Preview

Junichiro Tanizaki's Some Prefer Nettles: Analysis

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1320 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Junichiro Tanizaki's Some Prefer Nettles: Analysis
The novel, Some Prefer Nettles, by Junichiro Tanizaki, depicts the story of a troubled couple living in the Taisho period of Japan. The husband, Kaname, and the wife, Misako, are both frustrated with their unhappy marriage, struggling over the decision of divorce while keeping it a secret from everyone but Kaname’s cousin, Takanatsu. Both Kaname and Misako acknowledge their troubled marriage but for varying reasons. Despite receiving advice from Takanatsu, the couple still could not come to a conclusion because of their indecisive characteristics. As the couple struggles to close the divorce, they are careful toward each other through their actions and speech. Although they both have intentions behind their caring front, Misako is more honest and sincere of Kaname’s feeling whereas Kaname’s consideration of Misako is an act to hide his selfish, cowardly and childlike nature.

Kaname was born into a wealthy merchant family, and being “a child of the merchant’s quarter made him especially sensitive to its inadequacies, to its vulgarity and its preoccupation with the material” (36). His upbringing from the merchant class shows Kaname’s sensitivity to how people perceived him that in turn made him materialistic and sensitive about his appearance. His care toward his physical appearance became clear when “even in the coldest weather he wore only a long under-kimono next to his skin” (15) because “he disliked the patches of winter underwear one so often sees at the neck and sleeves of a kimono” (15). Kaname’s obsession over his clothing seems to be the only useful contribution Misako offers him. “Only Misako understood the system well enough to be able to put everything together… that was the only function she really discharged as a wife, the only function for which another woman would not do as well” (8). Kaname’s sensitivity to his appearance is one of the reasons to why he acts caring and considerate of Misako’s feelings. Kaname’s materialistic nature prevails



Cited: Tanizaki, Junichiro. Some Prefer Nettles. Trans. Edward G. Seidensticker. London: Vintage, 1955. Print.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    When one learns that innocence is just one part of life, their life just begins. In the short story “The Flowers” by Alice Walker one ten year old girl is met face to face with innocence’s biggest rival, evil. A summer is full with laughter and joy just like Myops until she encounters evil for the first time which ends her summer.…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Saving Sourdi

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As a young child Sourdi was really close to her younger sister Nea; They talked about things every night before going to bed. Exclusively their relationship had fell down the Drain. When Sourdi, reached time for her to become a woman. She was arranged to get married to a man named Chhay, and moves out. Even though Nea didn’t like the whole situation, she had to deal with it. The fact her sister detached from her, and…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Using fashion to differentiate between femininity and masculinity is as basic a function as its purpose of coverage or protection. Hustvedt’s example of the wardrobe and lack of hair of the Buddhist monks and nuns, prove how important fashion is in defining gender. “Had they all stripped naked and stood together, the difference between them would have been ridiculously small, would have been no more nor less than what the difference truly is – genital variation and a few secondary sexual characteristics in the chest and hips” (Hustvedt 446). A corset is a great article of clothing to use as an example of how fashion accentuates gender. It creates an hour glass figure which emphasizes a women’s bust and hips. “The corset helped to create a notion of femininity, and the lines it produced have gone in and out of fashion ever since” (Hustvedt 448).…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A Temporary Matter,” by Jhumpa Lahiri, displays how a married couple’s relationship is affected by the loss of a child. Before their tragedy, they were pleased with one another. However, when Shoba gives birth to a stillborn child, the couple isolated themselves from each other. Shoba distracted herself by working and keeping with her routine while Shukumar lost motivation to finish school. The death of their son created detachment and reticence in their marriage in contrast to their abiding love beforehand.…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Flying Troutmans Essay

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In everyday life, a relation is always identified as trust and support. In this novel, a relation between a husband and a wife is shown in a different way. Min, one of the characters in the story, is shown losing her mental stability and is living with her two children. She did not have any contact with her husband in few years and neither did he try to contact her. Nobody knew where Cherkis was but the reason behind him getting lost was Min. Min was never happy with him. Just like in every relationship, one has to be understanding and Cherkis was. He tried to take care of Min but she always hated him and forced herself to not to get help from anyone and because of this Cherkis couldn’t save their marriage and went away from Min’s life forever. “I had wanted Logan to understand that Cherkis hadn’t decided one morning on a whim to leave his family, to blithely take off for something better and more exciting and leave his kids confused and angry and sad, but in fact Min had forced him to leave,” Hattie thought(Page 129). The author tried to give out a massage that to believe someone and to support them are two different but major things that are necessary in every relationship. In this book, Min threw Cherkis out of her life and he too felt tired of her mental instability which shouldn’t happen. Cherkis should’ve supported her and who knows the end might have been different.…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Death Of Woman Wang Essay

    • 1581 Words
    • 4 Pages

    marriage as a lifelong bond of loyalty between a couple, and then continues on to shows the darker side with the death of husbands and the death of woman Wang after she ran away.…

    • 1581 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Clothes and Saving Sourdi

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Divakaruni, Chita Banergee. "Clothes." 2011. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, and Writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin 's, 2011. 265-74. Print.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Compared to the United States, whose marriages are more based upon spouse compatibility and the idea of being in love, Japanese marriages differ greatly, as most of them are arranged. Mr. Torida, a Japanese cattle farmer, when asked if he loved his wife of 33 years, responded in a way that would shock most couples living here in the United States, "Yeah, so-so, I guess. She's like air or water; you couldn't live without it, but most of the time, you're not conscious of its existence." But with unparalleled statistics on family and marriage in Japan, it seems as though something is working to keep these marriages going strong. For instance, the couples in Japan have a divorce rate of less than 24%, compared to the United States’ 55%, and only 1.1% of mothers are unmarried, matched to our 30.1%. According to interviews of couples in Japan, marriages in the United States are much more fragile than the arranged marriages of Japan. If something goes wrong, a disagreement comes up, or the couples simply fall out of love, the marriage ends and divorce seems to be the only solution. In Japan, the secret to strength in marriage is based on three factors: low expectations, patience or “gaman”, and shame.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Occasionally people will run across a couple who do not seem to have that marriage everyone desires to possess. In many cases these relationships are unhealthy because they feel imprisoned in a marriage they simply do not want. In both Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Gail Godwin’s “A Sorrowful Woman,” this is what seems to be the reality for these two couples.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ongka’s Big Moka

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How and why are the clothes Ongka wears from day to day different from what he wears for important occasions?…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    villagers are not able to express themselves freely. The role of the Tailor is important…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    At a young age it’s hard to avoid temptations. Temptations that can lead to guilt or trouble. In Parsley Garden, William Saroyan suggest that there is a certain amount of respect involved in earning what you have rather than stealing it. He shows this by showing how emotionally Al gets and how his conscious just kills him every time.…

    • 173 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story A Temporary Matter by Jhumpa Lahiri is about a couple dealing with the stillbirth of their child. In the six months since, the couple, Shoba and Shukamar, have grown distant from each other. When the power is scheduled to go out during dinner every night due to maintenance, they begin to play a game where they reveal secrets to each other in the dark. The game allows for the couple to learn more about each other and grow closer, however all is fleeting when Shoba reveals that she is leaving Shukamar, he retaliates with information about their child. The couple begins to acknowledge that their love for one another is not as powerful as it was before. Their marriage, amongst other promises, are broken. They also face turmoil after their secrets are shared.The revelation of Shoba and Shukamar's final secrets indicate that diminishing love can result in broken promises and emotional anguish.…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Billy Collins’ short poem “Divorce” (2008), readers get to see a relationship from its intimate moments through to the cold, hardened end. While relationships are often thought of in domestic terms, Collins introduces silverware as personified characters, toying with the notion of domesticity to some extent. Though only four lines, the poem delivers a punchy, compact narrative rife with emotion undertones. The diction initially suggests the potential for a fairytale ending, but these notions are quickly severed as language mirrors the relationship itself. Collins exposes the brutality of a failed marriage that mirrors a kind of capitalized outsourcing of a divorce.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This text is about one businessman Tutin who tell in love with his secretary and wanted a divorce.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics