The Artist

Who are the artists of the Floating World? Browsing through the internet I came across the term "Geisha". What's a Geisha you may ask, well they are men, women who for a living train to be entertainers. Meaning they spent every waken moment perfecting their dancing, music and poetry skills. They keep Japanese culture alive and that's what makes Japan so prideful. So why then do we read in Kazuo Ishiguro's An Artist Of The Floating World of businessmen and other common folk harbor disdain for an artist?

Ono's own father did not approve his choice of hobby and so tried bashing his dream by saying,
"Artists' live in squalor and poverty. They inhabit a world which gives them every temptation to become weak-willed and depraved. "(46). Why at this given moment? Ono is someone who wants to live his life for himself by escaping into the mystery and fantasy that's art. Maybe Ono's dad knows this but doesn't want his only male son to put the family name in shame by becoming a no-name artist. Imagine how people would treat Ono's family if he painted something so radical and the Japanese didn't like it? Surely they would be shun from society and seen as lowly people.

There's no shame however in being an artist. In fact it's probably the hardest profession there can be because the past, present and future of Japan is in their hands. Ono has so much to offer that what he paints will have an impact in Japanese culture. And as we know he does and because of that he's know reminiscing and thinking of all the people he knew before the war.
We understand that before he could become a "real artist" he worked for a commercial company that made "Japanese Art" .



"Japanese Culture - Geisha." Japan-Zone.com - Japan Travel Guide, Japanese Pop Culture, History, Japanese Girls, Japanese Guys. 1999-. Web. 04 Feb. 2011. .

Honor, Respect and perspective on being a Artist

Why do the younger generation harbor bitterness towards their elders?

A) The War
B) Traditional Roles in a Japanese household

To get a feel for the great, empire of Japan one must investigate what made it so great. During the 1930’s Japan was coming out of a great depression and so that meant the country had to keep stimulating its economy by means: occupation of other countries and war. The nobles were getting rich and commoners had jobs; all was well in Japan.  Not only that but Japan’s culture was thriving again as it did during the beginning of the 19th century.  For instance, the code of Bushido, has influenced Japanese military when it comes to honor.  The code reads if you break a rule then it’s “dishonorable” and you must commit suicide in order to regain your honor.  And as you read Kazuo Ishiguro’s An Artist of The Floating World you hear of the war crimes committed by certain individuals and how they “apologize” to the families who have lost individuals to the war by committing suicide.

Back to the original question however is why do the young people feel they have the right to disrespect their elders?  An obvious reason we can all give is that we’re tired of having our father’s tell us what to do just because they’re the patriarch and that’s how it should be in a traditional Japanese household. For instance when Misuji Ono recalls how his father used to neglect him from being in the reception area because of his “business”, it just made Misuji want to pursue a different career path. Why? Masuji explains, “ I meant I wish to rise above such a life”(47) . Masuji did not think it was right for his father to judge artists for being “weak” , especially go even to say they live in poverty and squalor.  To get a bigger picture I shall explain a little clearer. I’m assuming since Masuji’s father father is a businessman that they’re rich, and to find out that your only son wants to be a artist is bringing shame to the name of the family. So it’s not about Masuji or what he wants but what dad wants for himself and the family name. This creates the bitterness which Masuji transforms to ambition for his future career in painting.

The second reason for the cause of bitterness between generations is the affects of post-war.  Let’s all imagine we live in Japan and we love it;  to see it destroyed by bombs from American planes upsets you a lot in fact it ignites this hate that you eventually vent it towards the older generation who got the country in this mess. This brings us to another recollection of Masuji with the infamous Jiro Miyake. What’s interesting about this encounter is the conversation Miyaki leads about his deceased boss. He justifies that it was right of the president to die in order for the employees to, "... forget our past transgressions and look to the future. It was a great thing our president did"(55). Awful, just terrible how this younger person speaks to defy the choices the elder made during the war - it's all past! But it seems the consequences of the war follow everyone.

To be continued....

Objection, please.

Reading Looking At Women by Scott Sanders is a deep analytical, Cause And Effect essay about how men look at woman or as the author puts it, " How should a man look at women?". The author gets his points across points across by giving us examples of women in culture. He uses franchise names such as Playboy, Miss America pageant, Greek Goddesses, famous erotic novelists, paintings and so on. Each example gives us a better view at the points he's making. Let's take for example the Greek Goddesses. Sanders writes that women arouse the interest of men in the way they dress. He gives the example of a goddess lolling around in her long white, chiton gown. It's man-like, he justifies for men to notice the beauty because she's just there for everyone to see. This is how much of the essay is formulated. Question, answer and explanation. The most important part of this essay is the question itself, “How should men look at women?”. He goes by answering this question by getting into his male persona, and others. Yes, all men ogle at woman for one reason and another but it's not always to make them feel uncomfortable though for most of human history, it can't be said the same. Women were built differently, shaped to be beautiful that any man would want to take back home. Even the most novel of men who are not “lusting” have thoughts of looking at women. It's all genetics he resolves to at the end.

Overall, the concept of men looking at women is a topic many will have different positions on. Sanders gives his own perspective and reasoning behind this. He also gives a minor perspective how women feel when thousands of men look at them. They become an object not a person. It can almost relate to slavery. Men objectify women and it might be on purpose but anatomy does not allow men to not notice.

The Norton reader: an anthology of nonfiction prose

Linda H.Peterson - John C.Brereton - Joan Hartman - W.W. Norton - 2000

Not Another Speech

"As beautiful as the moon, by the Messenger of God! You're really your father's daughter. Anyone seeing those eyes would immediately remember this...I see you're all wondering how this woman knows al-Sayyid Ahmad...I knew him before his wife herself did. He was a neighbor and childhood playmate. Our fathers were friends. Do you think a performer doesn't have a father? My father was head of Qur'anic primary school and a blessed man. What do you think about that, you beauty?" (265)



This passage indicates how the performer Jalila is affected to be in the same building as her previous lover: al-Sayyid Agmad. The reader can almost see the performer Jalila just having a hard time trying to compose herself among the other women in the reception but she's drunk! I see the make-up on her smearing because she had been crying before, the bush of hair that's yet to be tamed, the empty bottle thrown at the side of the stage and the sole realization: he's here but what can I do?

A wedding is supposed to be a joyous occasion where the bride bids farewell to her family to join her husband and the life that comes with being with him. Jalila,however is not happy and needs to release all the emotions she's feeling by picking on Amina whie she's drunk. Naguib Mahfouz does a great job by using pathos, emotions of the lovely performer to convey lost hopes of love, marriage. By reading the above excerpt
you get a sense she's envious of Amina because she's not as beautiful, virtous as Amina who is by standard a good wife and woman. So now we can kind of see the comparison that's going on. Amina is beautiful as the Moon, what about Jalila? Amina is patient, what about Jalila? Amina is a wife,Jalila is a performer. Amina is dependent on Ahamd, Jalila is independent. Despite these things the two women do share something: their fathers. Both women had fathers were teachers dedicated to the Koran.


Maybe though, Jalila is recalling memories when she was happy and it just happen Ahmad was in them and she's distraught that he left her for Zaynuba(another performer) Overall, Mahfouz uses pathos to convey one woman's sadness, anger that life didn't go as planned for her.

Sweet Escape

There's something about dreams of owning a candy store that makes you look twice at Kamal.

He's certainly the youngest, and a boy for that matter. He attends an all boy school where his father's influence reaches him even out of the household. Mahfouz writes how the boy is like, " a prisoner waiting to be struck at any time...(47)" and he can't stop but just wait to be punished or bullied by the other boys because he's around it at home all the time. As Mahfouz describes how Kamal dreams of owning a candy shop, the reader is reminded he's just a innocent kid who can't have fun because his dad's power will not let him. When you think of a candy shop, we think every inch of the facility is made of sweet, sweet candy that makes every kid feel happy. Happiness, that's what Kamal needs to find at home but doesn't because his dad thinks he's trouble but what I think Mahfouz is hinting at is that the father just doesn't understand how different this boy is from his elder brothers who probably avoided telling their dad of childish dreams.