Kelley - Readings for September 9

I noticed a common theme across all the readings was about women as lovers, and what society makes of women who love. In “The Ice Man,” the narrator becomes isolated in the South Pole when she moves there for her love. There, she is alienated and surrounded by Ice Men. This reminds me of how women are expected to be “married off” to their husband’s families, taking their last names and stripping any identity of their own. Like the narrator, their life becomes their husband’s.

“Straw Husband” was kind of similar in that Tomoko seemed eager to please her husband despite him being so easily angered by trivial matters. I felt frustrated by how the end of the story, seeing how Tomoko and her husband were just going about their life like everything was normal again, as if their argument had never happened. Here are questions I had about this reading: What is the significance of the man being made out of straw? What could the instruments falling out of his body represent?

I found it interesting that “Dojoji” described women as jealous snakes. It seems that in many cultures, the emotion/characteristic of jealous is contributed to women. In this story, the woman’s love was obsessive and destructive, suggesting a negative view of women as monsters. However, I loved how Matsuda’s “Smartening Up” turned this idea on its head! The Aunt’s line telling the narrator that they should “become monsters together” stood out to me - women being monsters and expressing their emotions becomes a form of empowerment rather than a negative stereotype.

“The Greengrocer’s Daughter” felt more focused on the ideals of Buddhism and the impermanence of life, but it was intriguing that Oshichi lived such a passionate life, starting a fire and burning at the stake for her love while Kichisaburo (who was also passionate in love) became a monk at the very end. Both were obsessed in their love, but while the woman died for it, the man obtained enlightenment. In a similar vein to “Smartening Up,” Matsuda’s “Silently Burning” turns an old tale into a one that liberates women. In this story, Oshichi’s fiery passion is celebrated rather than pitied. Why do you think the title is called “Silently Burning?”