Images of the disabled and the aged in modern Japanese novels Essay

Images of the disabled and the aged in modern Japanese novels - Essay ExampleThe novels argon contradictory in that while Oe represents a nuclear family, Ariyoshi depicts a Japanese family with all the three generations reinforcement together, however, the transition, though slow, towards a modern society is exposen by protagonists thoughts. The two novels thus shtup be compared through their depiction of Japanese families.We shall first discuss A Personal Matter by Oe Kenzaburo. Nobel Laureate Oe Kenzaburo (received Nobel Prize in 1994), is a famous novelist who first entered the literary scene in 1958. in spite of his initial successes, the real international reputation came to him with A Personal Matter, a story indite with the perspective of a young father, fowl, who has to deal with the fact that his baby bird is a monster. The story draws ardor from Oes personal experience. Oes son, Hikari, was born with a severe brain-damage disorder. The story is almost an outlet for Oe to show how he dealt with various feelings when he had to decide about his own monsters future. No doubt, he chose the protagonists way.Bird is a rebellious character to begin with (maybe that is what makes him choose the right travel guidebook in the end) in the opening chapter, Oe shows how Bird thinks that a tiddler is like a cage. Bird thinks that marriage itself is a cage but with a child, that open cage is now shut down. With his nescient view of marriage and child, a brain-damaged child proves an ultimate shock. He just cannot believe that his own child is a monster. He is afraid to raise the child he pities him and resents him. His conflicted emotions that arise as the childs father and as a normal human being leads the events in the story.Bird goes through feelings of disgust to acceptance in the novel. Initially Bird wants to kill the baby, something that even Oe contemplated for Hikari. When he finds himself unable to do that, he thinks of allowing the child to die a natural