Ono believes that there is a difference in the postwar generation. A difference in the way they see and understand things. zthey don't see things as they really are, but differently. Is this true?
In the second section of "An Artist of The Floating World" Ono goes to visit Kuroda. He makes this visit in an effort to clear up any misunderstanding they may have had in the past and make sure Kuroda doesn't sat anything about Ono's past that may jeopardize Noriko's marriage negotiations. Upon his arrival Ono is greeted by a young man, Kuroda's pupil, Enchi. Enchi assumes Ono is one of Kuroda's associates so initially he is very polite and welcoming, but when he finds out exactly who Ono is he changes. Ono says, "Until this point the young man had managed to maintain a polite tone in his voice, but now he seemed to lose his self control" (113). Enchi's voice changes and he is in this mood of disgust. From the things that Kuroda has shared with him about Ono the young man has no respect for Ono. Enchi accuses him of being a traitor and blames Ono for Kuroda being thrown in jail and all of the abuses he suffered while there. Ono says to him, "Young men of your generation tend to see things far too simply", (113).This angers Enchi and he responds even more forceful than before. Enchi believes that he knows exactly what happened and understood well enough.
In the second section of "An Artist of The Floating World" Ono goes to visit Kuroda. He makes this visit in an effort to clear up any misunderstanding they may have had in the past and make sure Kuroda doesn't sat anything about Ono's past that may jeopardize Noriko's marriage negotiations. Upon his arrival Ono is greeted by a young man, Kuroda's pupil, Enchi. Enchi assumes Ono is one of Kuroda's associates so initially he is very polite and welcoming, but when he finds out exactly who Ono is he changes. Ono says, "Until this point the young man had managed to maintain a polite tone in his voice, but now he seemed to lose his self control" (113). Enchi's voice changes and he is in this mood of disgust. From the things that Kuroda has shared with him about Ono the young man has no respect for Ono. Enchi accuses him of being a traitor and blames Ono for Kuroda being thrown in jail and all of the abuses he suffered while there. Ono says to him, "Young men of your generation tend to see things far too simply", (113).This angers Enchi and he responds even more forceful than before. Enchi believes that he knows exactly what happened and understood well enough.
Is it that Enchi sees thing too simply or is it that Ono simply doesn't understand the severity of the things that he did that may have caused Kuroda's imprisionment? This doesn't seem to be at all the case when one attempts to write Kuroda a letter and in Kuroda's response he say that he doesn't want anything to xo with Ono. This shows me that maybe the problem isn't with the younger generation at all. The problem is with Ono and has always been with Ono. The things that Hensley during the war were things that were considered in bad judgement at the time. Ono knew that but still he did them and had his pupils do it too.
In how own eyes Ono is right but to the people around him not so much. Shintaro, another of his pupils even came to him seeking a disclaimer to posters they had produced during he war. Ono refused to honor this request because he believed, as he later said, that a man should take responsibilty for things he has done in the past. So my question to you is: where do you think the difference lies, in the younger generation or in Ono?
In how own eyes Ono is right but to the people around him not so much. Shintaro, another of his pupils even came to him seeking a disclaimer to posters they had produced during he war. Ono refused to honor this request because he believed, as he later said, that a man should take responsibilty for things he has done in the past. So my question to you is: where do you think the difference lies, in the younger generation or in Ono?
Ishiguro, Kazuo. An Artist of The Floating World. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1986. Print
I honestly believe that the younger generation doesn't really know about what is right. They are the ones who are mainly affected by the belief that it was the older generations fault that their country lays in ruins and brought upon dishonor. The difference is that Ono was patriotic and taught his pupils that to serve their country to the best of their ability was by panting and creating propaganda, but also influencing them on what was right at the time. After the war of course, such paintings would be useless, in fact insulting since the Japanese lost. Enchi came around and was taught by Kuroda. Kuroda, seeing that his old country wouldn't function that same and society changed significantly after the fall,would rather go with his own ideas and views to benefit himself. As if to cover up what he has done, but also teach his pupils, like Enchi, that the things he teaches are right and the Japanese were in the wrong at the time. Kuroda would then leave Ono's teachings as a mere memory and above that would then make his views seem correct. Such treachery wouldn't be received with such high praise in the 1930's or 1940's by loyal Japanese. Enchi wouldn't agreed with Ono at the time on his views, but society changes. Time goes by and things change. Ono doesn't regret what he has done, while Kuroda does. It's here that shows the difference among generations.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the younger generation are just like the old generation; they're toy soldiers/puppets and their teachers pull their strings telling them what to do. Like Ono's former pupils, they followed behind Ono when he told them something and so is Enchi. He hasn't heard both sides to the story so he cannot act disrespectfully towards one of his elders like he did. So I see it as the younger generation has the problem. but so did Ono and his pupils once before.
ReplyDeleteKuroda should be able to make his own calls on who he wants to be in contact with and he is not wrong at all for writing the letter to Ono in the manner that he did, in fact he handled that situation like a man. Like Ono once said, a good teacher should accept his pupil's re-evaluations and questioning of his teachers later in his life. That was exactly what Kuroda did. As he got older and wiser, he realized he shouldn't of followed Ono, but he did so he has his self to blame but he is not wrong for wanting to disconnect Ono.
Chassidy- You raise a great question that helps us have deeper insight into the story. I believe it isn't that others accusing him for the complete movement of the war. I believe that the answer to this question is that neither is to blame. One thing that we must understand is that Ono is an artist. Artists have a natural sense of being very insightful because their paintings must have deep meaning. They use details and analyze every part of the painting to provide a sense of importance. Because Ono is not only an artist but a great artist, he has a tendency of being very insightful. I believe that he takes his habit of being insightful a little too far. You must also take into account that the entire storyline is given though Ono's perspective and dialogues that occur within the characters. According to Ono, the young generation is constantly scolding him indirectly and/or directly for influencing the war.
ReplyDeleteBecause mostly everything is given through his point of view, we must realize that everything he states may not be the entire truth. We must ask ourselves, to what extent must we believe Ono? Think of it this way, if we were telling your point of view to an incident, where you had some fault in, would you tell the entire truth? Or would you leave some information out?