As one reads the very first lines in Kazuo Ishiguro's An Artist of the Floating World, one gets introduced to "the Bridge of Hesitation". The Bridge of Hesitation is brought up a couple of times in the first 100 pages. The Bridge of Hesitation is both a physical place and metaphor, obviously like the metaphor of the floating world in the title. Each time the Bridge of Hesitation is brought up, there are different options at the end of the bridge. In the beginning of the book, the bridge is a gateway to a beautiful house that "stands out from all others nearby" (Ishiguro 7). This beautiful house is the house of the main character Ono. This house is his present. The next time the Bridge of Hesitation gets mentioned is when it's referring to the view of the remains of the old pleasure system. This is the result of World War II. All these remains are the past, because in the present these are actually fixed. So how does this Bridge of Hesitation relate to Ono?
Throughout the novel, Ono jumps around from story to story. He never sticks to one subject or time frame; it is back and forth between past and present. As we know, Ono is the amazing artist in the novel, and he is floating between the worlds of past and present. This Bridge of Hesitation seems to be his path between both worlds. He hesitates to choose one or the other.
In times of war, the means of surrender shows weakness. In order to honor oneself, if defeated in battle, one would have to take up responsibility and commit an act that would bring honor once again, usually suicide. The Japanese actually had a sword to perform this act. This sword is known as the harakiri. The sword is curved and it is supposed to be inserted in one's lower abdomen. Once inside, since the sword is curved, the curved part goes directly towards the heart and punctures it, resulting with a faster death. In a conversation with a prospective son-in-law, he finds that some of the younger generation sees the act of suicide as a waste of men. A soldier already went through a great ordeal, and although he didn't lose his life, he has to live through what he has committed with the rest of his life.
It appears that in some parts, Ono agrees that committing suicide is a waste, but in other parts he doesn't want to agree that the war itself was a waste. I say this because he stopped painting after Japan lost the war. Clearly his grandson's father thought so because in page 32 it mentions, "Father says you had to finish. Because Japan lost the war". The painting got him well known as artist, which is one of the reasons that got him the beautiful house he resides in. It also got him a lot of acknowledgements from different people. It seems the war was a sort of motivation. Either way Ono finds himself in a Bridge of Hesitation. Both endings are either the house or the results of the war, and they both seem to connect. Why is it that he sees suicide as a waste but he doesn't see the war as a waste, even though the loss of it is what makes people commit suicide to maintain their honor? Is there more behind it? How was he involved exactly?
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Of course the Japanese at the time were at the height of their power having controlled much of China and pondering on how to attack many Asian countries and Pacific islands in the next few years. Yet, even though his son and wife died during the war, Ono has a patriotic sense inside him that made him teach and also paint heroic and patriotic posters, to provide the public with a sentiment of honor. Also, it was to show that Japan wasn't just using its boys to fight but rather portraying them as heroes, defending the mainland and their families, while at the same time occupying countries at an extraordinary and quick pace. Japan was to become a superpower and prove to its enemies that they were to become dominant in the East. Ono himself, might've believed, at one point, that this war was just and not wasteful. For every able-bodied Japanese man was to be sent to fight. Perhaps it also provided Ono with a deep insight as to what his father meant of keeping a traditional customs and having their family be prosperous and unshameful. Sadly, Japan lost the war and therefore, Ono was fially realizing that he and his country was wrong. They fought a just war, but lost.
ReplyDeleteThe Bridge of Hesitation is a very key part of the book. It is a symbol that represents Ono's connection to Japan before the war. Before the war, across the bridge, there was the infamous "pleasure district." Ono loved to cross the bridge, every step bringing him more contentment towards the "pleasure district." Now that the way destroyed much of the district, even though it is rebuilt in the present, some of the district's spirit went in the air in fire. All Ono can remember is the steps he took towards the old district. The bridge is one of the only things that brings him pleasure of the old Japan.
ReplyDeleteA reason that Ono sees suicide as a waste of men but not seeing war as a waste is because he took part in influencing the war. He would feel guilty to see the war as a waste since he pushed the movement of the war. He is afraid to admit his mistake.