Authors Craft
(Kaleasha) In Memoirs of a Geisha the author Arthur Golden used a lot of interesting word choice that makes us readers feel more in depth with the story like when people are described. “My first impression was of an almond or some other kind of nut, because he was small and very round, with a certain kind of heaviness, particularly around his eyes. Beards were very fashionable at the time, and the Baron wore a number of long, soft hairs on his face that I’m sure were supposed to resemble a beard, but looked to me like some sort of garnish, or like the thin strips of seaweed that are sometimes sprinkled into a bowl of rice.” (185) This makes it really clear to me that the Baron is an older gentleman with very little facial hairs, and is slightly over weight, but the way the author chose a more colorful word choice it was more interesting to read and you could be absolutely sure in your mind of what you think the Baron looks like. Even when he chose to compare the Baron to some not so great objects there is also a point in the book when the author uses a tree from Sayuri’s childhood to describe the chairman. “This tree was as smooth as driftwood because of the wind, and when I was a little girl of 4 or 5 I found a man’s face on it one day. That is to say, I found a smooth patch as broad as a plate, with two sharp bumps at the outside edge for cheek bones...The man who’d addressed me on the street had this same kind of broad calm face.”(111) In contrast with the Barons face you can feel that Sayuri is more comfortable with the chairman. She easily compares him to her past experiences. This makes you feel like he is important in this story because whenever she thinks of home she feels calmer and at ease. He also does this kind of imagery with the environment Sayuri is in to make you able to see what she is doing and where she is. “In Japan we refer to the years from the depression to World War ll as Kuraitani the valley of darkness, when so many people lived like children whose heads have slipped beneath the waves. As is often the case, those of us in Gion didn’t suffer quite as badly as others.” (333) When the author used this it showed us how bad it was in the world but how in Gion there was still little hope. It was a good thing the author used so many different word choices. It brings the story to life more and lets you see more into her world and all of the emotions that ran through her during these times. If the book did not have these it would still be good but it would feel hollow like the life would have been taken out of it.
Author's Craft - Symbolism (Laura)
In the book, Memoirs of a Geisha, author, Arthur Golden, uses water symbolism to enhance the book in three different ways. First, the water symbol explained the underlying themes of the book; second, the author used water symbolism to explain the different cultures, or time periods that may not be familiar to all readers; and third,by using nonspecific statements with the symbol of water he compared the life lessons and realizations of Chiyo life to the lives of all people.
One example of symbolism explaining theme is when Chiyo is arguing with a disappointed Nobu who feels Chiyo should act more on her own free will: “ ‘I wish I could believe that life really is something more than a stream that carries us along, belly-up.’‘All right, if it’s a stream, you’re still free to be in this part of it or that part, aren’t you? The water divides again and again. If you bump, and tussle, and fight, and make use of whatever advantages you might have-’”(314) The author with the symbolism in this quote illustrates the different ways of looking at fate and freewill,which is an underlying theme throughout the book. By comparing free will and fate to a stream the author is saying that you can either believe you have no free will and that fate or the stream carries you through life; or you can think that as part of the stream, which represents the fate, you still have free will to change your future if you work hard enough.
Another way the author uses water symbolism is to explain historical or culturally different topics that readers may not be familiar with. For example, to illustrate the feeling across Japan during WWII the author wrote , “If the early years of the war had been like an exciting voyage out to sea, you might say that by about the middle of 1943 we all realized the waves were simply too big for our craft. We thought we would drown, all of us; and many of us did.” (336) In this quote the author used the water symbolism to give understanding to a historical topic to an unfamiliar topic, in this case the war in Japan. Since many readers may not have first hand experience or knowledge of what life was like in Japan during World War Two, this quote using the image of a ship out at sea summarizes and explains the feeling of a historical era in a way that readers can clearly understand.
The last way the author uses symbolism in the book is when he uses a simple, nonspecific statement with water symbolism that can be interpreted in multiple ways and related to everyone’s life, “Even stone can be worn down with enough rain.”(94) This quote comes from a part in the book were Chiyo realizes that geisha, like Hatsumomo, or people like Mother may not have been always cruel people but that a rough life has made them into the cruel people they are today. Yet in this quote, the author does not relate the symbolism to any character in particular and by doing this he leaves the quote open to multiple interpretations and also the readers to relate the symbol to the lives of other characters in the books or even to their own lives.
So to summarize,the author’s use of water symbolism added to the reader’s experience by representing the themes of the story, explaining historical or culturally different topics with the relatable symbol of water, and by using water symbolism in an intended, ambiguous manner that allows the reader open interpretation and relation of the water symbols to the lives of all characters or even the reader's own life.
Author's Craft - Symbolism (Laura)
In the book, Memoirs of a Geisha, author, Arthur Golden, uses water symbolism to enhance the book in three different ways. First, the water symbol explained the underlying themes of the book; second, the author used water symbolism to explain the different cultures, or time periods that may not be familiar to all readers; and third,by using nonspecific statements with the symbol of water he compared the life lessons and realizations of Chiyo life to the lives of all people.
One example of symbolism explaining theme is when Chiyo is arguing with a disappointed Nobu who feels Chiyo should act more on her own free will: “ ‘I wish I could believe that life really is something more than a stream that carries us along, belly-up.’‘All right, if it’s a stream, you’re still free to be in this part of it or that part, aren’t you? The water divides again and again. If you bump, and tussle, and fight, and make use of whatever advantages you might have-’”(314) The author with the symbolism in this quote illustrates the different ways of looking at fate and freewill,which is an underlying theme throughout the book. By comparing free will and fate to a stream the author is saying that you can either believe you have no free will and that fate or the stream carries you through life; or you can think that as part of the stream, which represents the fate, you still have free will to change your future if you work hard enough.
Another way the author uses water symbolism is to explain historical or culturally different topics that readers may not be familiar with. For example, to illustrate the feeling across Japan during WWII the author wrote , “If the early years of the war had been like an exciting voyage out to sea, you might say that by about the middle of 1943 we all realized the waves were simply too big for our craft. We thought we would drown, all of us; and many of us did.” (336) In this quote the author used the water symbolism to give understanding to a historical topic to an unfamiliar topic, in this case the war in Japan. Since many readers may not have first hand experience or knowledge of what life was like in Japan during World War Two, this quote using the image of a ship out at sea summarizes and explains the feeling of a historical era in a way that readers can clearly understand.
The last way the author uses symbolism in the book is when he uses a simple, nonspecific statement with water symbolism that can be interpreted in multiple ways and related to everyone’s life, “Even stone can be worn down with enough rain.”(94) This quote comes from a part in the book were Chiyo realizes that geisha, like Hatsumomo, or people like Mother may not have been always cruel people but that a rough life has made them into the cruel people they are today. Yet in this quote, the author does not relate the symbolism to any character in particular and by doing this he leaves the quote open to multiple interpretations and also the readers to relate the symbol to the lives of other characters in the books or even to their own lives.
So to summarize,the author’s use of water symbolism added to the reader’s experience by representing the themes of the story, explaining historical or culturally different topics with the relatable symbol of water, and by using water symbolism in an intended, ambiguous manner that allows the reader open interpretation and relation of the water symbols to the lives of all characters or even the reader's own life.