Kokoro written by Natsume Soseki Essay

Natsume Soseki throughout this novel went into great detail nigh friendship and the different stages of friendship. With a little help from a human beings he met on the beach at Kamakura he went from a young man trying to grasp the future to a very intelligent university receive with all his morals set straight. Sosekis novel the Kokoro (The heart of things) was a very pleasant novel to read. This novel was written in 1914 which was two daylights afterwards the death of Emperor Meiji. Throughout this novel a lot of questions were raised and for the most part eventually answered.Japanese people during Meiji era (1868-1912) were in the midst of a major reformation, The moderation of the country of Japan. Natsume Soseki at the later parts of the movement was perhaps the most profound and most versatile novelist of them all1. Japanese people at this quantify mostly lived in Traditional housing. By this I mean houses were usually one story basic essentials nothing equivalent some of the houses that are being built today. Sensei2 on the other hand lived in non traditional housing then meaning he had some cast of wealth.After a few visits that Soseki had given Sensei at his lodgings I began to realize that Japanese people at this time were very humble. Although Sensei was very distressed on why Soseki continued to visit him and seek knowledge from him there was never a point in the book that Sensei wished anything harmful or self-aggrandising upon Soseki. Around this time of the first meeting of Soseki and Sensei, Soseki was going through a change as well. It states that over the couple months that Soseki went home to be with family and his return to capital of Japan that he was no a University student.This caught my eye because it states that he was a college student forward3. After much research on this topic I could completely grow to a few assumptions of what this could meant. First College student might mean high school student here in the US. Sec ondly it might mean undergrad whatever the true meaning behind it is it definitely caught my eye as intriguing that their educational system was different. Sake was a traditional alcoholic jollify in Japan at the time. Sensei states Drinking sake does you good to drink occasionally4.I could not begin to think that during this reformation that Japan was going hrough that Sensei was the only one drinking sake. Although Senseis wife was not the biggest fan of the drink Sensei sure did enjoy it. Looking at the relationship between Sensei and his wife I couldnt help to notice the extreme devotion they had towards each other. Although throughout the book Senseis wife Shizu endlessly seemed to express herself more, you could tell that Sensei had the same devotion. Shizu was always very obedient to Sensei needs. I imagine that this was custom for women at this time in early Japan to be very obedient to their husbands.Its about this time when Sensei first learns about the Sosekis ( Soseki ) father being extremely ill. After hearing the symptoms of his fathers illness the reader begins to realize that Sensei is extremely unused and knows far more past the typical man during this era. Yet Sensei remains unemployed. In todays world most college students continue their education after high school for one purpose and that purpose is usually to get a nice job and to become financial independent. Chinese people during this time by know means had the same state of mind as us in the United States right now.Throughout this novel I in comparable manner began to wonder about how Chinese people interacted with each other Sensei was very secluded and did not want affection from anybody he also was very disinclined to trust anyone at one point Sensei asks, is your family very wealthy5 he then goes on to say that if you Give a Gentleman gold, and he then becomes a rogue6. Sensei could not accept been more right. His distrust in people and his generalization of the people of h is day seemed to be somewhat crazy to the university student he had told.Later on in the book the Soseki father has passed along with his mother around the same time. His uncle who he had trust in persuade him to let him pullulate over the house and the inheritance while he was in Tokyo continuing his education. Sure enough the exact words Sensei had told his peer happened. The uncle dwindled the inheritance of the Soseki thus causing hatred between the two sides. At this time I feel like very few people could be trusted altogether. If you had money there were always people trying to manipulate you and steal what in essence was given to you.Sensei said he could trust nobody and liked no body except his wife. The Soseki after the loss of inheritance to his uncle I have come to hate the entire human race7 . This sounds exactly like something Sensei would have said thus leading to question if most people at this time felt this way. This novel was very enjoyable to read. I must tackle Im not a big reader solely this novel kept me hooked. That being said the last point I would like to get to is a very serious one suicide. Suicide is a very serious problem in todays world.Honestly before reading this novel I really only thought it was a problem now and not so much in the early 1900s. What surprises me the most is these three men in this novel committed suicide because they all felt they were disconnected if you will to what they had yearned for. None of them tried to reconnect. I cannot help but wonder at these times was it very traditional for a man or woman to commit suicide. Between illnesses these men were facing to the every day stress of financial stability and the devotion these men had towards their wives suicide might have been thought as the best option at the time.