The second chapter of the book begins with the mention of the Bridge of Hesitation. Ono mentions that it is where men, husbands, hesitate on whether they should go into the pleasure district with the geishas, or head home with their wives. Ono finds comfort in the hesitation. It could simply be ironic that he finds beauty in the confusion and insecurities of others. But it could also signify that he is stuck in the middle of the generations. The pleasure district represents the newer generation and the homes represent the older generation. He is comfortable and unashamed where he is. He doesn't feel disturbed by be in between. This is how his views are. He agrees on some terms with both the older and newer generation, but he doesn't choose a side. He just likes seeing the beautiful sunset silence everything around him.
The Japanese culture is much different in the way we address on another. Here we are blunt and straight-forward. In the Japanese culture, they speak indirectly and by implications. This is how Noriko addresses her father, Ono. She compares him to the bamboo he has just cut. She comments that he cut it wrong and made it unbalanced. She's talking about his life, Ono's life, and how holding onto all that happened in the past is making his life unbalanced. On page 106, Ono mentions that some of the younger shoots are becoming more dominant. Here he is making a comparison with the bamboo and Noriko, Setzuko, and her son Ichiro.
Ono, also, seems to have a fascination with the snow falling outside on his garden. He makes notice of the snow falling off of the branch and the lantern evenly covered with snow. It's showing the symbolism of Ono being stagnant, and staying in the past, while Shintaro is trying to forget the past and is shaking the now off just like the tree branches.
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I want to focus in on the point you made about the Bridge of Hesitation. I think Ono stands in the middle of the bridge and enjoys the view not entirely for its beauty, but also for the fact that it is a place he can go that is not in a defined place. The bridge is there and separated two defined places, the pleasure district from home. I feel this is a place for Ono to go and just take in everything that has gone on around him. It is like when one of goes through a difficult time and then soon is blessed with a chance to bettering things. When this occurs many of us go to the one place everything begins and just take in a deep breath while remembering everything that happened. Now, this isn't all good. The thing I see in Ono is more than just him standing in the middle of the Bridge of Hesitation. I see him standing on a the bridge of change. He is in the process of accepting everything around him; he just isn't quite there yet.
ReplyDeleteClearly Ono says, " I am to be seen up on that bridge..., it is not that I ma hesitating. It is simply that I enjoy standing there s the sun sets..." (99). Ono is almost, as you said, in between both new and old generations. Of course I see how you may relate nature to Noriko and the new generation, but the shoots from the bamboo can also represent Ono way of recovering from the war. He recovers by actually moving on and by him doing his own garden is a way to show that he is progressing. I don't believe he stays in the past, mainly because he does accept that either way the younger generation will prevail, but he only mentions the past due to his memories. The past for him is simply just something that is to be recognized and not forgotten. Ono's life is yet to take its course and let it be.
ReplyDeleteOno is content, at least with the bridge of hesitation. The bridge represents the gap between the two different generations, maybe his standing in the middle represents that he knows that everything he did during the war (regarding his paintings) was not right. Even though he understands this he refuses to say that he didn't do them. He is facing his consequences without complaint. He knows that his actions will never be accepted in this new western influenced society, but he doesn't want to stand behind what he did in the past.
ReplyDeleteI like how you make the statement that Ono is stuck in between and that the Bridge of Hesitation represents him. I also liked how he described the beauty in nature and how he in a way focused on everything around it. Never did he described the bridge itself. He mentions it but doesn't once describe what it is. In a way I think is because throughout the book he is describing himself and defining himself which for me ends up being Ono as you said that is where Ono is. It is like when people say your surroundings describe you. Well here you have two different types and it goes all over the place. Which brings me to the title of the book "floating" artist. He is all over the place, nothing can surely describe him and this Bridge of Hesitation is him in the middle of what he's been.
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