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
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.