The Depiction Of Atsumori's Death

Atsumori’s death depicted in the war tale, Tale of the Heike, compiled by Yoshida Kenko and the noh play, Atsumori by Zeami Motokiyo are both considered heartrending episodes, where one must make an unwanted choice in unescapable circumstances. The story depicts a situation where one has no choice but to kill another in the battle. Both texts also dramatically express the absurdity of a warrior’s life through the characters of Taira no Atsumori and Kumagai Naozane. However, the depiction of Atsumori’s death in two genres are slightly different along with how the flute plays the crucial role and importance of forgiveness to move on. Tale of the Heike is more focused on Kumagai's heartbroken feeling about Atsumori’s irreversible death, whereas
His heartbroken feeling about Atsumori’s irreversible death is expressed through his inner struggles. As a result, Kumagai abandoned his warrior life and became a Buddhist monk to pray for Atsumori so that he can rest in peace. Kumagai says, “No life is as miserable as a warrior’s… What a cruel thing I’ve done!” (Tale of the Heike 395). This indicates Kumagai’s thought to become Buddhist monk because he felt the emptiness of life after he learned Atsumori’s identification. He realized that he had cut off the head of not only an aristocratic boy, but also a talented musician who played the beautiful flute a night before the battle. His talents have been wasted due to
For example, it describes how Atsumori was left alone at the battle of Ichi no Tani because of his love for music and playing the flute. The villager from the noh play states, “He prized this flute very highly and hated to leave it behind for the enemy’s taking. So he turned back, fetched the flute…” (Atsumori 43). Atsumori went back to get his flute because not only flute was given to the grandfather of Atsumori by the former emperor, but also flute itself was more important to him than his life. Therefore, he went back to fetch the flute although he knew he was risking his life. However, to Kumagai, who does not know the story of the flute that Atsumori carried, focuses more on the play of the flute. Kumagai explains, “I have reached Ichi no Tani in the province of Tsu. Ah, the past returns to mind as though it were before me. But what is this? I hear a flute from that upper field” (Atsumori 39). For him, the flute playing is just the sound of a beautiful civilization that impressed tens of thousands of warriors in a bloody battlefield. Whereas to Atsumori, playing the flute was his way of life. In fact, the sounds of the flute playing reminded Kumagai of Atsumori, which prejudiced that only beautiful, elegant boys like Atsumori can play such flute. Kumagai states “...mowers, was it one of you I just heard playing the flute? ‘How touching! For people such as you,