With Utmost Delicacy
Post-war Japan is in quiet chaos: her streets are peppered with debris, many of her buildings are nothing but rubble and settling dust, and her people are divided by a rubber band that has been stretched to near snapping point. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s An Artist of the Floating World, Masuji Ono is the narrator, the orator of this chaos, and also, at times, the conductor. Behind his tendency to use the voices of his students and colleagues as trumpets of his own reputed glory, is a man who is uneasy about his past, who is looking to make peace with what he has done, and who is subtly, but desperately, trying to find his place in a world that is also trying to rebuild itself. The progression of the novel finds Ono caught between two worlds: the stricter, more orderly world his questionable past and resulting “reputation” have made familiar to him, and the broader, more liberal world that his children and those of their generation envision.
While the younger generation looks to broaden and expand their world, Masuji Ono is quite comfortable in a more narrow and intimate atmosphere. In the early 1930’s, Ono helped Yamagata, a local war veteran, lobby to establish a bar in the pleasure district where the city’s authors and artists, “whose works most reflect the new spirit,” could socialize and share ideas; those who did not fit the elite criteria required of the clientele would be “firmly encouraged to leave” (63). This vision led to the successful founding of Migi-Hadari, where “one could get drunk…with pride and dignity” (74). On the sign, “the new name of the premises [was set] against a background of army boots marching in formation” (64); this image accurately echoed the “finer and more manly spirit…emerging in Japan” (73-74). Even now, in the current moments of narration, this spirit can be seen in the way Setsuko, Ono’s oldest daughter, speaks to him, addressing him in third person (“I’m sure Father did all he could”), repeatedly begging his forgiveness (“Of course. Please excuse me. I didn’t mean to imply…”), and being unhesitant to parrot his sentiments when agreeing with him (“…perhaps it really was a love match”) (17-18).
The attitude of the younger Noriko toward her father, Ono, and the liberal views of Suichi, and their effect on Setsuko, his wife, and Ichiro, their son, serve as just a couple examples of the influence that the West has begun to have on Japan’s “finer” spirit. Noriko is much less reserved about her sentiments and opinions than Setsuko, and is much more strong-willed when face-to-face with her father. In the case of the family outing, Ono argued “on Ichiro’s behalf” to go to a Godzilla-like movie, while Noriko insisted they had previous plans at the deer park. When Ono tries to dismiss the deer park idea, Noriko firmly settles the issue: “Nonsense. Everything’s arranged…we decided a long time ago,” while Setsuko tries to both appease her father and disagree with him: “It’s very kind of Father. But…” (37). It cannot be surprising that Ono sometimes responds to the rest of his family with such a dismissive air - his Japan sounds the bells of patriarchy, an archetype that leaves him the head of the house; one can only imagine what he felt when Setsuko informs him that “Suichi thinks the American heroes are the better models for children now” (36). With this statement, Ono is usurped from his authoritative position, and thrust into a losing competition with an evolving society - a society that involves Ichiro, the new Lone Ranger, galloping out of the piano room and away from his grandfather. Not only is Ichiro affected by Suichi’s beliefs, but Ono suspects that his “hardness” and “maliciousness” is also influencing his beloved Setsuko (59).
While Noriko’s miai appears to have been a turning point for Ono, at which he confronts his discomfort about his past and shows signs of a reluctant acceptance of the changing world and its future (123-127), there are many lessons that can be taken from Ono’s narrative:
* Do not let your own beliefs stifle those of others around you.
* Look up to teachers, but question their authority (78).
* Hesitating or not, take the time to look around you and take inventory of
the world and your place in it (99).
* Don’t “burn bridges” (113-114).
* Take responsibility for your actions (124-125).
4 comments on With Utmost Delicacy
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Very thurough! I like your writting style. I also like how you included and layed out what could be learned.
Very impressive article, i liked how you used quotes from throughout the reading. This article was very informative.
Well said! This is a grade A analysis. In fact, I may have learned more from reading this than the book itself : ).