The Tale of Genji

To begin with, Bola and Asi shouldn’t have known that Meji the son of Bola and the father of Asi. That he was a spirit. The first reason why they shouldn’t have realized he was a spirit is because Meji made it very hard for them to even think of him as a spirit. Meji encountered his family, touching and talking to them as if he was never actually dead. In the story Meji was carrying his daughter on his back and walking around with her while his mother went to the store. His daughter Asi didn’t…

Since the dawn of time, religions have shaped the way humans have progressed. This is evident in the writings of both Beowulf and The Tale of Genji. Beowulf is an epic of a great warrior which shows that in the end fate will win. The Tale of Genji is about the son of an emperor and shows how desire and passion will only limit your perspective on life. These stories are excellent representations of how looking at any writings through a religious lens will prove religions truly does impact…

Dream of the red chamber and The tale of Genji. These two books will be examined for the purposes of comparing and contrasting aristocratic life in pre-modern China and Japan. Scholars have recognized the value of these two texts. Both of them were written by contemporaries and both are believed to have been writing biographies chronicling their own families under the guise of a fictional narrative. The Tale of Genji is the story that follows an individual, Genji, as he rises falls and rises…

Keji Nakazawa’s graphic narrative Barefoot Gen illustrates a nation ruled by imperialism. The author demonstrates this by the Nakaoka family who suffers greatly under the Imperial Japanese army. The army is controlled by the Emperor who rules as a dictator. In the narrative Nakazawa’s use of feet symbolizes the oppressive rule of the Emperor in Japan. Specifically, the two covered feet crushing the wheat exemplifies the strength of the wheat in being strong and tall. While the…

Through the progression of the boy and his measures to cope to the trauma of incarceration, Julie Otsuka, author of When the Emperor was Divine, suggests a general basis of the emotions Japanese Americans have faced, as outlined by the Kübler-Ross model, or in other words, the five stages of grief. When the Emperor was Divine follows Japanese Americans through the perspectives of a four-membered family, from spring of 1942 to 1946, a period of time in which both issei, Japanese immigrants to…

Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and Tale of Princess Kaguya Comparison The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter constitutes as the earliest example of a monogatari text. A focus on vernacular tales, and fictional stories characterize the literary form monogatari. This tale’s popularity led to several adaptations including, the Studio Ghibli film, The Tale of Princess Kaguya. The ability to convey a story, change with the use of different mediums along the lines of text and film. As so, the text uses various…

Similarly to Stagecoach (Ford, 1939), Yojimbo (Kurosawa, 1961) also features the lone entrance of its main protagonist, Kuwabatake Sanjuro. However, unlike in Stagecoach (Ford, 1939), which features the Ringo Kid’s rather abrupt entrance well into the film, Yojimbo (Kurosawa, 1961) starts right off the bat with its main protagonist. The opening shots of Yojimbo (Kurosawa, 1961) also begin with a closeup of the back of Sanjuro, as he walks down the path to the town. This initial scene already…

female samurai. The genre of this story is a legend because it is a very well known traditional story that is passed down from generation to generation. There is no actual proof that Tomoe Gozen existed because her story was based on an oral tale.The Tale of Heike, was passed on by blind monks. Tomoe Gozen's fascinating life as a female samurai has influenced what was told as historical records. "Even though there is no irrefutable proof for Tomoe's historic existence, the evidence suggest she…

Genji’s Future Love Within The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, chapter three titled “Lavender” stands out to encompass many Chinese ideals that help further understand their history and way of life. Throughout the entirety of chapter three, Genji develops a deep interest for a young girl named Murasaki, and the chapter sheds insight on the chase of women and indirectness. In order to fully understand Shikibu’s claims throughout the chapter, it is imperative to unpack the details within the…

The sadness of the following sentence from the The Tale of Genji is something that struck me hard. From the past experience in my own life, I know what the little boy’s puzzled expression looks like and how that makes things harder when you lose someone. The idea of having a little child or Genji lose a parental figure is an event that is relatable to my own life. When I was in elementary school my step dad passed away and had two little children. The look of confusion of their face when they…