physical locations symbolise individual eras, such as Tokyo and the Taisho era. Time is a significant element of setting as well, as each time period is associated with a particular set of beliefs, societal norms and expectations. Soseki highlights the psychological turmoil and the detrimental effect on society that comes as a result of two very different cultures overlapping, through the perception on facets of society such as education and by exemplifying the relay of beliefs and knowledge from one generation to the next.

 

Work cited:

Kokoro Citation – Soseki, Natsume. Kokoro. Trans. McKinney, Meredith. London: Penguin, 2010. Print.