Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata.pptx

This presentation summarizes the key points of Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata.

1. Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata Asyifa Rizky Amelia (19/443405/SA/19894) • Dini Fauzia (19/446343/SA/20101) Fatihah Firdausi Nuzula (19/443409/SA/19898) • Muhammad Ihktiar Robbani (18/424875/SA/19247) • Zitta Arlivia (19/443427/SA/19916)

2. Background & Summary Symbols Characters & Themes Table o f Contents 01 03 02 Review 04

3. Background & Summary 01

4. Background Thousand Cranes is a novel that was published in 1952 which was written by Yasunari Kawabata , a Japanese author. Kawabata wrote novels and short stories, and those prose works gained him international fame, and he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968 .

5. In Thousand Cranes , the protagonist, Kikuji Mitani , is an orphan. Similarly, Kawabata was also an orphan after his parents passed away, but his grandparents also passed away fairly quickly, so Kawabata eventually moved to a boarding house near his school. Background

6. A thousand Cranes was set in Japan after World War II . which we all know, that after losing the second world war, Japan experienced severe poverty which greatly affected its people. moral decline, gambling, alcohol, and prostitution. a very poor country full of chaotic politics and an economy about to restart. Background

7. So that inspired Kawabata to make a story that seemed to describe the situation at that time which was so depressed, sad, and did not know the direction ahead. and with the very common themes of honor, women, vengeance, and inheritance. So that Kawabata seemed to be able to attract the attention of the Japanese people at that time. Background

8. Summary Kikuji attends a tea ceremony arranged by his late father’s former mistress, Chikako in order to set him up with Yukiko. Mrs. Ota, his father’s last mistress is also present alongside her daughter, Fumiko. After the ceremony, Kikuji spends the night together with Mrs. Ota and starts falling for her. Later on, Mrs. Ota commits suicide out of guilt and shame. Kikuji’s grief and guilt over Mrs. Ota’s death brings him closer to Fumiko, but Chikako interferes Kikuji’s life by insisting that he should marry Yukiko. Fumiko moves away, and Chikako falsely informs Kikuji that Fumiko and Yukiko have married other men. Fumiko then comes to see him, and Kikuji finds out that she is not married. They broke the tea bowls their parents used to use together, and it is implied that they sleep together. The next morning, Kikuji cannot find Fumiko, and fears that she might follows her mother’s footsteps and commit suicide.

9. Characters & Themes 02

10. Characters The protagonist of the story who is caught in the complications of his father’s past. A tea ceremony host and a former mistress of Kikuji’s father has a large birthmark on her chest. Kikuji Chikako Kurimoto

11. Characters Mrs. Ota A middle aged woman and a former mistress of Kikuji’s father, and later becomes Kikuji’s lover Fumiko Mrs. Ota’s daughter who also has an interest in Kikuji, but she is haunted by her mother’s past. Yukiko Inamura Chikako’s pupil and the girl whom Chikako tried to set up with Kikuji.

12. Themes ‘So it’s our fate, is it, to have Kurimoto managing us,’ said Kikuji. ‘You and I do not seem to have the same view of that fate.’ (p. 25) Fate is an inescapable element in the story. The course of Kikuji’s life has mostly been predetermined by his father’s mistakes involving Mrs. Ota and Chikako in the past. The fate of the characters are interlocked and woven together beyond their control. 01 Fate

13. Themes Kawabata stated that Japan has a "generalized tendency to glorify the heritage left by the ancestors,". The tea ceremony equipments which are ever-present in the novel is considered important, as they are significant symbols of family value and heritage. Kikuji and Fumiko’s tea bowls are precious artifacts that have been passed down for generations in their family. 02 Family Values

14. Themes The tea ceremony is a big part of the novel, it opens the story and is mentioned repeatedly throughout. Kawabata describes tea ceremony as “a glue which keeps life and death, corruption and purity, nature and aesthetics together.” However, he emphasizes how this tradition lost its sacred purpose with Chikako’s use of tea ceremony to mask her intention of meddling with people’s relationships. The tea ceremony decayed as it became means of heinous deeds. 03 Decay of Traditions

15. Symbols 03

16. Symbols The tea vessels are passed down for generations, signifying the inescapable fate the characters are caught in as well as the fragility of the individuals involved. Kikuji associates the birthmark with his father’s affair and tea ceremony, fueling his ambivalence towards the tradition and Chikako, who resembles a Freudian Medusa figure. Tea Vessels Chikako’s Birthmark

17. Symbols Traditionally symbolizing a well-wish for an afflicted person, the image is associated with the Inamura girl who is outside of the main conflict - innocent and unattainable. Tea cottages are contrasted against solid occidental buildings, and traditional clothes are contrasted against European dresses, signifying a decay in Japanese tradition. Thousand-crane Pattern Buildings & Clothings

18. Review 04

19. Review As a story that deals heavily around guilt and love, Thousand Cranes has multiple layers to be shed and analyzed, from its family issues, sorrows, symbolism, and the characters. Each of the characters' personalities shone through their behaviorism and short conversations we have encountered in the novel. The hidden layer and unaddressed issues run deeper than people might have initially thought about it during their reading, hence why it needs multiple reads to be understood. With beautifully put words, this novel truly worths the read it has until now.

20. Kawabata, Y. (2011). Thousand Cranes. Penguin Classics. Lau, C.-S. G. (2012). The Past and Split Self in Yasunari Kawabata’s Thousand Cranes. Comparative Literature: East & West, 17(1), 77-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/25723618.2012.12015530 Bibliography

21. Thank You