Beliefs

Matsuda says, "We may not have parted on the easiest of terms, but things like that shouldn't come between us. Naturally, I'd say only the best things about you" (93). Masuji Ono tells his old friend Matsuda to only talk good about him. Ono asks him to not mention that he was a painter or anything about his past that would jeopardize his daughter's, Noriko, possible marriage. Noriko and her family will be investigated by investigators hired by the possible groom to be in order to see if she meets his expectations. Is it really right to hide who you are because it will benefit you in some way? This is what Ono is doing, which is going against to what he believed before, when he was a kid.

Ono says, "All he's kindled is my ambition" (48). Young Ono tells this to his mother when his father is burning his paintings. What happened to this Ono? Did he let life happen? Ono didn't like his father telling him that being an artist is something he shouldn't be proud of. So why has he turned so much like his father? Ono is lost because he is contradicting what he believed at first. What happened to the young Ono? Where did his beliefs go?