Love at First Sight Exists

Love can be defined as a strong affection for one close to you. Love is a very powerful necessity in today’s world. It is the foundation of friendships, marriages as well as relative and couple relationships. This strong affection, called love, can be created through many ways; such as love at first sight or personal ties. Love at first sight is when one feels romantic passion for a complete stranger upon their first encounter. Love at first sight really exists.

The beautifully written novel Memoirs of a Geisha written by Arthur Golden captures a brilliant story about hardship, love and determination. At a young and tender age Chiyochan, the main character, was sold into the geisha district of Gion, Japan from the poor fishing village of Yoriodo. From the separation of her family, Chiyochan tries to run away but fails in doing so, resulting in a broken arm and punishment from her caretakers, Auntie and Granny. As punishment, she must serve Hatsumomo, a very cruel, callous and demeaning geisha, for the rest of her life. While running an errand, overwhelmed with grief and pain of her new life, she falls upon a stone near a river and begins to cry. Soon after, she is greeted by the Chairman of a wealthy electric company. He wipes away her tears and presents her with a handkerchief and coins to buy a shaved ice. As the Chairmain bids farewell, Chiyo prays that she will become a geisha to earn the notice of him in the future. Noticing her beauty, the Chairman hires a reputable and successful geisha in the Gion district, Mameha. Mameha adopts Chiyo as her younger sister and trains her to become a geisha. Through the guidance of Mameha, Chiyochan becomes an apprentice geisha and is renamed Sayuri. In the end of the novel, both the Chairman and Sayuri express their love for one another and he finally becomes her danna, a husband like figure who takes care of all her expenses.

Love at first sight can be demonstrated through the characterization of Chiyochan. This was