Emily Kim 11/4 Readings

In The Cage of Zeus, it was interesting how perspective distorts our idea of who the antagonist is. I realized this when it said, "Just who is being inhumane here? Those of us conducting medical experiments or the fringe group unashamed to commit acts of terrorism?" I realized the security team's lack of morals they turned a blind eye on the experiments being done on the Rounds and their blatant disrespect towards them. Shirosaki at least notices this unfair treatment when he says, "But they're also living beings. In that sense, they're no different than we are." Additionally, it was interesting when Tei talks about feeling conflicted in their identity, being similar to both Rounds and humans, as their literal job is an intermediary. 

I connected The Place of Shells with The Cage of Zeus because it also emphasizes Jupiter. It was interesting how the statue of the fighting family is placed next to the Jupiter statue, as Jupiter is considered a dangerous zone in The Cage of Zeus. The story also talked a lot about distance, such as distance in time, planets, and people. For example, the main character has a hard time connecting with Nomiya because it's been nine years since they met. The main character also makes an analogy to Covid, a crisis that has distanced people from each other and masked their identities (physically and emotionally). 

I found a quote in the short story, A Missing One, similar to The Place of Shells when it says, "It was only when all of it was gone that people would cease to be aware of its absence and stop missing it." I connected this to how all the remnants of Nomiya were washed away by the tsunami which would make him slowly be forgotten. I also really enjoyed the parallels between A Missing One and On High. The Himeji castle, the monorail, and the Okiku well are all tourist attractions, and they represent different levels. The castle is the most high up, the monorail is on the ground, and the well digs under the surface. So, it was interesting that we got perspectives of looking down from the castle and looking up from the ground through each story. I also noticed that the man hands Kikue a business card just like in On High. Finally, in A Missing One it mentioned that the abandoned monorail served as a guide for people, and I thought this was similar to ghosts who watch out for people. 

It was interesting how in First Rate Material, using dead human bodies as materials for clothing and furniture is normalized in their society and that it's a symbol of wealth. I think the author wanted readers to reflect how they treat animals versus other humans. I think readers would have a similar viewpoint as Naoki, but he is an outlier in this story.

I was most confused reading Self-Reference Engine, especially because I don't know how the Japanese language works. It was hard to imagine there being 12 million characters in the language.