The Legend of Miss Sasagawara
The Longer Paper: What’s the story?
The Legend of Miss Sasagawara is a narrative of tragedy.
A tragedy typically illustrates the downfall of the protagonist, who is usually a person of good standing, through one or a series of tragic incidents that he or she does not have control over. The protagonist usually has a wish to achieve some goal but encounters obstacles along the way. The outcome is that the protagonist is unable to overcome these challenges and therefore suffers a change in fortune and experiences a tragic ending.
In this text, Miss Sasagawara is revealed to be a ballet dancer and an educated woman who owns “lots and lots of books” (29). However, she is subjected to social alienation when her outer appearance and her behavior set her apart from the rest. In the beginning paragraph, Miss Sasagawara is introduced as a “decorative ingredient”, wearing “arrestingly rich colors” (20) and garnering attention by society for her distinct outer appearance. Already, this description of Miss Sasagawara’s exterior has distinguished her from the other ordinary Japanese in the internment camp from the start. Furthermore, even the way Miss Sasagawara conducts herself is different. It is said her “measured walk” seemed as though “walking were not a common but a rather special thing to be doing.” (20)
Because of her strikingly different appearance and the way she carried herself, the others start to form their own opinions in order to justify why she is unusual and does not conform to the norm. For instance, she was called “temperamental” simply because she was a ballet dancer (21). It is evident that this argument is fallacious because a hasty generalization is being made, in which it is assumed that all ballet dancers are temperamental. These justifications become increasingly flawed and consequently take the form of gossip and rumors. Throughout the text, there are numerous instances in which Miss Sasagawara has been the fodder for gossip, even when the sources
The Legend of Miss Sasagawara is a narrative of tragedy.
A tragedy typically illustrates the downfall of the protagonist, who is usually a person of good standing, through one or a series of tragic incidents that he or she does not have control over. The protagonist usually has a wish to achieve some goal but encounters obstacles along the way. The outcome is that the protagonist is unable to overcome these challenges and therefore suffers a change in fortune and experiences a tragic ending.
In this text, Miss Sasagawara is revealed to be a ballet dancer and an educated woman who owns “lots and lots of books” (29). However, she is subjected to social alienation when her outer appearance and her behavior set her apart from the rest. In the beginning paragraph, Miss Sasagawara is introduced as a “decorative ingredient”, wearing “arrestingly rich colors” (20) and garnering attention by society for her distinct outer appearance. Already, this description of Miss Sasagawara’s exterior has distinguished her from the other ordinary Japanese in the internment camp from the start. Furthermore, even the way Miss Sasagawara conducts herself is different. It is said her “measured walk” seemed as though “walking were not a common but a rather special thing to be doing.” (20)
Because of her strikingly different appearance and the way she carried herself, the others start to form their own opinions in order to justify why she is unusual and does not conform to the norm. For instance, she was called “temperamental” simply because she was a ballet dancer (21). It is evident that this argument is fallacious because a hasty generalization is being made, in which it is assumed that all ballet dancers are temperamental. These justifications become increasingly flawed and consequently take the form of gossip and rumors. Throughout the text, there are numerous instances in which Miss Sasagawara has been the fodder for gossip, even when the sources