Although Kawabata was honored with the Nobel Prize for Literature for three of his novels, he preferred working in the genre of short stories, in particular, stories so small they can fit into the palm of one’s hand. These stories, which Kawabata continued to write over a span of fifty years, were not translated into…
Tag: Japan
The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket – Setting
Japan in the 1920s was in a state of great transition. World War I was over, but the country would never be the same. Just as the decade was one of great societal and cultural value shifts in the United States, so it was in Japan. Western influence was infiltrating every aspect of the Japanese…
The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket – Literary Devices
Imagery Imagery is a technique a writer uses to involve the reader in the story. He does this by appealing to the reader’s senses. Kawabata uses imagery throughout his brief story, beginning with the first paragraph, in which he gives specifics. The university wall is not just a wall but a ‘‘tile-roofed wall’’; the fence…
The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket – Themes
Fate Fate is destiny, an event or course of events that will happen in a person’s lifetime. Fate is predetermined; it cannot be altered or changed from what it was always meant to be. This is an integral belief in the traditional Japanese culture and a primary theme in Kawabata’s ‘‘The Grasshopper and the Bell…
The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket – Characters
Children In addition to Fujio and Kiyoko, there are eighteen children on the embankment, chasing and catching insects. Using only the light that shines from their lanterns, they hunt the insects and capture them in tiny cages. Fujio Fujio is the young boy who gives Kiyoko what he believes is a grasshopper but which in…
The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket – Summary
The opening scene of ‘‘The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket’’ finds the unnamed narrator walking outside the university (equivalent to the American high school). He turns to approach the upper school, which could mean the school that was situated higher up the hill, or it could mean a school attended by young teens, perhaps the…
Fountains in the Rain – Analysis
Yukio Mishima became a rising star in the Japanese literary field when he was only in his mid-twenties, and he remains today one of that country’s most internationally renowned contemporary writers. Susan J. Napier writes in the Dictionary of Literary Biography that Mishima is a “writer who has helped mold the Western imagination of Japan…
Fountains in the Rain – Setting
The Japanese Economy After World War II, Japan made a rapid and impressive economic recovery. Many factors contributed to the country’s success. Instead of concentrating on producing inexpensive textiles sold to other Asian countries, Japan began to produce advanced technology for a world market. Japan’s workforce was skilled and highly motivated. The government also cooperated…
Fountains in the Rain – Literary Devices
Point of View The story is told from the third-person point of view. Everything that happens in the story is filtered through Akio. The reader only learns his thoughts and ideas. Because Akio is so unperceptive and so uninterested in Masako, the reader learns very little about her. The only indications of what she is…
Fountains in the Rain – Themes
Love Although love is not what Akio feels for Masako, it is still a theme in the story since Akio used the promise of love to woo Masako. He did so only in order to form a relationship with her so he could break up with her. Akio has no emotional ties to Masako, but…