Kokoro By Janice Soseki Analysis

1. Discuss how the self is constructed or portrayed (with supporting evidence from the text) in each of the texts

In the novel ‘Kokoro’, authored by Natsume Soseki’s, the protagonist is a young man who is bored with his life when he becomes a friend of an older man named “Sensei” by him, with an expectation of learning about life. The protagonist is often confused and disappointed by Sensei's words and believes that older man's perceptions about him are incorrect. Being an inquisitive character, the protagonist constantly possesses a desire to know about Sensei’s mystery life. He learns more about Sensei through his wife, Shizu, and hence his knowledge as well as feelings towards her increases as well.
However, what the protagonist does learn
is that Sensei is a troubled and reclusive man who does not trust himself or humanity adequately to interact with the world. The protagonist additionally feels that Sensei has erected a wall between them, and henceforth one day confronts Sensei with his suspicions. But in the last of the novel, he alone remains a trustable character for Sensei when Sensei decides to end his life concluding it is time to pass on his testament. On the other hand, Sensei believes that the young man has sought him out because he is lonely, but he finds himself unworthy for society and incapable to help the younger man either. Shizu explains to young man that a friend's unnatural death coincided with the slow descent, which has taken Sensei into isolation. Sensei is unsure of trusting Soseki, but the younger man assures him that he is a true friend. Sensei acquiesces at that point saying he will tell his life story when the time is right.
In another Natsume Soseki’s novel, ‘Botchan’ describes various characters. The main character, Botchan is portrayed as an honest character that has integrity and is inflexible. As we can see from the first page of the novel, he is viewed as a teacher of contemporary to the social life, is of stubborn birth, and expected to chaotic social life against inadequate knowledge. Botchan is the hero in ‘Botchan’. He also has the spirit of an ‘Edokko’. His defining characteristics are common sense and a strong moral grounding. The math teacher, Yamaarashi is the nickname for a teacher by the name of Hotta, is born in ‘Aizu’. Yamaarashi has a great, sharp sense of justice. The Assistant Principal, ‘Red flannel shirt’, He is the typical intellectual. He represents the continental European intellectual tradition, in its modern form, as it drifts toward communism and socialism. He speaks of morals but is tricky and immoral. He is a rumormonger, who for a short time was able to deceive even Botchan. The battle for the heart and mind of Botchan between Yamaarashi and Red shirts represents the social and political tensions existing in Japan at the turn of the 20th century.

2.
Relate each portrayal/construction to its literary/artistic and historical context

Natsume Soseki’s novel, ‘Kokoro’ is the story of many individuals who are in search of appeasing loneliness, and simultaneously discusses the story of two men who attempt to assuage loneliness through love but only find peace in death. Loneliness and the search to appease remains the main theme of the novel. Though the protagonist is unaware of what he is looking for in, Sensei understands the protagonist is a lonely young man who hopes to relieve that loneliness through their relationship. Sensei admits that he is lonely as well, but due to his nature, cannot alleviate it or assist the young man in alleviating his own.
In addition, an enduring sense of malaise and morbidity is reflected from the first paragraph of the book and continues to frame, pointedly affecting parents or those in authorities. Shizu’s mother died from a kidney disease; both of Sensei’s parents died when he was young. Emperor Meiji dies at a seminal point prompting General Nogi, a widely admired military figure, to commit junshi (following one’s lord into death). The most suggestive figure is Sensei himself, “who had never been seriously ill throughout his life,” because he imposes on himself the role of the living dead, a decision mysteriously linked to a grave that he visits every month. In Japan’s period of radically changing ideas and seeming abandonment of the old ways, there is no single person or institution
that remains inviolable.

The author, Nastume Soseki, seems to show that the world cannot be rationally understood through his book 'Botchan'.
In the novel, all the people who meet ‘Botchan’ possess abnormal personality and which is complex to explain. In the school, as a miniature of society, their nicknames and their personal criticism by 'Botchan' make a caricature, and it somehow gives us satisfaction and increase our knowledge about the innocence of characters.
The central theme of the story is morality. The descriptions of school life and politics are entertaining. The narrative shifts around, the emphasis on specific episodes such as the pranks which students pull on him and some of the affairs of the other teachers. A sympathetic narrator, who is prone to rash acts, Botchan's story of his life being a teacher is bumpy (and arrives upon a fairly quick and somewhat simplistic conclusion), but entertaining. Additionally despite the negativism of Botchan's (and quite a few bad things that happen), it's surprisingly cheerful, being a nice mix of the serious and comic, which help make the book particularly
winning.

3. Discuss how and why the portrayals of the self in the various texts differ or resemble one another.

The two masterpieces of Natusme Soseki, both ‘Kokoro’ as well as ‘Botchan’ have something in common, which not only is the author “Natsume Soseki”, but also the literary lyricism including the historical backgrounds.