Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Natsume Soseki/And Then. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page essay that examines Japanese author Natsume Soseki's novel And Then. Examination of this narrative demonstrates the psychological complexity of this work as Soseki relates his protagonist's actions toward his beloved in terms of his coming to grips with his relationship to his father and traditional Japanese values. As this suggests, And Then is more than a love story, as it is also a novel of self discovery, as it deals with the process that Daisuke goes through in discovering his natural self as opposed to the identity prescribed by powerful social norms. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khnatsos.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
encompasses the trauma engendered by the rapid social change of that time. Examination of this narrative demonstrates the psychological complexity of this work as Soseki relates his protagonists actions toward
his beloved in terms of his coming to grips with his relationship to his father and traditional Japanese values. As this suggests, And Then is more than a love story,
as it is also a novel of self discovery, as it deals with the process that Daisuke goes through in discovering his natural self as opposed to the identity prescribed
by powerful social norms (Yu, 1969). Field (1997) in her afterward to her translation of And Then states that the novel needs to be understood in terms of the
context of the time. The story is set four or five years after the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), which is perhaps the Meiji governments proudest international moment in history (p. 270).
This victory was widely seen in the West as constituting Japans "coming of age" and the post war years were a "bombastic, ostentatious period" for the nation (Field, 1997, p.
270). However, this period also saw a radical dislocation of values. Daisuke, Sosekis protagonist in And Then, sees that the hierarchical, well-ordered feudal world of his father, in which loyalty
to ones social superiors was the supreme value, tended to foster hypocrisy. Modernization, while sweeping away the old system, failed to provide anything concrete to take its place. Daisuke cannot
find any ideology upon which to base a system of values. As this implies, Daisuke is extremely disillusioned with his father. Daisuke is pictured as a privileged loafer, living
off his fathers wealth but also disdainful of his father. He has chosen intellectual pursuits as the only meaningful occupation (Yu, 1969). A bachelor, Daisuke remains aloof and suffering
...